The ‘No Makeup Makeup’ trend

Sometine in February 2015, New York Fashion Week fronted nude models. Of course they were wearing clothes. They just appeared not to be wearing any makeup. Instead, a sprinkling of fairy dust was tapped on everyone’s nose. That was before Alicia Keys sent off a thick ball of foundation down the steepest beauty hill. Now, in 2017, international makeup artists declare, “Heavy makeup is out. The natural look is in” and ladies fist bump in delight.

Except here is the problem. The “No Makeup Makeup look” is hard work. Suzie Wokabi once mentioned, “Looking like you are not wearing makeup takes more skill than looking like you are actually wearing makeup.” The No Makeup Makeup look must not be confused with the No Makeup look.

The latter is the end of the spectrum where most Kenyan women fall. Bare naked faces, no eyebrow grooming, not a lick of mascara. Simply rolling out of bed with water and soap.

The No Makeup Makeup trend however is about wearing so much makeup to appear like you are wearing none. The goal being possessing a really lovely face that the sun, God and nature decided to gift you out of sheer abundant joy.

The No Makeup Makeup trend (let’s go with NMM) as underscored by fashion magazine surveys indefatigably remind us men love this look where makeup is subtle.

Aided along by the growing avalanche of nude lip colours, rise of soft eye shadow in metallics, rose, blush, pink, copper, bronze and caramel, obsession with #nomakeup celebrities to skincare technology.

NMM will not take you five minutes. Neither will it be cheap. It demands above average makeup application skill. From finding the right primer, foundation, concealer, powder to a range of brushes and the perfect nude lip, your shopping list has to be informed not just by this trend, but self-knowledge and awareness on beauty industry offerings.

NMM is about creating a glow, famously “lit from within,” and accompanied by the radiance of a young woman in love. To bring out the eyes you need to be familiar with ‘nude’ eyeliner and non-clumping mascara. Truth be told you are rather likely to reach for the help of falsies not necessarily limited to merely a hair or two.

The sweetest reference point for NMM; the 2017 Golden Globes. Witness how celebrities did not go out of their way to hide freckles or wrinkles. But, and here is the true secret of NMM, by the time celebrities know they will be walking the red carpet or making any sort of planned public appearance, they will have invested heavily in skin care.

NMM does not camouflage bad skin. It enhances and works with it like a canvas. That skin is prepped on the regular courtesy of a cosmetology posse. For NMM specifically, skin is worked on a month in advance to groom their complexions with a range of deep, intensive and yes, expensive treatments and products.

The NMM like the No Makeup trend emphasises skin care. So much so the latter, in fact, has been heavily criticised as generating more pressure for skin perfection as well as negative judgments where a woman’s natural beauty is found wanting for not being “flawless.”

NMM has it’s sore points. It leads to shaming of women who enjoy wearing and playing around with makeup. NMM unfortunately fronts the misconception that there is something wrong with wearing makeup in the first place and this is a fact that ought to be hidden.