People assume the beabadoobee makeup look means hours of work and a heavy hand. It’s the opposite. This soft-grunge, indie-girl aesthetic is built on looking a little undone, like you slept in yesterday’s eyeliner and somehow it worked out.
The whole vibe lives in the tension between dewy, fresh skin and a smudgy, worn-in eye. Below are fifteen ways to wear the look, from glossy lids and strawberry cheeks to a smoky plum wing, with notes on what actually works on your features and skin tone.
The Indie Look in Brief
- The aesthetic balances fresh, dewy skin against a smudgy, undone eye.
- Imperfection is the point: blurred liner and softly stained lips beat anything too precise.
- Most of these looks take ten minutes and a few fingertip-blended products.
Soft Grunge Smudged Liner
Smudged liner is the signature of the whole look, and it’s the first thing I reach for on a client chasing this vibe. Skip the sharp wing. Trace a soft black or brown pencil along both lash lines, then deliberately blur it with a fingertip until the edge goes pleasantly soft and worn. The imperfection is exactly the point, which is what makes a smudged smoky eye so beginner-friendly.
- Use a creamy pencil, not liquid; it’s made to be smudged.
- Blur both the top and bottom for that slept-in, undone effect.
- Set with a touch of matching powder so it stays put without sharpening up.
Glossy Lids on Bare Skin
Glossy lids are the dewy half of the indie equation. A clear or tinted lid gloss over otherwise bare skin gives a wet, fresh-from-the-shower shine that looks young and a little editorial. It’s the look you wear when the skin is the star.
Making Glossy Lids Last
The trade-off is wear time. Lid gloss creases and moves, so it’s best for a photo or a short outing than an all-day face. Apply it last and blink carefully while it sets.
Keep the rest minimal: groomed brows, a little mascara, a stained lip. The lids do the talking.
Two things people get wrong about this look.
â Myth: It has to look messy and unflattering
â Reality: Undone is curated; the smudging is intentional and placed, not just rubbed around carelessly.
â Myth: It only suits one type of person
â Reality: The aesthetic is about technique and shade choice, so it adapts to any age, feature, and skin tone.
Glossy Stained, Softly Smudged Lips
The indie lip is never a crisp, lined shape. It’s a soft stained lip pressed into the center and blurred at the edges, then topped with a little gloss for that bitten, just-ate-a-popsicle finish. It looks easy because it basically is.
- Dab a berry or cherry tint onto the center and press it outward with a finger.
- Leave the edges soft and undefined for that stained, blurred look.
- Add a dot of clear gloss in the middle for a juicy finish.
Sun-Kissed Strawberry Cheeks
Strawberry makeup is a core part of this aesthetic: a warm, pinky-red flush worn high on the cheeks and dusted across the nose, often with freckles, so you look a little sun-flushed. It’s youthful and fresh, the opposite of a sculpted contour. I tell clients it’s the fastest way into the whole vibe.
Cream blush is the move here, blended up with fingers so it melts into the skin. A good cream blush runs about $10 to $25 and lasts months. The placement, high and slightly toward the nose, is what gives that flushed, outdoorsy glow rather than a structured cheek.
- Use a cream blush in a warm pink-red and blend with your fingertips.
- Carry a little across the bridge of the nose for the sun-flushed effect.
- On deep skin, reach for a rich raspberry or brick blush so the flush shows.
đĄKeep It Soft
Whenever a step starts to look too sharp or done, take a clean fingertip and gently blur it. The single biggest secret to this look is softening every edge so nothing reads as precise.
Soft Pastel Bowed Lashes
For a playful twist, a wash of pastel color on the lashes or lower lash line keeps the look soft and dreamy. A hint of lilac or baby blue at the tips of curled lashes adds a pop without the commitment of a full colored eye.
Where to Place the Color
Curl the lashes well first so they open the eye, then run a pastel mascara just over the tips or along the lower lashes. The curl is what gives that wide, doll-like softness.
It pairs beautifully with bare skin and a stained lip, keeping the focus light and a little whimsical.
Soft Overdrawn Brown Lip Fade
A brown-toned lip with a soft gradient is a quietly grunge nod to the nineties. You line lightly with a brown pencil, blur it inward, and fill the center with a sheer nude or rosy tint so the edge fades softly. It frames the mouth without looking harsh or dated.
- Choose a brown liner a shade or two deeper than your natural lip.
- Smudge the liner inward so there’s no hard outline.
- On deep skin, a warm cocoa or chocolate brown reads richer than a pale taupe.
âšī¸Good to Know
Dewy skin is what keeps the smudgy eye from looking tired. The fresh, glowing base is half the look, so prioritize hydration and a light hand over heavy coverage.
Painterly Sun-Kissed Freckles
Freckles are everywhere in this aesthetic, and the painterly version leans into them as a real feature rather than a subtle dusting. Scattered generously over a dewy base, faux freckles give that fresh, been-outside look that anchors the whole indie vibe.
Use a brow pen or fine liner and vary their size and spread so they look natural, never stamped in a grid. Press a damp sponge over them once to soften and set so they blend into the skin.
