10 Kawaii Makeup Tips

If you're familiar with the Japanese pop culture, you've probably come across the word Kawaii, and how it's a common statement and trend about fashion in the country. You've definitely also seen those influencers wearing kawaii clothes and wigs on various social media platforms and thought to yourself, I wish I'd also look as cute as them.

Kawaii is a Japanese word which, in English, means cute. It can be used to refer to an individual, animals, personal and household items, souvenirs or even anime characters from Japan. This term is also commonly used as a name for a pop culture where cuteness and fashion meet eye to eye.

Now that you know more about it, do you hesitate because you are not Japanese or Asian? Don't worry! You can throw that off the table and trust that you can pull it off, anyone can! No matter who you are and where you're from, no matter your body type or the color of your skin.

Soon, after a bit more thought, you went ahead and put on your cute tops which was hanging by your dresser, you pulled on your cute skirts and dresses and later on, you curled you hair to perfection and accessorized it with pretty bows. But there's something that's missing and you realized that you don't have the kawaii makeup you see on those other girls that you see. You sit on your dressing table and stare at your makeup products, but you have no idea how to do kawaii makeup or what you should consider before you start. Worry no more, we’ve got you! We're going to throw in some 10 kawaii makeup tips and tricks to get you started on how to look your kawaii-est!

1. Your face is your blank canvass

Let’s start with the base, with a clean face, prepping your skin with a primer will help achieve smoother, glowing look. Nothing screams kawaii than the baby-smooth, pore-less skin, right? Using a primer in advance will make your skin look polished, and not only that, it will also make your kawaii makeup last throughout the day, I mean, who doesn’t want to look kawaii for as long as you can, right?

2. Using foundation and concealer

3. It’s all about the eyes

When it comes to the kawaii fashion and culture, one of the most common things you could notice is how prominent their eyes are than the rest of their face, whether this is a real person or an anime character. That's the secret to a kawaii looking girl. Simple, light make-up with eyes that are very wide and exaggerated. If you want to generate an illusion of wider, anime-looking eyes, wearing circle contact lenses should be the first step to take, whether you want to wear those in black for maximum dolly effect or any color you prefer, it’s really up to you.

4. Use pastel and natural colored eyeshadow, light eyebrows

For a kawaii girl, it's a huge no-no to wear a very dark, heavy eyeshadow that would totally ruin that cute, innocent face that you're aiming for, so make sure to use bright or pastel colors instead.

Here are a few examples of shades you can use;

• Pink
• Peach
• Salmon pink
• Light brown
• Rose
• Light brown
• Brown
• White

You might have noticed that the list included colors like brown, use this color to make the outer corner of your eyes pop, you can also apply them into the crease just to put emphasis on the shape of your eye, just don't overdo it so your eye makeup won’t appear really dark, we want to appear as bright and light as possible.

You have monolids? No problem! You can use double eyelid tape, which always helps to open the eyes even more. And use a soft shade of eyebrow gel, eyebrow mascara or whatever type of product you use for the eyebrows and you're good to go.

5. Eyeliner is key, always

Well, when it comes to kawaii makeup, your eyeliner is your very best friend. Usually, a kawaii girl will use a black liner to highlight the top part of the eye, make sure you add a little wing whether it's drooping or going up for that cat-eye effect, really depends on your preference, then use a white eyeliner for your lower waterline to create an illusion of wider, rounder eyes. You can use the same black eyeliner to draw fake lashes on the bottom corner of your eye and the results would definitely impress you! Just make sure your product tip is very precise, so that you can mimic your lashes in order to look genuine.

6. Don’t skip on the false eyelashes

Note that we are still talking about your eyes, yep, because that’s what it’s all about! Remember, we’re keeping the base as minimal as possible, but the eyes are supposed to be, well, eye-catching! To widen your eyes even further, first you have to curl your natural lashes with an eyelash curler before adding loads of mascara, and we mean loads. You'll note that cute doll faces really have long, thick eyelashes that make their eyes look bigger. You would then add false eyelashes on both your upper lashes and lower lash line. You should only trim small sections of the falsies for the lower lash line, and add them to full kawaii effect in the lower corners of your eyes.

7. Get that blush on

You should note that when it comes to applying blush, kawaii girls apply it only under their eyes and along the front of their cheeks near the sides of the nose and not on their cheekbones. And it typically comes in very light pink or rose shades, no bright oranges, no reds. A gentle, rosy glow certainly helps you attain the look you’re going for.

8. Contouring

Kawaii girls want to make sure they have the cutest button nose and small lips and you can achieve that by using contour sticks and palettes. Contouring the sides of yournose very gently will help. Note that you don’t need to go heavy on contouring, go easy on enhancing your already stunning features. And for the lips, for actual kawaii standards, the smaller looking, the better, which what will be added to the next part.

9. Cute lips

You want to make sure that the lip product you are using is very light in shade. Pinks, pinks and all pinks! Do not use any dark color or it will ruin your overall aesthetic. Try to make your lips appear smaller as you possibly can but without looking unnatural, you can do that by applying some concealer on the outer corners of your lips. You can also make a gradient effect as preferred by others. And also, never forget to add lip-gloss finish.

10. Highlight all the way

You are almost done and so far, with the way you are looking, you feel nothing but pure happiness. But you just need to do some last minute touches so grab your highlighter and get down to business. When it comes to finishing your kawaii look, you can never go wrong with glitter and highlights. Use a brush to swipe it up to your nose, upper lip and your uppercheekbones. Use a small brush or a cotton swab to apply highlights to the inner corner of you eyes to enhance your already amazing eye makeup.

Those are the tips and tricks you can follow. Pretty easy, right?

And viola! You gaze up in front of the mirror and you can't believe what you're seeing. You are now officially a kawaii girl! Go ahead and flaunt your new found identity to the world. 

In addition to this, you can do a little bit more enhancements to your already flawless, kawaii look. You can apply a few rhinestones to your eyes and face if you want to go for a much bolder approach. If you want to experiment in any way possible, just go for it! From this day forward, you can experiment on how you can improve your overall look by trying different combinations of clothes, hair accessories and makeup.