Preppy makeup originally came into the trend in the past to match it with that of a prep school uniform. Back then, it was a common makeup for sophisticated individuals who wanted a moment of solitude in a park or on a boat.
This makeup has been getting into the fashion world again in recent years, albeit not as popular yet as it was in its springtime. You may have also seen its rising trend online and want to embrace the beauty and elegance for yourself.
If you are indeed planning to go for it, let’s give you some tips and directions to follow so that you can ace the look.
Picking the Right Color and Accessories
The process should begin with your opting for the correct color and products for the preppy look to come naturally.
The choice of color should heavily depend on the following two factors-
- Your skin tone, where you go for a pallet suited for your undertone.
- Your makeup product choices should usually lean towards pastels and neutral.
Let’s start with the first point from above. As we mentioned, your undertone should be a determining factor for your color choice for that preppy look. As you probably already know, your skin undertone can be warm, cool, neutral, and olive.
- People with a cool or olive tone will get the best from pink shades.
- If your tone is warm, peaches will suit you more.
- As for neutral, any color pallet from the above goes.
Meanwhile, when picking the right accessories, take the color pallets above into account. Preppy makeup is also about a cohesive look. So, once you start with a shade, peachy pink, for example, all your preppy makeup products should also be peachy pink.
A Light Base
Preppy makeup heavily emphasizes your skin tone rather than relying on the layers of makeup. As such, you should start with a light base, like natural makeup. For clarity, we mean the weight of your makeup by light, not the shade.
You can choose one of the following for the base of your preppy look-
- BB Cream: BB cream (or beauty balm as many call it) is pretty light in both coverage and weight compared to a foundation. It’s best for concealing any imperfections and getting a balanced skin tone.
- CC Cream: Slightly heavier than BB cream, CC cream is better for skin with redness, as it can conceal it perfectly. Hence, its name is Color Correction.
- Tinted Moisturizer: A tinted moisturizer is self-explanatory- moisturizers with a slight amount of tint. But it is usually not as buildable as foundations.
- Foundations: Unless it is too heavy, you can pick any foundation of your choice for preppy. In general, they tend to be heavier and have higher coverage than the previous options. But you can also find light foundations.
Neutral Eyeshadows Based on Your Undertone
As we said before, preppy makeup is more about detailing your natural features instead of concealing them. Going for a neutral eyeshadow based on your undertone is how you should go here. Of course, you are free to try different shades within neutral to test the one that compliments your tone the best.
Remember that there is no absolute way to gain the preppy look. Simply your eyeliner and lashes can suffice, too, if you want to skip the eyeshadow. But if you do prefer it, avoid heavy shadows. You can start with a darker color before going for a shimmer to get a creative look. Don’t constrain yourself only on these, and try out other options, too.
Simple and Light Eyeliner
Eyeliners are not mandatory for preppy makeup looks, and it is better to stick to lighter if you do wear them. Ensure that your eyeliner choice is simple, like-
- Little wing
- Fine line
- Tightline
Don’t go for bold liner, graphic liner, or anything heavy.
Remember that these eyeliner tricks will take practice to get to perfection at the beginning. However, here are some tips and tricks that can help you-
- Fine Liner: A really thin gel or liquid liner along the upper lash line while trying to keep it as close to the lashes as you can is what you must aim for. Use an angled brush for this, and you may want to keep your eyes open.
- Tightline: Don’t pick a liquid liner for tight lining. There are liners for tight lining especially, but you can simply add pigment with a waterline to get that effect.
- Little Wing: Your eyeliner product should be the same as a fine line for a little wing. It can guarantee that the wing has higher precision.
Wispy and Light Lashes
After following so far, you probably can already guess that light and wispy lashes are ideal for preppy makeup looks. Usually, a light coverage of the lashes with mascaras is the standard here.
- You can use a lash curler for extra creativity.
- Mixing mascara is another way to go at it. However, if you are planning this, prevent clumping by applying it meagerly.
- Brown or black mascaras are the usual for preppy.
- When going for false lashes, pick something along the lines of neutral rather than full glam.
- Falsies for preppy should be wispy.
There are moments when you may struggle to find a strip lash for wispy false lashes. In those moments, try gluing on separate lashes.
