TikTok has a penchant for repackaging existing beauty trends into accessible and appetite-salivating “aesthetics.” The latest to suffer this treatment is the mid-2000s makeup counter favorite, the bronze goddess. This makeup style is now making a comeback on TikTok under a new name– latte makeup. Here is everything you need to know about the trend and how to recreate it.
Why the name ‘latte makeup’?
Latte makeup uses monochromatic and complementary brown tones to create a lit-from-within, copper-colored glow. The latte makeup trend only took off on TikTok after content creator Rachel Rigler coined the look, and celebs like Hailey Bieber further popularized it.
The look subtly sculpts your complexion, leaving you with a refined sun-kissed glow that emulates cream diffusing into your morning espresso. The style focuses on accentuating your face’s natural highlights and contours by exclusively using brown and bronze tones.
Creating the bronze tone
The base of the latte makeup look mainly includes a sheer-coverage foundation or skin tint. To achieve a natural, sun-kissed effect, Rachel Rigler recommends putting your foundation or skin tint everywhere except your nose to let your natural freckles come through.
Alternatively, you can also use a freckle pen to create freckles after finishing the base. Add a healthy amount of cream bronzer or contour to your cheeks, a little concealer wherever you need it, and blend well. Finish up with a powder bronzer.
Creating the faintly shining brown eye
For an everyday recreation of the look, you can blend your powder bronzer into your crease, add a bit of smudged brown eyeliner to your lash line, and call it a day. However, you may want to make your latte makeup look a bit more glam.
To achieve this, use a darker brown eyeshadow in your crease, add a smudged brown eyeliner to your lash and water line, and a bit of gold eyeshadow on your inner corner. Using minimal mascara is what makes the brown tones shine.
The glossy and natural lip
To ultimately finish up your latte makeup, create a neutral lip. All you have to do is use your nude, caramel-toned, or brown lip liner and finish with a gloss that contributes to the melted effect of the makeup.
In her original latte makeup tutorial, Rigler uses the excess bronzer and foundation left over on her beauty blender as a lip base. She pats it over her lips before applying liner for a more neutral look.
Is there a skin tone limit to the latte makeup?
Many of the original pictures and videos of the viral trend are used on people with bronzed, olive complexions, but the look is just as flattering on fairer and deeper skin tones. So you don’t need to self-tan to achieve the look.
People with cool undertones should lean into ashy, taupe-y browns, while those with warm undertones should seek out browns with a pinker undertone. Prioritizing shades of brown that will compliment your skin tone rather than wash it out is the key to flawlessly rocking the viral look.
