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THE CLEAN GIRL ERA IS OVER

The clean girl era,

is over.

clean, poreless, airbrushed skin is done.

the look now is makeup with drama,

and skin that still looks like skin.

gucci ss27 sent me back into the vogue archives, and there it was: pores beneath foundation, liner that had moved, shine coming through at the nose. that late nineties, early two thousands beauty i keep wanting to return to.

the hard part with ai is that it wants to smooth all of that away. so you stop asking for flawless skin, and start describing how the makeup actually behaves on a real face. here are the prompts i use.

editorial beauty close-up with red and blue painted eye makeup
drama on top, real skin underneath

WHAT TO KEEP VISIBLE

screenshot this
01
pores beneath the pigment.
02
oil coming through the foundation.
03
lip creases under the gloss.
04
liner that has moved, shine at the nose.
05
peach fuzz catching the light.
The skin

SKIN THAT LOOKS

like skin.

peach fuzz catches the light. foundation settles into a crease. an oily t-zone comes through. the surface has a history beneath the product, and even heavy coverage should leave some of it visible.

so you name that behaviour in the prompt instead of asking for coverage. the skin reads as real because you told it to keep being skin.

Skip this and

the plastic look gives the ai away in a second. real texture is what sells the whole image.

AI beauty image with glossy skin and visible texture
foundation settling into a crease, an oily t-zone coming through
the technique
the technique, for any face:
Natural skin texture throughout: visible pores, peach fuzz catching the light, foundation settling into fine lines, an oily T-zone coming through. Real skin, no plastic airbrushing.
recreate this image
to recreate the exact image above:
High fashion, perfectly symmetrical beauty portrait of a woman with olive tan skin and sculptural features: razor sharp cheekbones, a strong square jaw, a broad forehead, fierce hazel green eyes and full overlined lips. Hair slicked tightly back with gel. Makeup: a sharp elongated magenta and violet smoky wing swept to the temples, metallic electric blue smudged along the lower lash line, deep sunburnt redness across the nose and cheeks with a clean pale band where a headband sat at the hairline, a glossy red brown lip with the colour smeared at the cupid's bow. Intense stare straight into the camera lens. Plain light grey wall. 2:3 vertical, composed for a later 4:5 crop: headroom of plain background above the hair, face centred in the upper middle, framed from above the head to mid chest. Eyes looking directly into the lens. High fashion editorial beauty shot, harsh direct on-camera flash. Raw unretouched skin: visible pores, peach fuzz, tiny bumps, natural oily shine, makeup sitting into texture and deliberately lived in, flyaway hairs. No smoothing, no airbrushing, no plastic skin. Photorealistic, no text, no logos, no watermark.
Model Higgsfield Soul 2.0 Aspect 2:3 Quality 2K Seed 589612
The eyes

EYES THAT HOLD

a little time.

shadow bled around the eye. black liner smudged and run into dried tears. pigment gathering in the crease. i am drawn to makeup that looks a few hours old, because it suggests someone has actually been wearing it.

ask for the move and the wear, not a crisp first application. that small bit of time is what makes an eye look believable.

Skip this and

a perfect, untouched eye looks rendered. a little wear reads as lived in.

AI beauty image with cyan eyeshadow bled around the eye and liner run into tears
shadow bled around the eye, liner run into dried tears
the technique
the technique, for any eye:
Shadow bled softly around the eye, black liner smudged and run into dried mascara tears, pigment gathering in the crease. Makeup that looks a few hours old.
recreate this image
to recreate the exact image above:
High fashion beauty portrait of a woman with pale fair skin and haunting features: a long narrow face, high hollow cheekbones, pale icy grey eyes, a sharp nose and a small pouting mouth. Long straight glossy black hair with a sharp centre part. Makeup: a bright cyan blue eyeshadow wash bleeding around both eyes, black liner smudged and run into dried mascara tears down the cheeks, a sunburnt flush across the nose and chin, a glossy coral lipstick smudged outward onto the skin. Head level, unsettling stare straight into the camera lens. Plain off white wall. 2:3 vertical, composed for a later 4:5 crop: headroom of plain background above the hair, face centred in the upper middle, framed from above the head to mid chest. Eyes looking directly into the lens. High fashion editorial beauty shot, harsh direct on-camera flash. Raw unretouched skin: visible pores, peach fuzz, tiny bumps, natural oily shine, makeup sitting into texture and deliberately lived in, flyaway hairs. No smoothing, no airbrushing, no plastic skin. Photorealistic, no text, no logos, no watermark.
Model Higgsfield Soul 2.0 Aspect 2:3 Quality 2K Seed 871517
The lips

