"Boy Beat" - Natural Makeup for 2018

This is a bit of a departure from what I normally blog about, but the scarcity of information about this topic made me interested in exploring more. A casual look at the makeup/beauty scene for the past five years reveals a turn to the dramatic, fantastic, and (joyfully or critically) illusionary. Heavy foundation, contouring creams, and false lashes are no longer kept in the arsenal of makeup artists on set or drag queens preparing for a show. Middle- to high-schoolers experimenting with makeup now have thousands of hours of the highest quality instruction available for free online and millions of inspirational pictures to look up to. One's wildest beauty dreams, completely unchecked and celebrated.

And now it's a new year, and the pendulum is starting to swing. I've always been fascinated how trends or even larger, more nebulous patterns shift. I'll see a few people decide to do something different and watch the chain reaction start until the cool thing one person online did is now a clearance item at a department store. In this case, we're seeing a shift back to natural makeup.

This is nothing new. Natural makeup has popped up again and again, mixed with greasy grunge looks or sun-baked in the 1970s. But natural makeup doesn't show up out of nowhere, and the artistic and technological innovations of makeup in the 21st century surely won't let it be boring.

It kicked off with Beyonce...specifically her makeup artist Sir John. In an interview with Allure, he describes what he calls the "boy beat" he used for Beyonce's "Formation" music video. The video itself ties into the modernity of the look, signaling a shift in music and popular thought to the revolutionary and socially aware. The look is described in the last two minutes of the video. The "boy beat" is all about bringing shapes to the face, specifically the eyes and bone structure, and otherwise letting one's natural face show.

A few videos and people online have suggested the return of the natural look in makeup, but this is the most solid indication I've seen of what kind of natural look. Another video by Sarah Cheung provides a more specific tutorial. She emphasizes messy, full brows and colors on the face that mimic natural shadow, sunburn, and the kind of redness most would seek to conceal. The effect is an androgynous, stark, and modern makeup look that could easy go edgy or innocent with just a few additions.

When I tried to research more about this look, I expected to be inundated with trend reports, tutorials, and product lists. It turns out that either this look has a different name altogether or it is just on the verge of being discovered. I can easily see companies like Milk Makeup and Glossier channeling more energy in the direction of boyish, natural makeup. Milk already has a video out featuring a cleaner androgynous look called "Gender".

I'll keep an eye out to see if the "boy beat" becomes the new unicorn-holographic-cut crease-it makeup or whether it simmers below the surface for the cool kids.

Product Arsenal 

• Brow products, mostly mascaras or pencils that can pull double-duty to make faux freckles
• Creamy eyeshadows (or other products used as eyeshadow) in peaches, browns, and bruise-y colors to give eye definition
• Mostly cream/stick highlighters to give a sheen (or a face gloss, as seen in the Milk video)
• Blush and bronzer for definition
• The barest of bare lip product