Last Updated on February 15, 2026 by Eve Dawes
Easy Soft Dewy Makeup
A dewy makeup look should feel like healthy skin not shimmer sitting on top. The goal of a golden glow is subtle warmth, soft light reflection, and hydration that looks natural in daylight. In this tutorial I’ll show you how to create a simple golden dewy makeup look step-by-step, including the products, placement, and techniques that make skin look luminous rather than greasy.
Time to forget hard lines and keep it soft and simple. These are the steps and cruelty-free beauty products I’ve found work best for golden dewy makeup.
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How to get the simple dewy makeup look
A step by step dewy makeup tutorial using my favorite cruelty free products. A lot of them also have SPF sun protection to get the most out of your makeup and minimize oil based products so that your makeup doesn’t slide in the heat.
Dewy makeup tutorial step by step guide
Makeup doesn’t have to be complicated to look good. Simple makeup can truly let your skin and best features shine and looks more appropriate for the day than a heavier look.
1. Prep Your Skin
Starting with a good base is pretty much the key to flawless makeup of any kind not just for this dewy makeup tutorial. After thoroughly cleansing and moisturizing skin, start with a primer made for your skin type. E.g. one with collagen and hyaluronic acid for anti-aging and hydrating benefits or one with SPF for those in warmer climates.
When creating dewy makeup, it helps to start with a dewy base and use a primer like YSE Skin Glow SPF 30 Primer which has a blend of hydrating, brightening, and radiance-boosting ingredients. Supergoop! Glowscreen SPF 40 is another great option that’s a primer, SPF 40 & blue light protection in 1. Living in Vegas a good SPF is essential unless you want to end up looking like a shriveled up prune, which isn’t the plan for most of us.
Neither of these primers pill when you apply foundation but make it go on much smoother and you’ll find that your makeup lasts longer using a primer.
2. Create Golden Dewy Makeup with Enhancing Golden Drops
Applying a shimmering CC serum or glow drops either before or mixed into your foundation for a dewy vs matte makeup finish. This will give you that lit from within but not shiny look.
One of my new makeup hero’s I discovered this year in my FabFitFun box was Drunk Elephant D-Bronzi™ Bronzing Drops with Peptides which is a peptide-infused serum that delivers a bronzy wash of color while boosting skin’s elasticity. I’m all about makeup that also has skin benefits. Especially when we’re after that dewy makeup look.
The more drops that you mix into the foundation, the more of a glowy lit from within look you’ll create. It also doubles up as a highlighter by using it on its own wherever you want to highlight.
The other super hero I use as a primer and finishing spray is Iconic London Prep-Set-slow Hydrating Spray which does exactly what it’s name suggests. I’ll tell you more about under setting sprays.
3. Simple Dewy Makeup Look Foundation
For those of you lucky enough to not need foundation or get by with a tinted moisturizer, I envy you, but I’m not being torn away from my foundation. To get the closest match to your skin, I always recommend having 2 foundations on hand. A lighter and a darker one and changing the ratios of each that you mix through the year to match your skin tone.
I’m always trying new brands but my go-to right now for Spring is Dior Forever Glow Foundation. This gives really good coverage and staying power. If it’s too think for you, you can also mix it with a primer or glow drops to sheer it out, especially for the day.
If you prefer lighter coverage, try something like Versed Skin Solution Multi-Serum Skin Tint SPF 40. This skin-perfecting tint is a nourishing serum with buildable coverage that corrects uneven skin tone and protects with mineral SPF 40 for a skin-like finish.
How to apply foundation for a dewy makeup look
There’s no right or wrong when it comes to whether you use a brush, beauty blender makeup sponge, or your fingers to apply. It’s all down to personal preference, so you do you.
I like to warm the products either in my palm or on the back on my hand while mixing the colors. Then applying it with my fingertips and blending in with a damp Beauty Blender by bouncing and rolling the product into the skin. This makes it look more a part of the skin than sitting on top of it.
Another trick to customize your foundation to your skin color is to use the Drunk Elephant bronzing drops which are vegan and cruelty free. These weightlessly blend with your favorite products to adjust your shade, tint a moisturizer, or create your perfect foundation.
It’s up to you whether you mix them with your moisturizer, primer, concealer or foundation to create a custom foundation and lighten or deepen a shade.
4. Highlight and Conceal
Since the foundation is minimal for this dewy makeup tutorial, concealers are serious multitaskers and can fill in coverage where it’s needed the most. Wherever you apply it is going to appear further forward so apply strategically, as well as to hide any under eye shadows and blemishes. I like to highlight along the bridge of my nose, chin, center of the forehead and cupids bow to look brighter and less flat.
You can also do this with a highlighter but concealer is more subtle or you can do concealer and then highlight over it for the ultimate pop or to take your look from day to night.
I go pretty light with my concealer to create contrast without creasing. I’m currently using Dior Forever concealer that I bake into place once my concealers dry, not wet (so it doesn’t crease) with Laura Mercier setting powder.
5. Well Blended Contour
Contouring’s not going anywhere thankfully because I love a good contour and highlight. The pageant queen in me loves this look. For a simple dewy makeup look make sure it’s well blended and more subtle than you would for instagram or evening glam.
For the most flattering look, don’t contour too far in on your cheekbones and for a sunkissed look that’s integral to golden dewy makeup, add it to the perimeter of your forehead as well. This also has the added benefit of making your forehead look smaller which mine needs all the help it can get with.
6. Simple makeup for your cheeks
A gentle rosy or bronze glow is the way to go for golden dewy makeup. A blush with a soft shimmer is always pretty and compliments the dewy makeup. Charlotte Tilbury Cheek To Chic $40 has some beautiful color options. Blend, blend, and then blend some more.
7. Soft Eyes
Soft pastel or neutral shades that add a wash of color to line your eyes look beautiful. A soft kohl liner or eyeshadow smudged along the lash line work better for this look than hard black lines. Urban Decay has some great 24/7 pencil liners that blend well. I use the shade ‘Bourbon’ of course I pick the one with an alcoholic name!
Then add a pop of highlighter or shimmering eyeshadow to the inner corner and/or lower lid to make your eyes pop. The shimmer really helps create that glowing, dewy makeup look. Go for shimmer not glitter to keep this look natural.
Pro Tip: Spraying your eyeshadow brush with setting spray before dipping into your shimmer eyeshadow or highlighter will make it last longer and make it more pigmented as the brush will pick up more color and help prevent fall out.
8. Lips
Lining the lips is all down to preference and skin needs. Liner helps prevent the lipstick from feathering, makes it last longer (when you line the entire lip), and you can cheat a bigger lip and the shape which I definitely do. But if you prefer a more natural look to create your dewy makeup look and don’t have those issues, skipping lip liner is totally fine.
Glosses or lipsticks are a personal preference and sometimes it just comes down to what you feel like wearing, whether it’s day, night or windy! We used Dawes Custom Cosmetics hydrating plumping lip gloss in Bora Bora which is also available as a lipstick, or use both for longer staying power and more color.
9. Dewy Makeup Look Finishing Spray | Set & Go
Finish with a loose dusting of translucent setting powder and setting spray such as:
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