DARK LIPS WITH

their texture.

chocolate, berry, blackened plum. the depth draws you closer, and the fine lines are what make you believe it. let the colour run as a gradient: darker at the edges, thinning to a glossy centre, the vertical lip lines showing through.

pick the shade, then describe how the colour sits, so the mouth still feels capable of moving.

Skip this and

a flat, even dark lip looks painted on. the texture is what makes it a real mouth.

AI beauty image with a dark gradient lip, black cherry edges into a red centre
a gradient lip, black cherry edges into a glossy red centre
the technique
the technique, pick a shade:
A dark {chocolate / berry / plum} lip as a gradient: darker at the outer edges fading to a glossy centre, fine vertical lip lines showing through. The mouth still feels capable of moving.
recreate this image
to recreate the exact image above:
High fashion beauty portrait of a very pale white woman with voluminous curly dark auburn hair, a long face, high cheekbones and grey eyes. Makeup: blood red grunge eye smudged around the whole eye with a pewter shimmer on the lids. Lips: gradient lip, black cherry edges into a glossy true red centre. Tan print: three pale vertical bars stencilled across a sunburnt nose. Haunting stare. Plain dark grey wall. 2:3 vertical, composed for a later 4:5 crop: head small in frame with a large empty band of plain wall above the hair, face in the upper middle, framed down to mid chest. Eyes looking directly into the lens. High fashion editorial beauty shot, harsh direct on-camera flash, dark grungy mood. Raw unretouched skin: visible pores, peach fuzz, tiny bumps, natural oily shine, makeup sitting into texture, flyaway hairs. No smoothing, no airbrushing, no plastic skin. Photorealistic, no text, no logos, no watermark.
Model Higgsfield Soul 2.0 Aspect 2:3 Quality 2K Seed 876093
The face

A FACE THAT FEELS

like itself.

blush sits over freckles. a few brow hairs cross. a loose strand touches the cheek. there is something compelling about a deliberate look that leaves these details alone.

keep the human marks in the frame and you can still sense the person beneath the styling. that is the whole difference.

Skip this and

erase the freckles and stray hairs and you erase the person. the details are the realism.

AI beauty image with blush over freckles and natural brows
blush over freckles, a loose strand touching the cheek
the technique
the technique, for any face:
Blush sitting over freckles, a few brow hairs crossing, a loose strand touching the cheek. A deliberate look that leaves the human details alone, so the person is still visible beneath the styling.
recreate this image
to recreate the exact image above:
High fashion beauty portrait of an East Asian woman in her twenties with editorial model features: razor sharp high cheekbones, a long narrow face, wide set monolid eyes, a flat elegant nose bridge and a small full pout. Long poker straight glossy black hair with heavy blunt bangs falling into her eyes. Makeup: electric chartreuse lime eyeshadow packed onto the lids and smudged messily under the lower lashes, a vivid sunburnt pink flush stretched in one wide band across the cheeks and over the bridge of the nose, mascara run down both cheeks in dried grey tear tracks, a glossy cherry red lip smeared past the lip line on one corner as if wiped with the back of a hand. Head level, heavy lidded stare straight into the camera lens. Plain off white wall. 2:3 vertical, composed for a later 4:5 crop: generous headroom above the hair, face centred in the upper middle, framed from above the head to mid chest. Eyes looking directly into the lens. High fashion editorial beauty shot, harsh direct on-camera flash. Raw unretouched skin: visible pores, peach fuzz, tiny bumps, natural oily shine, makeup sitting into texture and deliberately lived in, flyaway hairs. No smoothing, no airbrushing, no plastic skin. Photorealistic, no text, no logos, no watermark.
Model Higgsfield Soul 2.0 Aspect 2:3 Quality 2K Seed 88814
The method

