Bare Essentials: Inspired by KKW X Kylie

In case you haven’t gathered, I’m kind of obsessed with the Kardashian-Jenner clan. Bible. So as you can imagine, I did die and go to heaven for a brief moment when Kim and Kylie announced that they’d be collaborating to bring us the latest Kylie Cosmetics release.

Whilst Kim is obviously best known for her full on glam, over the past few months she’s been bringing things back to basics with minimal, effortless ‘no make-up’ looks, and I am all the way here for it. I love creating softer looks on my clients and on myself, and I’m a firm advocate for enhancing natural beauty. So when Kim and Kylie blessed us with their KKW campaign, I was so happy to see fresh skin, natural brows, barely there eye makeup and nude lips. I just had to recreate it!

Now this isn’t as simple as slapping on a BB cream and calling it a day. This is a process – minimal makeup looks require precision. It’s a case of building and layering products and different textures in order to create flawless skin in the most ‘natural’ way possible, and any makeup artist will tell you that this is actually one of the most difficult things to do. But if you’re willing to put in the groundwork, the results are SO worth it.

So, I’ve put together a step by step guide on creating completely flawless skin, without the cake. Every step is important and shouldn’t be rushed. Use minimal product and gradually add more where necessary, and blend each product out to perfection before moving onto the next step. Patience is key – your face is a masterpiece baby girl!

Just a quick disclaimer – my skin has not been retouched in any way in these photos. It’s all a matter of full coverage products, meticulous application, and a pretty snazzy camera. So this can absolutely be achieved at home – keep scrolling to see how!

So that’s the skin done, and obviously you’re pretty much Kimmy’s doppelgänger now, right? Time to finish off the look.

To keep everything totally natural and tie everything together, double up the contour and highlight powders that you used before in place of your usual eyeshadow. This means a blend of the contour shade in the socket and under the lash line for some subtle definition, and a little pop of highlighter in the centre of the lid.

Next, define the upper lash line with a black liner – I used a gel. This doesn’t need to be a fancy wing or anything dramatic, just a thin line to add definition so that the eye has a nice feline shape. To open up the eye and keep things fresh, pop a white or a nude liner in the waterline.

Then, after a coat of mascara, pop some individual lashes on for a natural wispy look. I adore individual lashes as they’re totally undetectable, easy to apply, and give the most gorgeous fluttery lashes that really look as if they’re home grown.

Next it’s time for the all important brow. Kim and Kylie always keep theirs really thick and softly shaped, so follow your natural brow shape and use your favourite product to thicken them up using a light hand and drawing ‘hair like’ strokes. This avoids the unsightly blocked out brow (that is SO season 4). Use a brow gel to groom them into place and add a nice ‘gloss’ to the brows that mimics natural hair.

Finally, pop on your favourite nude lip. In celebration of the KKW lip crèmes, I opted for a crème finish lip pencil in a neutral nude tone. Now slick that hair into a middle parting, throw on your Yeezy’s and do your thing!

Keep scrolling to see the finished look and to get the lowdown of all the products I used to create it.

G x