12 Makeup Tricks To Make Your Freckles Look Their Best

Freckles are wonderful. Sure, I’ve spent my time with lemon juice and dark spot correctors, but when it comes down to it, freckles are the best summer accessory. But they can generate a particular cosmetic conundrum: How do you wear makeup without making your freckles look weird? Foundation or heavy makeup can make your freckles look chalky, and the semi-visible freckles just emphasize the thickness of your foundation. You don’t want to look too caked-in, especially during the summer, and freckles are too cute to not make the most of. So here are 12 beauty tips that will help make the most of your freckles.

1. How to enhance freckles

Freckles make makeup more difficult. Foundation covers them, but not completely, so you can easily just wind up looking chalky. Here’s how to play them up and make the most of them.

2. Making freckles pop in Photoshop

If you have all those great freckles, you don’t want them to blur away. Here’s how to make sure they don’t disappear in Photoshop.

3. Foundation for freckles

To be able to wear foundation without blending away your freckles, pick a shade that falls somewhere about halfway between your freckles and the skin around them.

4. Tinted moisturizer

Tinted moisturizer is excellent for people with freckles. It’s only diet foundation, but the sheer formula means it won’t cover up your freckles too much.

5. Coral blush

A coral blush seems to work well with freckles and make them pop.

6. Cheek stain

Personally, I like a cheek stain or a sheer cream blush to help keep things looking young and glowy, instead of too powdery.

7. Orange lip gloss

Honestly, I never thought I would recommend orange lip gloss for anything, but if you have freckles, orange lip gloss is weirdly perfect for summer. You will look all summery and beachy, and your freckles will stand out nicely.

8. Fake freckles

I never thought I’d suggest fake freckles, but this woman’s actually looks pretty realistic.

9. Freckle pencil

Topshop is actually making a special pencil for drawing on freckles. Apparently, the key is a “marbleized formula” that makes it so no two freckles are exactly the same shade because real freckles aren’t.

10. Highlighter

The reason people seem to want freckles so badly is that they seem youthful and bright. Play that up with some highlighter, like this one from Benefit.

11. The brown smoky eye

A black smoky eye can be a bit too harsh for summer, but a brown one is perfect. As a plus, the color really complements freckles.

12. Bronzer

When looking for a bronzer, look for a matte color with a peachy tone. Shimmery or glittery ones for some reason tend to make freckles look muddy.

21 Annoying Things Only People With Freckles Will Understand

Freckles are awesome! Except sometimes they’re not. Whenever I see Lucy Liu or Cintia Dicker, I’m glad for the ones I have. But then I see a porcelain-faced celeb like Kristen Stewart, and the grass is suddenly greener far away from the freckles. There’s nothing that can really be done about freckles except to enjoy them and use some makeup techniques to help freckles look their best, but that doesn’t mean there’s not a secret community of freckle-havers in the world who know where you’re coming from.

Here are 21 annoying things only people with freckles will understand.

1. The way you leave the house without freckles and 20 minutes later they appear.
2. Trying to find a foundation shade. Does it match the freckle? The skin around the freckle?
3. That time you rubbed lemons all over your face for a whole summer.
4. The time you spent way too much money on a miracle “dark spot corrector.”
5. The unfortunate period where you thought if you just got enough sun the freckles would all smoosh together into a tan.
6. When you realize freckles and age spots are the same thing
7. Being the person who actually has to reapply sunscreen.
8. Is that a freckle, a mole, or an acne scar?
9. When movie characters have freckles, and it’s just like six perfect ones on their nose.
10. When people say freckles are “cute” even though you haven’t been a little girl in decades.
11. Oh no! The freckles have spread to your cleavage!
12. When people say they are “angel kisses”
13. When someone asks if you were left out in the rain, and it takes like 20 minutes to realize they mean that you have rust spots.
14. Being really conflicted about the fact that Topshop is selling a special pencil for drawing fake freckles.
15. When a foundation promises to even your skin tone, and you know that would take something thicker than spackle.
16. When the dermatologist asks if you’ve noticed your moles changing and you’re like, “How am I possibly supposed to keep track of all of these!?”
17. Is that a pimple, or a freckle?
18. When people tell you there is something on your face and then spend 15 minutes trying to rub off a freckle.
19. When people draw fake freckles on.
20. When you drive your car and only get freckles on one arm.
21. When you’re not sure you’re allowed to wear polka dots.