Move over ‘glazed doughnut skin,’ matte is back

After years of dewy, wet-looking complexions, hyper-smooth, 1990s-inspired matte foundation is trending. Just ask Taylor Swift. How to achieve the heavenly, ‘cloud skin’ look.

Smooth, 1990s-inspired matte foundation is back — and it looks velvety as ever. Picture: Getty Images

Dewy, glazed, glassy. In recent years, a number of viral names have described the desired skin finish, but the look never varied. The goal: a visage that glistened and gleamed, particularly in the glow of a ring light.

“Social media plays a huge role in influencing these trends as skin has to look a certain way on camera,” said New York makeup artist Gita Bass, whose clients include Olivia Wilde and Elizabeth Olsen.

But that once-ubiquitous lustre appears to be dimming. “We are nearing the end of the glazed look,” said Sasha Plavsic, the founder of Laguna Beach, California-based brand Ilia Beauty.

Its replacement? A soft, modern, velvety take on the matte foundation of the 1990s. Predictably, TikTok has already named it: cloud skin. The first commercially available foundation, Max Factor’s Pan-Cake, which hit shelves in 1935, was matte. That formula was initially designed to perfect and conceal silver-screen stars’ complexions.

“It was about creating a blanket-like finish that didn’t look like real skin but instead had a ‘canvas’ effect,” said Marcia Kilgore, the Geneva-based founder of the Beauty Pie brand.

Not until the ’90s, when the fresh-faced, girl-next-door look became fashionable, did matte foundation begin to look like real skin, said Kilgore.

At that time, as Lisa Eldridge, a London makeup artist and founder of an eponymous beauty line, put it, “you first started seeing foundations that were inverse emulsions, basically water and silicone oils, that seemed revolutionary because they felt so fresh on the skin”.

Matte foundation did persist, in various forms, after the ’90s. But over the past decade, the popularity of the radiant “no-makeup makeup” look nudged us toward super-light, luminous foundations, specifically tints.

Case in point: Super Serum Skin Tint, a light, glowy formula that became a bestseller once Ilia launched it in 2020. Recent customer requests for more coverage and less shine have led the brand to newly emphasise matte. It has plans to debut the decidedly undewy Skin Rewind Complexion Stick on March 5. “It will have a skinlike finish with a natural matte feel,” said Plavsic.

When you’re pursuing cloud skin, “natural” is the operative word. And you won’t get that look or sensation by uniformly slathering matte foundation all over your face. Instead, said Eldridge, apply it “patchwork style” – meaning, swipe foundation on strategically where you need it.

“The blanket approach to foundation is no more,” agreed Kilgore. Also no more? Matte foundation’s reputation for being heavy and cakey. Now “matte is synonymous with oil-absorbing and blurring”, she said. ”And it can (look) natural.”

Because matte foundations can have a slightly dry finish, New York makeup artist Bass advocates rigorous skin prep before applying. Make sure skin is exfoliated (try Paula’s Choice Skin Perfecting Mandelic Acid + Lactic Acid Liquid Exfoliant) and well-hydrated. To ensure smooth, even foundation, choose a moisturiser or primer that absorbs well (such as Colorescience Barrier Pro Essential Moisturiser).

Bass applies matte foundation deliberately. “The most modern option is keeping the skin looking matte on the T-zone, while maintaining a radiant, not dewy, glow on the high points of the face”, such as the cheekbones, brow bones and the bridge of the nose, she said.

Eldridge takes a similar tack, employing matte foundation more generously in areas where shine isn’t as welcome. “Let your cheekbones be as glassy as you like, but when that shine moves to the sides of the nose and the chin, it doesn’t look good,” she said.

Sarah Tanno, global artistry director at Haus Labs by Lady Gaga, also stresses the need for deft application. For a lighter finish, she applies matte foundation with a damp Beautyblender sponge, pressing it into the skin. “It’s beautiful and almost undetectable,” she said. To finish, she’ll often set the foundation with loose powder.

While a foundation with high-wattage glow reads as otherworldly on a smartphone screen (and in editorial photo shoots, Eldridge added), it rarely translates as glamorously – or lasts very long – IRL.

“Most people just want to look good in real life when they’re animated and moving, not just (when) posing for a picture in the right light,” said Eldridge. Judging by recent social media posts – not to mention Taylor Swift’s stunningly smooth complexion at the Golden Globes on January 7 – soft, matte foundation telecasts as convincingly as its dewier counterparts. Its popularity is only growing. At last count, “cloud skin” had around 200 million views on TikTok.

The Wall Street Journal