Freckles, cosmetics and online effects

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How to embrace your freckles

After all, they’re your most adorable feature

Freckles: you might be covered in them or have none. Either way, you should embrace your uniqueness or learn to love yourself with or without them. If you’re a huge fan of freckles but don’t have any natural ones, take on the term ‘fake it before you make it’ and get your faux freckle on.

What are freckles?

Freckles are brown spots that are found on the skin – they can become more apparent when exposed to the sun but they aren’t necessarily caused because of the sun. The colour of freckles is caused by a pigment called melanin, and the more time you spend in the sun the more melanin is produced. Freckles can fade in the winter and come back in the summer, so don’t worry if this happens. Freckles are also genetic, which means anyone can get them but people with red-coloured hair and fair skin are more likely to have them.

How to care for freckles

Freckles are more prone to those with fairer skin, so looking after them means looking after your delicate skin too. So, make sure to always wear products that contain SPF during the winter months and wear sunscreen every day in the hotter months. Learn more about how SPF in your cosmetics can help protect your skin. 

How to enhance freckles

First thing to remember is freckles are beautiful and should be cared for – they make you unique. So don’t cover them up with a heavy foundation, try using a BB or CC cream instead – that way they won’t be hidden. If you’re not sure on whether to use a BB or CC cream, take a look at our handy guide on the difference between BB and CC cream. Or you can skip the foundation and BB/CC cream altogether and just prep your base with a primer and apply translucent powder to your face – that way you’ve still got a very light coverage but keep the glow of your freckles. 

Can you prevent freckles?

If you really don’t love your freckles and want to stop your skin from getting more, you can do the following (be mindful that these tips might only help, they won’t fully prevent more freckles appearing). 

Also, you should always follow these tips during the summer months regardless of whether you love your freckles or not. 

• Seek shade during 11am – 3pm as this is usually the hottest time of the day during the summer months

• Apply SPF50 sunscreen to protect your skin from sun overexposure and make sure to reapply every couple of hours – especially if you’re swimming, sweating a lot or exercising

• Wear loose fitted clothing in the sun like long sleeve tops and hats

How to create faux freckles

We’re not all lucky enough to be blessed with gorgeous freckles, so say hello to faux freckles. We’ve put together steps and our top tips for creating faux freckles:

• Find the right colour product for your skin tone – you always don’t have to stick to just one colour as natural freckles can be light and dark. We like the Soap & Glory Archery Brow Tint & Pencil because there are two sides – felt-tip tint for precise, darker freckles and a pencil for lighter ones

• Before your begin applying faux freckles, apply your make-up as you normally would with the exception of powder – if you don’t wear make-up you can just apply them over your natural base

• Make sure to start off small – just pop a few dots over your nose and cheeks and build until you’re happy or you could just end up with a face full of dots! 

• Don’t make them too perfect – if you look at a person with natural freckles you’ll notice each freckle is a different size and isn’t always symmetrical 

• Once you’re happy with your faux freckles, apply a sweep of CYO Cosmetics Meet Your Matte Powder over your face for the ultimate matte finish

• Then spritz NYX Professional Makeup Matte Finish Setting Spray over your face to complete your look and make your faux freckles stay put – take this with you if you’re off out for the night for any top ups

Top tip: brow products, like the Sleek MakeUp PWDR Brow Pencil, are better at keeping your faux freckles in place than eyeliner is. 

If you’re still not in love with your freckles, ask yourself why are people drawing them on? Because they’re beautiful!


                                       Instagram freckles filter tutorial