As your social calendar fills up for the season, you may like to plan the makeup looks you’ll wear to each event. Or maybe you want to learn how to create one makeup look that you can wear across most events or occasions. Soft tones, long lashes, and a touch of shimmer make soft glam makeup a sophisticated makeup look that wears beautifully on any occasion. Ahead, learn how to create a beginner-friendly, soft glam makeup look with tips by Lancôme’s National Makeup Artist Robert Cook (@RobertLancomeUSA).
What Is Soft Glam Makeup
Soft glam makeup is a natural and polished makeup look characterized by neutral and warm tones, blended lines, and a touch of shimmer to play up your natural beauty. Skin has a natural finish with the warmth of bronzer, while eyes are adorned with soft shadows, mascara, and optional soft-smudged eyeliner. Eyebrows are filled yet fluffy and lips are topped with nude or soft pink shades. Soft glam makeup can be your go-to makeup style for occasions where elegant, yet understated makeup is the goal, like weddings and holiday festivities, just to name a few.
What Is Considered Glam Makeup?
In contrast to soft glam, glam makeup is more dramatic, experimental, and ready to make a bold statement. Glam makeup is characterized by utilizing vibrant, dark, or metallic colors, pops of color, and incorporating elements like full-coverage foundation, gloss or glitter, and graphic liner. With a glam look, you might use techniques like contouring and highlighting, applying setting spray or powder, adhering false eyelashes, and creating a statement lip. With glam makeup, your creativity is your biggest asset.
Skincare Prep for Soft Glam Makeup
Your skincare routine is essential for effective makeup application. You may prefer to keep your routine light and easy with a day cream and sunscreen. If you have a party or an event to attend, it’s worth taking a little more time with your skin to ensure makeup lays smoothly and lasts longer than the festivities.
Step 1: Eye Care
Start by hydrating the eye contour. This helps to prevent dry patches and an uneven texture when applying eye makeup like concealer. Choose an eye cream or serum that’s hydrating and that can also address your areas of concern. If you have mature skin concerns like wrinkles and volume loss, opt for a firming eye cream, like our Rénergie Eye Cream. If your concern is puffiness, consider our Advanced Génifique Light Pearl Eye Serum, designed to help soothe and depuff. And for brighter under eyes, try our our Génifique Ultimate Eye Cream to visibly brighten the eye area.
Rénergie Eye Cream
Lifting & Dark Circle-Reducing
Advanced Génifique Light Pearl Eye Serum
De-Puffing & Illuminating
Génifique Ultimate Eye Cream
Dark Circle Reducing & Depuffing
Step 2: Hydrate & Lock in Moisture
Use a hydrating serum like Génifique Ultimate Recovery Serum infused with Beta-Glucan to help repair skin’s moisture barrier and reduce visible fine lines. Next, apply a moisturizer to help lock in moisture and prevent water loss. Our Rénergie H.P.N. 300-Peptide Cream offers lightweight moisturization (great for humid climates) while helping to improve visible signs of aging, like wrinkles and lower-face sagging over time.
Step 3: Sun Protection
Finish your skincare routine with broad-spectrum sun protection. Lancôme’s Supra Screen Invisible Serum Sunscreen SPF 50+, proven effective across 6 key signs of photo-aging: dark spots, wrinkles, fine lines, brightness, tone evenness, and smoothness. An invisible, broad-spectrum sunscreen, plus the skincare benefits of Niacinamide, Vitamin Cg, and Hyaluronic Acid for long lasting hydration.
Génifique Ultimate Recovery Serum
Visible Damage & Skin Barrier Recovery
Rénergie H.P.N. 300-Peptide Cream SPF 25
Reduce Sagging & Wrinkles
Supra Screen Invisible Serum Sunscreen SPF 50+
Anti-Aging Correction & SPF 50+ Protection
Common Mistakes When Creating Soft Glam Makeup
Creating a soft glam makeup look involves a delicate balance of enhancing features without overdoing it. Here are some common mistakes to avoid:
Neglecting Skin Prep
Soft glam looks best on well-prepped skin. Ensure your skin is clean, moisturized, and primed before applying makeup. This helps achieve a smooth application and enhances the overall radiance.
Over-Applying Foundation
Soft glam aims for a natural finish. Using too much foundation can make the skin look cakey and less like skin. Instead, opt for a lightweight foundation and build up coverage only where necessary.
Heavy Contouring
Soft glam can utilize subtle contouring, but is not necessary for the look. Harsh or heavy contouring can look too dramatic and detract from the natural effect that soft glam celebrates. If you choose to contour, use a light hand and blend thoroughly.
Using Bold Colors
Stick to neutral and soft tones for eyes, lips, and cheeks. Bright or dark colors can overpower the soft glam look. Choose eyeshadows, blushes, and lipsticks in soft pinks, nudes, or earthy tones.
