Wondering how to get a sunkissed look? Creating the effect of having been pool-side all day is a guaranteed win, especially in the summer. You can get that enviable sunkissed glow with the tips we’re sharing below for makeup for women of color.  Mented has got the skinny on the best products to get this look, from foundation to lipsticks to blush for women of color. Check out our comprehensive sunkissed makeup tutorial to help you achieve the perfect look all year long. 

The Challenges of the Sunkissed Look 

We know a natural sunkissed makeup look is not always an easy feat to pull off, even for makeup artists. They’ll tell you themselves. The look is all about appearing as natural as possible, as if the sun itself blessed you with an enviable radiance. Achieving this no-makeup makeup-look requires digging into your bag of tricks, but the payoff is real. 

Not only does a sunkissed glow look healthy and natural, but it is also more fitting for warmer months. When it heats up outside, layers of foundation, heavy eye makeup, and gloss can wear off or become goopy. What’s more, heavy or bold makeup often looks caked on and out of place in the fair, forget-your-cares weather. 

Many makeup lines do not offer bronzers, blushes and other makeup essentials in shades that are both deep and warm. Mented created quality products especially pigmented for all hues, so every woman of color can achieve that perfect sunkissed look. From foundations to lip colors to blush color for deeper shades, we’ve got you covered to help you perfect your makeup look. 

Step 1: Even-Out Your Skin Tone with Foundation

The first step in getting a natural sunkissed makeup look is evening out your skin tone. This is doubly beneficial because:

1. You’ll create a smooth, even canvas for your other makeup application.
2. Your other makeup will stay on your skin a little longer by adhering to the foundation. 

To get started, lightly apply foundation to your face. Start in the center and work your way out. This technique helps to avoid a visible foundation line at the neck or jaw line. If you’re short on foundation application skills - or any makeup skills for that matter - check out our comprehensive guide on beginner makeup tips for women of color.

When it comes to applying foundation as part of a sunkissed look, a lighter hand is the way to go. A tinted moisturizer is the most lightweight approach, otherwise, a thin coat of your favorite foundation will do the trick. Be careful when you reach for your go-to stick of foundation though. In warmer months, many of us need a shade or two deeper to match the added color our skin has gained from the sun, so be sure the foundation still matches your skin tone before applying. You’ll be shooting yourself in the foot if the first step in your sunkissed makeup routine is applying a too-light foundation that washes you out. If you need help identifying the perfect shade for your skin tone, try utilizing a foundation shade finder to guide you to the right selection. 

Step 2: Coat on the Concealer

If there is one beauty product that you could use every day, it is concealer. Concealer is a magic-worker to cover up blemishes, discoloration, brown spots, rosacea and more. 

Besides being your best friend in hiding imperfections, concealer can also double as a highlighter to give your face added dimension. This is a great trick to aid in achieving a sunkissed makeup look, and completing the technique is easy. 

After you have applied concealer under your eyes and over any blemishes, apply it to your T-zone. As the name suggests, this the area that forms a T on your face. It goes from between the eyes, down the bridge of your nose, along the cheekbones and at your chin. Blend the concealer into this area over your foundation with a brush or your fingers. The result should be even makeup coverage, but with your T-zone appearing slightly lighter than the rest of your face. 

Pro Tip: Ladies with oily skin can reduce facial shine by applying powder after foundation and concealer. You’ll want to keep the powder application limited to the areas where you are prone to getting shiny - namely the forehead, nose, apples of your cheeks, and around the mouth. Don’t be heavy-handed with it. Too much powder will take away from the glowing, sunkissed effect you are trying to achieve.

Step 3: Bronzer for Instant Glow

It can be tricky to determine when to use bronzer vs. blush, but don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Bronzer is the magic wand in your natural sunkissed makeup look. As with all makeup products, when choosing a bronzer color, consider your skin tone.  Obviously, the lighter your skin tone, the lighter the bronzer you’ll want. Conversely, the deeper your pigmentation, the deeper color of bronzer you’ll need.

Also, consider what kind of look you want. Do you prefer a soft touch of radiance? If so, then a bronzer with shimmer has the natural-looking luminosity you seek. Or maybe you want a more contoured look à la Eva Mendes? If this is more your style, grab a matte bronzer a shade or two darker than your natural skin tone. Alternatively, you can use a foundation color a shade or two darker than your foundation for the same bronzed effect. 

Whether you want a subtle glow or a dramatic one, lightly apply your bronzer in layers. A natural look will come from dusting the bronzer where the sun hits your face: 

• Top of the forehead
• Bridge of the nose
• Cheekbones
• Chin

Achieving a contoured look means applying bronzer where shadows might naturally fall on your face:

• Hollows of the cheeks
• Sides of nose
• Jaw line

Pro Tip: Don’t forget about your décolletage! Bronze up any skin exposed from a plunging neckline. This area would be sunkissed if you had been soaking up UV rays all day, so mimic this with makeup. You can dust the bronzer directly onto your décolleté, or mix it with lotion to create a bronze-tinted cream to smooth over your skin.

