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Fashion Month SS17 proved it wasn't all about heavy cut creases and flawless, full coverage as gossamer-esque crème blushes caressed cheeks, eye glosses glazed lids, veil-like foundations gave skin an ethereal dewiness and tinted balms provided lips with a subtle wash of colour at shows like Delpozo and Who What Wear.
Fast-forward to now, and the beauty sphere has followed suit, swapping the matte effect (which has had Instagram in a headlock for far too long) for a balmier, more delicate and all-round much-easier-to-pull-off makeup look. So take inspiration from the sheer trend and shop Refinery29's pick of the best barely there beauty buys to land this spring.
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Spring always calls for lightweight, breathable textures and MAC has got it so right with the new Next To Nothing Face Colour. Enduring yet virtually undetectable, the silky tinted cream is imbued with a subtle iridescent pigment to provide a veil of coverage that works almost like a soft-focus lens. Perfect if you find foundation too much and tinted moisturiser not enough.
MAC Next To Nothing Foundation, £27, available at MAC
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'Candlelight' is about right – your complexion will look bathed in it after a dusting of this illuminating powder. If you find your foundation tends to turn flat throughout the day, daub this on shortly after. The texture is so fine, resulting in a dewy, lit-from-within finish gorgeous enough to give any supermodel a run for her money.
Laura Mercier Mineral Illuminating Powder in Candlelight, £27, available at Space NK
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If you're nonplussed by cream blush, Chanel's new Colour Stick is guaranteed to sway you. It harnesses the skin-smoothing properties of cotton flower extract and glides on (yep, no snagging on your perfectly applied foundation base) to lend cheeks a pretty, pinched effect that oozes ethereal beauty. Plus, it doesn't vanish after a few hours.
Chanel Les Beiges Healthy Glow Sheer Colour Stick Blush, £34, available at Boots
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No one does powder blush like Nars and their latest cheek palette is the perfect addition to any spring beauty arsenal. It boasts six complexion-enlivening shades – three packed with a delicate sheen and three super-sophisticated matte hues, all of which will tint the apples of your cheeks a natural, petal-like flush.
NARSissist Unfiltered II Cheek Palette, £45, available at Nars
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Spring is all about subtlety, which means supernatural highlights you could probably see from space are on their way out. Instead, grab Zoeva's Strobe Gel, which imparts a gauzy glow upon skin. Go back to basics and use your fingertips to gently press the cream onto the tops of your cheekbones.
Zoeva Strobe Gel in Halo, £11, available at Cult Beauty
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Every product in the IT Cosmetics range has been formulated with help from plastic surgeons and dermatologists in a bid to erase tricky skin concerns such as rosacea, hyper-pigmentation, acne scars and uneven skin tone, all without looking obviously cakey. This CC+ cream is the makeup equivalent of an Instagram filter – it tucks away redness and other blemishes and plumps skin with moisture.
IT Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC+ Cream, £30, available at QVC
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A swipe of YSL's Volupté Tint-in-Balm leaves behind a delicious hint of translucent colour while jojoba and macadamia oil work to nourish dry skin and lock in moisture. You'll want to whip out the ornate silver and gold case for touch-ups at every opportunity – but the staying power is very impressive!
YSL Volupté Tint-in-Balm, £27, available at Selfridges
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Dior masterfully marries makeup and skincare in the sparkling new Luminizer Serum which is so light, you have to dispense the droplets into the palm of your hand using the dropper tool. A single sweep over naked skin will lend even the most lacklustre of complexions a dreamy glow.
Dior Nude Air Luminizer Serum, £35, available at Dior
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A convincing sun-kissed radiance is no longer so elusive thanks to Laura Mercier's new crème bronzer. It melts on contact with fingertips and brushes and meshes beautifully with the skin, making you look like you've spent a week lapping up the sun on a mini-break instead of five seconds in front of your dressing-table mirror.
Laura Mercier J'adore Le Soleil Matte Veil Crème, £32.77, available at Saks Fifth Avenue
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Forget what you know about cream eyeshadow slipping and sliding everywhere because once this is on, it isn't budging. Thanks to the pearlescent shimmer (read: not gaudy), just a single swipe across the eyelids lends a deliciously glossy effect. To dial up the intensity, simply scrawl on another layer and use the soft pad of your ring finger to blend, blend, blend.
Inglot Aquastic Cream Eye Shadow in 13, £14.49, available at eBay
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The Ordinary has sent beauty lovers into meltdown with the launch of a foundation collection and, yes, it really does live up to the hype. A handful of their serum versions, which give the skin a barely-there drape of colour, boast either silver or gold highlights to bestow an enviable radiance. Skip the strobing step and stick to this – it'll shave minutes off your beautifying routine.
The Ordinary Colours Serum Foundation SPF15, £5.90, available at Victoria Health
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There are 38 shades in Sally Hansen's new Color Therapy collection, which is supercharged with nail bed-nourishing argan oil, but this has to be our favourite. Semi-translucent and sorbet-like, just one slick of Sheer Nirvana is enough to lend nails a clean and stylish wisp of colour. A second slick takes the chic factor to 100.
Sally Hansen Color Therapy Nail Polish in Sheer Nirvana, £8.99, available at Boots
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
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