How to Create a Glossy Makeup Look That Lasts All Day

Prep Your Skin

Prepping with skincare before you apply your makeup is the key to ensuring your skin looks hydrated, dewy, and ready to glow. There are a few ways you can prep.

First of all, exfoliation is key. The smoother your skin, the smoother your makeup application will be, so it helps to incorporate some sort of dead skin cell and peach fuzz removal into your skincare routine. While the products you'll use (and when you use them) will depend on your skin type, if you are looking to eliminate any kind of peach fuzz you can utilize the Dernmaflash Luxe ($200) to gently remove hair, followed by a hydrating cream like Augustinus Bader's The Cream ($175).

After you've applied your skincare and sunscreen and everything has had time to absorb, it's time for primer. Foundation primer helps keep your makeup in place and fresh throughout the day. I'm applying Milk Makeup's Hydro-Grip Primer ($36), which you can apply with clean fingers. Let it fully dry before you move on to your makeup.

Choose Cream Products

After prepping and priming skin, it's important to take a look at the formulas of the products you plan to use—and more specifically, to opt for cream and liquid products. For instance, cream blushes, liquid foundations, and highlighters can be warmed by your fingers and natural body temperature to blend well on the skin and hold up during the day. Since I want my skin to look healthy, dewy, and glossy, I am choosing to wear as many cream products as possible. I applied Milk Makeup Sunshine Under-Eye Tint and Sunshine Skin Tint for my concealer and foundation.

Layer and Blend

Layering your products and blending is imperative to any makeup look, especially when you're going to add gloss later. In keeping with my dewy theme, I've applied and blended Milk Makeup Bionic Bronzer with Multi-Powder Brush from Anisa, and Chanel Beauty's Les Beiges Cream Blush in shade No. 21 to create flushed cheeks.

When applying bronzer, follow the shape of a "3" as a rule of thumb for where the product should go on your face (the "3" shape will go along the forehead, along the cheekbone area and then jawline. The 3 shape works on both sides of the face and is one of my favorite tricks as a makeup artist for creating a natural finish.

Next up is blush. I prefer to apply cream blush to the apples of my cheeks, extended out ever so slightly to give myself a naturally flushed look. After cream blush has been applied, you can blend it out with a blush brush.

Create Soft, Minimal Eyes

Keeping eye makeup soft and natural is key when creating a glossy makeup look. With this style of makeup, I like to add a bit of gloss to my lids, so I prefer to keep things light when it comes to eyeshadow. I'm opting for a soft, natural eyeshadow shade in Clair Light from Chanel Beauty's Les 4 Ombres eyeshadow quad in 328 Blurry Mauve, and using this brush from Alima Pure to blend it on my eyelid and crease.

After applying the shadow, I've followed up with a few coats of Kjaer Weis Im-Possible Mascara for full, thick lashes.

Make Your Cheekbones Pop With Highlight

Before adding the gloss, a liquid highlighter is essential to add to the cheekbones and brow bone area as it will give radiance to the skin and work with the gloss to help your skin glow even more. I lightly buffed Chanel Beauty's Les Beiges Sheer Healthy Glow Highlighting Fluid in shade Pearly Glow to the apples of my cheeks and brow bone with the same brush I used to blend out my cream blush. Don't have a highlighter on hand or prefer to keep things more minimal? Goldberg recommends Weleda Skin Food as an alternative that can help create a dewy sheen.

Top Off With Face Gloss or Vaseline

As a final step, you can opt to apply a face gloss to really make your makeup pop. You can use a few different products to create a glossy sheen on your skin, from top picks at Sephora to good ol' trusted Aquaphor and Vaseline. Goldberg notes, "You can get a wet finish from a pressed glitter, or using a thin layer of Vaseline on a bare lid achieves a beautiful glossy eye."

The key is applying it to the right areas on the face and learning as you go. I absolutely love Kevyn Aucoin's Glass Glow Face Illuminator in Pixie Dream and have chosen to follow Goldberg's advice, "Apply gloss to the high points of the face that catch the light, such as the brow bone, center of eyelid, and cheekbones."

If you want to prevent creasing on the lids, apply the gloss to the brow bone only. Lightly tap the gloss onto your cheeks with your fingers or a brush, slowly adding it as you go until it looks just glossy enough and not greasy.

Final Touches

To keep the glossy theme going, the last step after adding your face gloss is to add a lip gloss. Whether you want to wear gloss alone or put it on top of your lipstick is your choice. And, if you prefer, you can just use your favorite lip balm for this step.

The Final Look

Et voila! Here's the finished look. You can always add whatever you want from here, but this is a great base routine to return to.