Ignoring Proper Blending
Blending is crucial in soft glam makeup. Harsh lines or unblended shadow can look out of place. Take the time to blend eyeshadows and blush seamlessly into the skin.
Soft Glam Eye Makeup Tutorial
Grab your favorite neutral eyeshadow palette, like our Hypnôse Eyeshadow Palette in Nude Sculptural, with matte and shimmer shades to create your soft glam eyeshadow look. Follow this step-by-step makeup tutorial to get the look:
Step 1: Eyeshadow Base
To start, apply a light pink or nude shade all over the lids for a wash of color.
Step 2: Add Dimension
Take your shadow brush and apply a medium pinky-nude shade in soft circular motions along the crease and outer corners. This adds dimension to the makeup.
Step 3: Smoke Out the Crease
Using a smaller shadow brush, apply a brown shade to the crease to add a smoky element and depth. For this more precise application, you can use a patting or pressing motion to apply the product and use tight circular motions to blend.
Step 4: Line Eyes with Shadow
With the deepest shade in your Hypnôse palette, or a deep chocolate shade, take a liner brush and apply it close to the lash line. Build up the color intensity to your liking and experiment with a soft wing (don’t worry – wipe away mistakes with a cotton swab and keep working!). Using eyeshadow as eyeliner is a beginner’s best friend. It’s an easy way to add definition and a winged line without having to be perfect.
Step 5: Highlight Inner Corners
And finally, apply a light shimmer shade to the inner corners of the eyes. This highlights the eyes, making them appear brighter and more open.
Step 6: Long, Full Lashes
A soft glam makeup look is not complete without long lashes. After applying soft glam eyeshadow, prep eyelashes with Cils Booster XL Lash & Mascara Primer, designed to help “make one coat of mascara look like two” says MUA, Robert Cook. Before your coat of mascara primer fully dries, start applying your favorite mascara. For black intensity and maximum volume, try Hypnôse Drama Mascara, our most volumizing black mascara that delivers up to 17X volume alone, and up to 21X volume when you prep lashes with Cils Booster.
Hypnôse 5-Color Eyeshadow Palette
Highly Pigmented & Long-Lasting
Cils Booster XL Enhancing Lash & Mascara Primer
Priming & Conditioning
Long-Lasting Face Makeup Tutorial for Soft Glam
Soft glam makeup can be paired with your usual foundation and concealer routine, or you may like to try a full-coverage routine that’ll last into the wee hours of the morning if you need it to. For long-lasting full coverage and a natural matte finish, consider pairing Teint Idole Ultra Wear Foundation with Teint Idole Ultra Wear All-Over Full Coverage Concealer. What makes these formulas well suited for long events or occasions spent outdoors is that they feel lightweight and breathable on the skin while also resisting sweat & humidity that can budge the makeup. This way, you can feel confident on the dance floor or giving that speech, knowing your makeup will stay put and look perfected well into the night.
If skin looks pale after your foundation application, you may like to bring the natural warmth back into your skin. To do this, apply a bronzer, like our Teint Idole Ultra Wear Skin Transforming Powder Bronzer, that’s 1 to 2 shades deeper than your natural skin tone. Start applying bronzer to the areas where the sun naturally hits, like the forehead, cheekbones, nose, and jawline. Start along the perimeter of your face and work your way in for a natural, tanned glow.
For this look, MUA Robert Cook suggests applying lipstick as blush for “perfect lip and cheek harmony.” Take any of our L'Absolu Rouge Intimatte Blushing Nude Lipstick shades, like 210 Unspoken Feelings or another shade that complements your skin tone, and place color onto cheeks and the bridge of the nose and blend with your fingers or a blush brush.
Makeup Artist Tip
Warm the formula on the back of your hand before applying it to the face for controlled, buildable blending and preventing harsh lines.
Teint Idole Ultra Wear All Over Full Coverage Concealer
Full Coverage & Natural Matte Finish
Teint Idole Ultra Wear Skin Transforming Powder Bronzer
Vitamin-Infused & Up to 24H Wear
L'Absolu Rouge Intimatte Soft Matte Lipstick
Up to 12 HR comfort & soft-matte finish
Finish Soft Glam Makeup with Nude Lipstick
To finish your soft glam makeup, swipe on your favorite neutral lipstick shade or a Blushing Nude Lipstick shade, like 210 Unspoken Feelings, to lips for a natural pout. Nude lipstick shades complement soft glam makeup beautifully while looking classic and sophisticated, perfect for any event or occasion.
L'Absolu Rouge Intimatte Soft Matte Lipstick
Up to 12 HR comfort & soft-matte finish
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