Step 4: Get Blushingly Beautiful

Blush may seem like overkill after applying bronzer, but trust us, it’s not. The bronzer will give you, as the name suggests, a bronzed look in a tanish or brown color. Blush will add another hue to your checks for some color pop. Peach and pink will be most women’s go-to sunkissed blush shades. These hues warm up the face much like the sun and are an ideal complement to your rich bronzer. Whether you have lighter or darker skin tones, these general color families will be a great place to start to find the unique blush shade perfect for your skin tone. 

Mented has a line of four blushes made exclusively for women of color:

1. Pinky Promise - a true pink with gold shimmer 
2. Peach for the Stars – a radiant peach 
3. Berried Away – a bright red burgundy 
4. Clay Too Much – a muted red brown

You can mix and match the colors to get the precise shade you want, but all are made to look ravishing on deeper shaded beauties. Ladies with light to medium brown skin can rock a shimmery pink blush via Pinky Promise, or a glowing peach shade with Peach for the Stars. Ladies with a deeper complexion might like to mix in a darker shade for a similar effect. For example, Clay Too Much is the perfect complement to blend with Peach for the Stars to create a standout sunkissed blush for ebony-hued ladies.

Applying blush is about as easy as it gets. Dip your blush brush into your blush palette and apply with circular motions along the apples of your cheeks. Not sure where those are? Look in the mirror and smile. It’s those small round areas that lift up around your cheekbones. To blend the blush in like a pro, sweep it towards the hairline with your blending brush. Learn more about how to apply blush for your face shade here!

Step 5: Go Nude On Your Eyes

A naturally sunkissed face means your skin takes on a slightly darker tone and a warmer hue.  As such, you’ll want to mimic this look along your eyes with the following tricks: 

1. Cover the entire eye area with a light nude shadow from your lash line up to your eyebrow. This creates a creamy, even texture that you can layer other colors over. 
2. Take a slightly darker nude shade, maybe one with a hint of shine in it, in the crease of your eye. Some women also like to put this shade on the inner corner as well. 
3. Take your deepest nude shade. You can touch the very outside edge of your crease with it and blend in. Alternatively, use it as a liner by dragging it over your upper lash line, and maybe lower lash line too for a pro makeup look. 
4. Lastly, add a hint of shine by dabbing a lighter color drenched in gold at the center of your eye. 

By layering in eye colors this way, you can achieve a sunkissed look with authentic depth. It will also complement the bronze and blush on your face. Of course, Mented has you covered in the nude eye area with our Everyday Eyeshadow Palette. This palette has nine richly-pigmented nude shades ranging from brown and shimmery gold to deep tan and rich burgundy. All perfect for creating a convincing sunkissed look.

Pro Tip: Don’t forget about your brows. Fuller brows are on-trend nowadays, but regardless of how thick or thin your brows are, they never look good if they’re all over the place or not shaped. Be sure to comb them, fill them in with a pencil and set them with a gel.

Step 6: Rock a Natural Lip Look

Keep it natural on the lips to round out your sunkissed makeup look. Nude shades that closely match your natural lip color are best. If you’re unsure on your ideal nude lip color, check the inside of your lip. This color is slightly richer than your outer lips and makes for a perfect match for the right sunkissed lip color. 

Since Mented was founded as a line of nude lipsticks for women of color, you know we have the perfect nude shade for you. All of our lipsticks feature precise mixtures of pinks and browns to look truly nude on the full spectrum of skin tones. Nude lip colors range from ones more taupe or pink to richer hues like brown and brick, but regardless of which shade is your jam, it’s specifically made to look stunning on your particular shade of lip. 

There are two basic routes you can go with sunkissed lipstick: a shimmer or matte lipstick. Shimmers look dewy, complementing the summertime sensibility, but they also come off fairly easily. Mattes are renowned for being long lasting, but the flat, saturated color is more high-fashion than beachy-keen. You can always split the difference between the two by using a matte lipstick with a gloss. Apply the matte like a pro using a lip primer and then lip liner. After you have applied a thin layer of the matte, blot with a tissue and then dab on your favorite lip gloss.

Sunkissed with Mented

With the right dabs of blush, smudges of shadow and touches of lip color, you can bring out the radiance in your deeper complexion. Mented celebrates women of all hues so you know our products will be luminous on a variety of skin tones. No matter how deep the pigmentation of your skin type, we’ve got the tips and tools to give you a head-turning, sunkissed glow.