Basic Male Makeup Tutorial with Nathan Johnson

Makeup artists have a very diverse clientele. Not all of your clients will be young women who just want to look glamorous for a special evening. You’ll encounter clients with mature skin, male clients looking to get a flawless appearance, and many unique requests.

In this tutorial, celebrity makeup artist Nathan Johnon reveals his secrets to achieve a quick and clean male makeup application. Have your clients looking great and feeling great in under 10 minutes!

Let’s Review:

To start: Ensure your client is starting out with a completely clean face and apply a small amount of moisturizer.

Primer: Nathan is using Dermalogica Age Smart Perfect Primer that immediately smooths and evens out the skin. Although it is very subtle, sometimes this step is all that’s needed for a quick facial clean up.

Concealer: Apply concealer underneath the eye to cover dark lines. Nathan swears by Eve Pearl Magic Salmon Concealer. By tilting forward you’ll be able to see the lines much clearer. Only apply product to where the darkness is, otherwise you will cancel out the correction. Set the application right away to avoid creasing. Nathan is using Cover FX setting powder and applying it lightly underneath the eye for staying power.

BB Cream: Nathan’s new go-to product for a simple male makeup application is Dr. Brandt’s BB Matte. It’s a highly pigmented product that creates the appearance of perfect skin. Apply all over the face but avoiding where the under-eye concealer was applied.

Blush: Applying blush is the perfect way to add some glow to the cheeks, even on men! Nathan is using a Tarte cream-based tint, applying it to the apples of the cheeks and softening by blending.

Set the look: Set the complete look using the same setting powder as before. Pepper it onto the skin using a blush brush.

Mascara (optional): Curl the lashes before you begin. Apply a small amount of mascara ever so lightly to the lashes to add depth and darkness. Then, comb through the lashes to remove any clumps.

Apply a little bit of lip shine, and voilà! You have a happy client with perfect-looking, clean skin.

Nathan Johnson, celebrity MUA and QC tutor, shares more of his amazing secrets in our online makeup training!