DESCRIBE THE

behaviour.

the thing that changed my ai beauty work: stop writing flawless skin, because it strips out everything above. the useful prompt describes how makeup behaves on a face, and that relationship is what makes the image convincing.

pores beneath pigment. oil through foundation. lip creases under gloss. put those behaviours in one line and generate.

Skip this and

ask for perfect and the model smooths it to plastic. ask for behaviour and it keeps the skin.

AI beauty image with runny liner and raw, real-looking skin
the one prompt that pulls it all together
the technique
the one line that pulls it together, fill the colour:
Editorial beauty close-up, soft flash. {eyeshadow colour} eyeshadow over visible pores, peach fuzz catching the light, foundation settling into fine lines, shine through the T-zone, lip colour softly smudged past the line. Natural skin texture throughout, real skin, no plastic airbrushing.
recreate this image
to recreate the exact image above:
High fashion beauty portrait of a white woman with gaunt razor sharp cheekbones, hollow cheeks and wide set pale grey eyes, wet look platinum bob tucked behind her ears. Makeup: gunmetal shimmer smoky eye dragged out toward the temples, smudged black lower lash line, dried black mascara tear tracks down the cheeks. Lips: crisp ombre lip, black at the outer edges fading through deep plum to a glossy wine centre. Tan print: tiny pale crescent moon shapes stencilled into sun reddened cheeks. Cold stare. Plain grey concrete wall. 2:3 vertical, composed for a later 4:5 crop: head small in frame with a large empty band of plain wall above the hair, face in the upper middle, framed down to mid chest. Eyes looking directly into the lens. High fashion editorial beauty shot, harsh direct on-camera flash, dark grungy mood. Raw unretouched skin: visible pores, peach fuzz, tiny bumps, natural oily shine, makeup sitting into texture, flyaway hairs. No smoothing, no airbrushing, no plastic skin. Photorealistic, no text, no logos, no watermark.
Model Higgsfield Soul 2.0 Aspect 2:3 Quality 2K Seed 642671
Download the prompts ↓
every technique snippet plus the exact prompt and settings to recreate each image

GET MORE

out of it.

01

Prompt the behaviour

not the finish. describe what the makeup is doing to the skin, and the realism comes for free.

02

Never say flawless

flawless, poreless, airbrushed all smooth the face to plastic. ask for natural skin texture instead.

03

Add a little time

makeup that looks a few hours old reads as worn, not rendered. soften the liner, let pigment gather.

04

Shoot it on flash

a soft direct flash catches peach fuzz, shine and texture. it is the lighting that exposes real skin.

05

Keep the human marks

freckles, stray brow hairs, a loose strand. leave them in and the person stays in the picture.

06

Name the shade

chocolate, berry, blackened plum. a specific colour plus its texture beats a vague dark lip every time.

WHAT TO AVOID

asking for flawless, poreless, airbrushed skin.
ask for natural skin texture, visible pores and a little shine.
a crisp, perfect, first-application face.
makeup that looks a few hours old, softened and slightly moved.
erasing freckles, stray hairs and lip lines.
leave the human marks in, so the person is still there.

THE LOOK

with ai.

the same thinking across different faces: drama up top, and skin that still behaves like skin underneath. the exact prompt and settings for each of these is in the download above.

AI editorial beauty image with pink eye makeup
AI editorial beauty image with dark smoky makeup
AI editorial beauty image with iridescent lips and star details

MAKE THE SKIN

look real.

Prompt the behaviour, not the perfection. Pores beneath pigment, oil through foundation, creases under gloss.

That is the whole difference between a render and a face.