Blurry Finishes Are Taking Over Makeup for Spring 2025
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The Rise of Blurred Makeup, the IRL-Proof Finish We’ve Been Waiting For
Soft-focus skin isn’t just a trend, it’s a revolution for filter-like results.
By
Emily Kelleher
Emily Kelleher
Emily is a New York-based writer and
InStyle's
senior editor, evergreen & special projects
InStyle's editorial guidelines
Published on March 11, 2025 @ 07:59AM
Credit:
Sylvere Azoulai / Trunk Archive
Makeup is getting blurry again. After years of dewy domination (think: Hailey Bieber’s glazed donut skin), makeup is shifting toward a softer finish, one that’s reminiscent of the old Vaseline-on-the-lens effect once used in Old Hollywood. “Cloud skin is taking over,” says Mario Dedivanovic, celebrity makeup artist and founder of Makeup by Mario. “It’s all about this blurred, soft matte finish.” From
Blackpink’s Lisa at
The White Lotus
premiere
to the
latest Kylie Jenner selfies
peppering her feed, the effect is at once nostalgic and futuristic. It invokes the fuzzy texture and flawless skin of old Marilyn Monroe photographs, and the uncanny sense that a beauty filter is being applied in real life.
Where once makeup was all about a flawless, hyper-sculpted aesthetic, the past few years have ushered in a new era—one that’s softer and more ethereal. In the 2010s, YouTube beauty influencers championed high-definition contour and full-coverage foundation, which looked flawless on camera but often felt unnatural in real life. As the next decade began, the focus turned to skin care, with dewy, glassy skin taking over. During COVID, no makeup-makeup became popular, and multi-step skin-care routines promised perfect skin without the need for foundation. Now, we’ve reached a middleground, with soft matte makeup that leaves skin looking like skin, but better.
“People want to look as airbrushed as they can, but like we’re born with it,” says Rasa Gardiner, the senior director of global education at Makeup by Mario. The beauty of the blur is that it leaves skin looking like skin—equally glowing on-
and
off-screen. Like many beauty trends of the past decade, the cloud skin phenomenon can be traced back to K-beauty, where the focus has long been on creating blurry, soft finishes that enhance the skin rather than completely covering it up. Now the look has infiltrated the mainstream, appearing on red carpets and filling our social media feeds.
Laneige
Neo Blurring Powder,
$25.00
Shop Now
Kylie Cosmetics
Skin Tint Blurring Elixir,
$32.00
Shop Now
While blurring supplies an ethereal look, it can also be more real-life friendly than a glazed or glass-like finish on certain skin types. “The thing about shine is that it exaggerates texture and proportion,” explains Danessa Myricks, makeup artist and founder and CEO of Danessa Myricks Beauty. “Whether it’s a dewy highlight for making your cheekbones pop out or you’re putting gloss on your lips, it’s meant to accentuate it. If you’re using dewy things all over your face, whether it’s something you like or you dislike, it’s going to be amplified.” On the other end of the spectrum, powder products present the same problems, settling into fine lines and exaggerating pores and acne scars.
Achieving blurred skin that feels fresh is no easy feat, but a slew of new launches are rising to the challenge—and, quite literally, blurring the lines between liquids, creams, and powders. For example, new powder products, like
Laneige’s Neo Blurring Powder
and
Makeup by Mario’s SurrealSkin Soft Blur Setting Powder
, feature hydrating ingredients like hyaluronic acid, squalene, and amino acid. While a new spate of liquid foundations, the
Kylie Cosmetics Skin Tint Blurring Elixir
and
Anastasia Beverly Hills Impeccable Blurring Second Skin
among them, feature soft matte finishes, rather than glowy ones. Of course, you can’t talk about blurred makeup without giving notable mention to Danessa Myricks’s best-selling
Yummy Skin Blurring Balm Powder
, which glides on like a balm and transforms into a powder, targeting texture and oil. It hydrates the skin while controlling shine, leaving blemishes softly blurred and the complexion smooth.
Danessa Myricks Beauty
Yummy Skin Blurring Balm Powder,
$36.00
Shop Now
“People like a matte finish to prevent oil breakthrough, but matte on its own can feel flat.” Myricks says. “So it’s important to look for a natural matte finish; you want to see a bit of luminosity, just to give [the skin] a sense of life.” Her blurring balm is the first product on the market to feature upsalite, a cutting edge ingredient with extreme absorption capabilities. “It lives on the surface of the skin, but invisibly, and it absorbs excess oil and sweat throughout the day.”
Makeup by Mario
SurrealSkin™ Soft Blur Setting Powder,
$38.00
Shop Now
Anastasia Beverly Hills
Impeccable Blurring Second-Skin Matte Foundation,
$46.00
Shop Now
As this soft-focus approach to beauty continues to take hold,

Book Your Appointment

Ready to transform your skin? Visit Candy Beauty Skin Care at 32 Pell St, Chinatown, NYC.

Call (646) 691-8273 or book online at candybeauty.store.

Our expert estheticians are ready to create your personalized treatment plan.

Source: https://www.instyle.com/blurry-matte-makeup-trend-11687988