A Subtle Contour on the Face
First things first, contouring is optional for a preppy look. Many replace this with a bronzer. In that case, a matte bronzer will do the trick better. Alternatively, nontouring with highlighting instead of contouring is another available option. We should clarify here that we don’t mean highlighting the places of contouring here.
Similar to the theme so far, the face contour for preppy makeup should also be subtle instead of full glam. Fortunately, it can be easier to achieve that compared to a highly defined contour.
You can utilize a tone that is close to your skin tone without leaning towards too dark. Choose your product based on that. While you are probably thinking of contouring tools for this, a concealer will do the task better. Just ensure that its darkness is within only a few shades of your skin.
Well-Defined and Detailed Brows
Our preppy makeup tips so far have been close to a natural look, but the brows are where it goes different ways. Unlike natural makeup, here you need to get heavy-handed and go for a killer look. So, how to get there?
While we did tell you to go for a well-defined brow, don’t get into an entire redefining. Instead, it should still be somewhat close to a natural brow shade.
You can utilize different tools for it as long as it works out the best for your face. Go for products that promise a higher precision. For beginners, ones with spoolie ends can aid in repairing any mistake.
Keep your laminate, pen, gel, pomade, powder, etc, close and use whichever you need at the time. There is no necessity to use them all together.
Flushed and Rosy Cheeks
Next, let’s talk about flushing your cheeks. For the blush color, choose one, as you guessed it, near your face’s natural flush. So, how can you find your flush?
You can either-
- Check the inside of your lips.
- Press and squeeze your cheeks softly.
You can find your natural flush for the preppy makeup in both ways.
Applying blush on your cheeks for preppy can be somewhat tricky for beginners. It will require you to go at it carefully and subtly.
For a liquid or cream blush-
- Utilize a brush for a natural look.
- While using a brush will help get a more blended look on the cheek, a heavy pigment can make it challenging. In that case, you can apply a bit on the back of your hand first. Then, pick it up with a brush and touch it on the cheeks.
For a powder blush-
- A fluffy blush will help you get a widened and blended blush.
- Remember to build sparingly. Instead of using the product, you only need to use some excess.
- Flush lightly.
Removing the product to get the excess can be challenging, making it mandatory to stay attentive here.
Nigh-Natural Shade for Your Lips
Again, the shade for your gloss should be close to your natural lips. You are not going for a full-glam for a preppy look. You may not find the color that works best for you at the get-go, but it will be possible over time.
There are different ways to improve the features of your lips without concealing or redefining them.
- Select a matte lipstick. Matte is favored by preppy.
- Otherwise, a light lip gloss will do. Be sure that it is not that pigmented.
- If you are using a lip liner, use a shade not too easily noticeable. Of course, blending the edges will provide a more natural feel to it.
- You can also use either lip oil or lip stain based on your preference.
Matte Look
Remember that preppy make is about a blended, subtle, and flawless look, making it unnecessary to go for products that give a more glowy or dewy finish. As such, when you pick preppy products, go for ones that provide a more matte look for your base.
Of course, it can be difficult for many to identify those exact products. However, you can easily do so by checking the shade of the powder products on the pan. For liquid ones, you can notice markings on them by their finishes.
Finally, it is still possible to go slightly glowy while remaining preppy by utilizing highlighters and shimmer subtly. Use them on the right spots, like-
- Shimmering on the eyelids
- Highlighters on the cheekbones and brow bones. Applying some on the inner corner of the eyes is also viable.
The Hard-to-Earn Simplicity of Preppy Makeup
The principle of preppy makeup is to make your natural look feature without actually using glowy or dewy products. Nearly everything here is about simplicity and subtlety, except for the brow, perhaps.
However, the catch is that while it looks like the light and natural look of preppy makeup is easy to get, it is far from the truth. In fact, choosing the right product for a preppy look based on your skin tone and getting that perfectly natural shade without building too much is anything but easy.
You shouldn’t worry much about it, though, as this particular makeup is highly customizable. You can skip many steps, like the contour or foundation. The key here is to make your original features shine (without using shiny or luminous products).
Final Note
There you have it, a list of tips to help you get into the preppy trend. It can feel too much at first, given the difficulty of the process. However, you don’t have to focus on all places together. Preppy is flexible and can be done according to your style and preference.
So, no matter whether you are more into your eyes, lips, or skin, you can focus on specific spots.