Makeup look comparison: Flawless and Insta-ready VS Natural and effortless

Think of when you needed a makeup tutorial to get inspiration for your upcoming outing. Upon playing one, with utmost surprise, you saw the mua painting a thick foundation on her face. Can you imagine it was all about baking powder and sharp contours? 

And the worst part is she glued on the huge spider leg falsies for just a night out. Please don't start on the overlined, drying lipstick to get the Kylie pout. And did you even use a highlighter if it isn't visible from Mars? 

With your utmost surprise when you noticed the date, it's saying 18 July 2016. At that point, you know this look would be way too harsh for 2023.

There's no lie that 2016 makeup was all about being flawless, concealing the slightest imperfection, and being Insta-ready. But as we move forward to 2024, makeup is all about being natural and effortless. Embracing textured skin and features, makeup is like touchup now, enhancing beauty rather than cover-up. 

Major difference between 2016 and 2023 makeup trends

Between 2016 and 2023, there has been a significant shift in makeup trends. Heavy full-coverage foundation, baked contouring, thick, bushy brows, and overdone matte lips dominated the fashion trend in 2016. 

The appearance now, in 2023, is more natural and fresh. Popular beauty trends include sheer foundation, delicate contour, feathery brows, and moisturising lip colours. 

With a highlighter, use a gentle touch. There may be light smokey shadows and minimal eyeliner on the eyes. The trend emphasises a shift away from totally changing the face, concealing imperfections, and enhancing the inherent natural beauty.

2016 makeup

The makeup steps are pretty much identical but with fewer products. No priming or sunscreen, we used our two shades lighter foundation on our bare face, and yes, we caked that foundation on. 

The unbreathable coverage matte foundation could hide any imperfection, textures, pigmentation or pores. The next step is contouring to get you a snatched sculpture look. 

Applied with surgical perfection to carve the razor-sharp cheekbones to spice up the button nose. 

Up next, we get concealer, which is applied on the bridge of the nose and under the eyes to conceal the dark circles you made out of overthinking. We made sure to use the amount that the product will be finished after three uses. 

Moving forward, there's baking. You may be wondering how cooking came into makeup. The so-called flawless makeup was locked with thick setting powder at that time. Shortly after, the brows are fixed. 

ABH Brow pomade was everyone's absolute favourite. With an angled brush, you start creating a bold caterpillar-like arched shape. The Instagram brow reigned, looking like it would cut you for making eye contact or so sharp to cut glass. 

And the very next step is setting the whole thing with a brow gel that will stay solid even after a storm. So, can anyone deny that 2016 was the year when everyone turned their eyes into a canvas? 

From sunset theme to cut creases and smokey eyes, which can rival a volcano. You may have even used glitter or metallic eyeshadows to add extra glam, even if you were just attending a birthday party. 

Here comes eyeliner, and girls die to make them alike. You apply a thick and sharp angled wing in the outer corner, which is so winged that it can take flight. And now, the inner part of creating a cat eye would be so dramatic that it would make the ancient Egyptian Queen Nefertari jealous. 

2023 makeup

Here comes the makeup routine 2023, where you start with prepping your skin and go for light, dewy-based makeup that looks more natural on your skin. You may use a very tiny amount of makeup to cover up any blemishes or dark circles to get an effortless look. But make sure to use more blush to get the suntanned, pumpkin look. 

The brows are more natural with few strokes. You use bronzer to warm up your complexion and use less product to stop looking like a Kardashian. Cult favourite highlighter used as before, but make sure you do not look like a disco ball. 

And a little nude eyeshadow on your lids with black/brown pencil eyeliner, along with a few coats of mascara to have a subtle look. And moving forward with the last step, lipstick should be glossy and look like you just ate a doughnut. And voila, you are ready to take the spotlight. 

So, Which makeup look do you prefer? The flawless and Insta-ready look of 2016, or the natural and effortless look of 2023?

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