The Only 9 Things You Need In Your “No-Makeup Makeup” Bag
Call it a beauty “capsule” even though we sort of hate that word.
by Audie Metcalf
If you’re someone who loves contour and a bold lip and a cut crease, this article isn’t for you.
But if you love undetectable makeup, impossibly clean and glowing skin, and an overall barely there but beautiful 5-minute everyday look, this article was written specifically for you.
These are the handful of products I now keep in my everyday makeup bag that create the prettiest “no-makeup” makeup on my 40+ skin.
Let’s take a gander, shall we?
1. Jones Road Miracle Balm
If you’re drawn to words like “matte” and “powdery” do NOT buy this. Pat this balm on your cheeks as the very last step in your five-minute makeup routine for a sunkissed, glowy, dewy gleam that deposits juuuuust enough color to look like you’ve just come back from a jog. We have it in four colors. Which, fine, defeats the purpose of streamlining we know. But our obsession took over.
Price: $38
2. Furtuna Due Alberi Biphase Moisturizing Oil
Is it weird we’re putting a face oil in an article about makeup? No it’s not! Perfect skincare is MORE important than makeup if “no makeup makeup”is your goal. If we don’t start with plump/dewy/smooth skin, no amount of makeup will achieve that. And we know this particular magical oil is expensive, however, the results are unlike anything we’ve tried. Go HERE for our own wild before and after photo. Makeup on top of this oil is THE most natural. It never looks cakey and leaves us looking “lit from within.”
It’s sooo good, we even got you a code. Use CANDIDLY25 for 25% off your order.
Price: starting at $100
3.Cerave Tinted Face Sunscreen
If you take nothing else from this article, let it be this: if you truly want the no-makeup look, you have to be using this wholly underrated tinted spf from Cerave, and NOT foundation. In a word? It’s perfect. And used with THIS, it’s especially magic.
Price: $17
4. Jones Road Face Pencil
We use this on our tear ducts, right below our nose to cover veins, and on spots as the Brits say. It looks totally undetectable and lasts all day. If you’re hellbent on a real concealer for bags and darkness, THESE are the only ones we would ever use.
Price: $25
5. Chanel Rouge Coco Flash Lip Colour
Simply put, this is the most “your lips but better” lipstick on earth. Their lighter colors just enhance your natural lip shade as opposed to making you look like a corpse like most “nude” lipsticks we’ve tried. We love the shade “boy” for a light but never washed-out sort of bitten shade, but their entire shade range is utter perfection. It’s pricey but so worth it. You’ll see.
Price: $48
7. Neutrogena Healthy Lengths Mascara
Never ever clumps. Curls lashes without a curler. Easy to get off. No one talks about it, and it’s criminal.
Price: $9
8. By Terry Baume de Rose Flaconnette Liquid Lip Balm
There’s a reason this is one of those cult products editors write about in a near-frenzy. It makes your lips look huge but doesn’t add color, just a light kiss of creamy, beigey pink. And the scent! The rose will waft up to your nose throughout the day and make you 87% happier, and you will remember this very article.
Price: $48
9. e.l.f. Cosmetics Brow Lift
We give you a $48 lip balm (worth it) and follow up with a $6 pot. This. Is. The. Key. To. Natural. Makeup. If you have extremely sparse brows, you can also use THIS pencil, but using a cheap spoolie and this brow lift will give you that laminated brow look which INSTANTLY frames your face. As if by magic.
Price: $6
Oh look! There’s a bonus! And here it is:
THIS is overwhelmingly THE best, most natural, most blurring powder you can possibly use on mature skin.
THIS has been our favorite makeup bag recently. It holds everything.
We love THIS mascara for sensitive eyes and THIS one, because it’s just the best if you love big, semi-spidery doll eyes. Which of course we do.
And THIS is our go-to, use-it-for-everything brush. It’s pricey, but it’s the key in blending everything out to bare-faced, goddess-like, near-nothingness.
AND HERE’S AN EASY WAY TO SEE EVERYTHING TOGETHER:
Audie Metcalf is the Editor-in-chief of The Candidly, and lives in LA with her family. You can find more of her articles here.
At The Candidly, we try a lot of stuff so you don’t have to. We only recommend things we truly love, and that we think you’ll love, too. All products are chosen independently by our creative team, and all details reflect the price and availability of products at the time of publication. If you buy something we link to, The Candidly may earn a commission.
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