I Tried Kylie Jenner's Makeup Routine & It Was Honestly A Journey
You've been there before: You're scrolling through your Instagram feed when you see your favorite celeb post about their favorite new product — a face serum, vitamins that will make your skin brighter, or a specialty food service. You can't help but want to be like the stars, but are the products worth it? In Elite Daily's new series, I Tried, we put it all to the test. We're trying those products as well as celebrities' health and wellness tips, recipes, and life hacks. We'll do the leg work and tell you what living like your fave star is really like.
I’ve always considered myself to be pretty adept at doing makeup. The obsession started when I was fifteen and YouTube beauty gurus were becoming the next big thing on the internet. I used to come home after school and sit for hours in front of the screen, learning everything from contouring technique to false eyelash application tips. I figured out which products and colors looked best on me, and in the years since, I’ve pretty much stuck to the same formula — until I tried Kylie Jenner’s makeup routine, that is.
I first decided I had to try out Jenner’s tips when I saw the June 2018 Beauty Secrets video she did for Vogue. In it, she details her everyday makeup routine, starting with brows and progressing through contour, highlight, lip liner, bronzer, sunscreen… you name it. Jenner is obviously a beauty expert — she has her own multi-million-dollar makeup line, after all — but she never does things the conventional way. Her makeup routine includes some tips I had never heard of before (including a technique she literally calls “baking”), so I knew I had to give it a shot. Who says an old dog can’t learn some new tricks?
After studying up on Jenner’s process, I whipped out my makeup supplies and sat down to try it out for myself. And let’s just say… I was in for quite the experience. Here’s how it went down.
01Eyebrows
Contrary to every makeup lesson I’ve ever received, Jenner starts out by lining her eyebrows with a pencil. I typically save this step for the end (after my foundation is on), but I actually kind of loved seeing my fresh face with dark, defined brows. It made my eyes pop and gave the impression that I woke up like this. (Narrator: “She did not, in fact, wake up like this.”)
02Eyeshadow
After covering her lids with concealer, Jenner goes on to do her eyeshadow. She uses one of her own Kylie palettes, but I reached for my go-to Naked palette by Urban Decay — I love how the warm gold and brown tones look against my skin.
This part of the video made me LOL, because Jenner says she's going for a “simple eye,” since she has meetings throughout the day… then she proceeds to put bright orange shimmery eyeshadow in her tear duct. Call me a traditionalist, but that’s not exactly my ideal workday look. I went with a more golden hue on the center of my lid and in the tear duct area, with a deep brown matte shade in the crease, just like Jenner.
Jenner says she does her eyes before her face makeup so she can easily wipe off the excess flecks of shadow that fall below her eyes. This is a genius trick. I took a makeup wipe to my under-eye area before I moved ahead to foundation and concealer, and it saved me from getting that raccoon-eyed look that sometimes happens when you make a mess with eyeshadow.
03Face
Now comes the part where Jenner puts on her foundation and concealer, with a dash of powder sunscreen on top. I did my face makeup like I normally would here — foundation with a stippling brush (and a dollop of sunscreen mixed in for good measure) and concealer on my under-eye area. When I put on the concealer, it messed up my eye makeup a bit and I had to go back and fix it. Sorry, Kylie, girl — I don’t have your skills!
I normally wouldn’t contour my face for a day-to-day look, but I went all out this time with bronzer and highlighter. I certainly wasn’t born with chiseled cheekbones, but hey, fake it ‘til you make it, right?
04Baking
Here’s where Jenner’s makeup routine takes an odd turn. Once she highlights and contours her cheeks, she puts a light-colored powder under her cheekbones in a practice called “baking.” Jenner swears it’s a game changer. “I really can’t do my makeup without baking,” she says in the video. “Powder is like soaking into your skin and leaving a residue of color.” She explains that by making the bottom part of her face lighter, she creates a more defined shape around her cheeks and chin.
I had to seriously lay on the powder to make this happen. I’m talking straight up caking it on my face. And I felt like a cartoon character once it was finished (which, to be fair, is also how Jenner looks when she does this). But I was committed to trusting the process, so I rolled with it.
05Lips
If her legendary Kylie lip kits didn’t clue you in already, here’s a fact about Jenner: she’s the queen of the perfectly crafted lip look. She can even do her lip liner with her eyes closed — seriously! In the video, Jenner closes her eyes and proceeds to line her lips better than I’ve ever done with my eyes open.
I tried this, and my results were not quite so impressive. But hey, I didn’t over-line my lips or get the lip liner all over my chin, so I’m calling it a win. After I fixed it (with my eyes open) and added lipstick, the look was much better.
Not gonna lie, I was digging this look more by the minute.
06Finishing Touches
At this point, Jenner goes back to her eyeshadow palette to add a bright, shimmery shadow under her eyes. She layers on the blush (lots of it), touches up her highlight and contour, and finishes with mascara, a touch of lip gloss, brow gel, and setting spray.
Final Thoughts
When you put on blush and brush off the excess “baking” powder, the striped look goes away, and it’s replaced by a really subtle, sculpted impression. Honestly, I loved it. And as for eyes, I’d normally put on dark eyeliner, but the bright gold all around the inner eye area was so bright and fresh.
I felt like a million dollars after finishing this makeup routine, and it actually took me only about 30 minutes in total — way less time than I would have expected. The “baking” tip seems ridiculous at first, but I’ll gladly admit that I’m now a believer. While I may never have Jenner’s lip-lining and contouring skills, I feel like I can copy her look with a little extra effort and patience. It probably won’t become my daily routine, but hey! I might whip out the powder and “bake” my face next time I have a big night out. Kylie Jenner would expect nothing less.