Match the shade to your complexion: warm brown on fair and medium skin, a deeper espresso on rich and deep tones so they read like real freckles.
Breezy Pastel Cloud Eyeshadow
Cloud eyeshadow is a soft, diffused wash of pastel blended out with no hard edges, like a watercolor on the lid. It keeps the dreamy, undone feel of the look while adding a touch of color, and it’s far more forgiving than a structured eye.
Build it with a fluffy brush and a very light hand, layering thin until you get a soft haze, and remember that the whole effect depends on keeping the color sheer enough that the lid still shows through underneath. Soft blue, dusty pink, and lavender all suit this kind of soft eye look without ever looking blocked-in.
đ °ī¸Glossy lids
Dewy, editorial, and fresh, but they crease, so save them for photos and shorter outings.
đ ąī¸Smudged liner
Moody and long-wearing once set; the easiest, most forgiving way into the look.
Feathered Undone Brows
Brows in this look are full, brushed-up, and a little wild, never carved or overly groomed. The feathered, undone shape adds attitude and frames the soft eye makeup with a bit of edge, which keeps the whole face from reading too sweet.
Comb the hairs upward and outward with a clear or tinted gel, then leave them be. Skip heavy filling. A few light strokes to fill gaps is all you need.
This brushed-up shape suits almost everyone and instantly makes a look feel current rather than polished and posed.
Sheer Dewy Freckled Skin
The base under all of this is sheer and glowing, never full-coverage. You want to see real skin, freckles and all, with just enough product to even things out and a dewy finish on top. Heavy foundation kills the whole indie effect.
Use a tinted moisturizer or skin tint instead of full foundation, and add a liquid glow on the high points. The same dewy base anchors most natural glam looks. Let your own texture and freckles show through; the look is meant to feel real, not airbrushed.
Under-Eye Shimmer, Micro-Placed
A tiny touch of shimmer under the eye adds a dreamy, light-catching detail without going full glam. Placed just along the lower lash line or in the inner corner, it brightens the eye and plays into the soft, slightly ethereal side of the aesthetic.
Pressing, Not Sweeping
The key word is micro: a small amount pressed on with a fingertip, not a swept-on shimmer. Too much tips it into festival territory and loses the undone feel.
Pair it with smudged lower liner for that pretty contrast of grungy and glowy at once.
Soft Smoky Mauve Harmony
A soft mauve smoked around the eye is the indie answer to a smoky eye: moody but still soft. Because mauve falls between pink and brown, it adds depth and a slightly bruised, romantic feel without the heaviness of a black smoke. It’s one of my favorite everyday eye looks for this aesthetic.
- Smudge a mauve shadow around the whole eye and blend the edges soft.
- Carry it under the lower lash line to keep the look connected.
- Adjust the depth for your skin: dusty mauve on fair, deep berry-mauve on deep skin.
Smoky Plum Grunge Wing
When you want the look with more drama, a smoky plum wing brings the grunge-glam edge. Instead of a clean black flick, you smoke a deep plum out at the outer corner so it lifts the eye while staying soft and slightly messy.
Smoking Out the Wing
Build it with a plum pencil and a matching shadow patted over the top to blur the line. The shadow is what turns a hard wing into a smoky, worn-in one. Expect about ten minutes once you’ve practiced it.
It’s the most evening-ready look here, perfect with a stained lip and glowy skin for a night out that still feels easy and undone.
Warm Sunlit Dewy Highlight
Highlight in this aesthetic is warm and skin-like, never icy or blinding. A golden, dewy glow on the high points of the face mimics natural sunlight hitting the skin, which keeps the whole look soft and lit-from-within.
Cream Over Powder
Use a liquid or cream highlight in a warm gold or peach tone and tap it onto the cheekbones, brow bones, and the tip of the nose. Cream over powder keeps that wet, dewy finish the look depends on.
On deep skin, golds, coppers, and bronzes glow far more naturally than a pearly white, which can look ashy.
Cherry-Kissed Inner-Corner Pop
A little red or cherry tone in the inner corner is an unexpected detail that ties the whole flushed look together. Echoing the strawberry cheeks and stained lip, a soft cherry shadow blended in the inner corner adds warmth and a slightly dreamy, lovesick quality.
Keep it soft and diffused so it reads as a flush, never a graphic accent. A tiny bit of the same blush or a red-toned shadow works, smoked in with a small brush so it melts into the eye. A little goes a long way here.
Indie Makeup Questions, Answered
?What makes the beabadoobee makeup look different?
It’s a soft-grunge, indie aesthetic built on contrast: dewy, fresh, freckled skin paired with a smudgy, undone eye and a stained lip. The goal is looking softly undone rather than polished, so imperfection and soft edges are the whole point.
?Is this look hard for beginners?
It’s one of the easiest looks to try, because precision works against it. Smudged liner and stained lips are meant to look imperfect, so a shaky hand is an asset here. If something looks too sharp, just blur it with a fingertip.
?What products do I really need?
Very few: a creamy eye pencil, a cream blush, a lip tint, and a dewy base or skin tint. Most of the look is blended in with fingers, so you can recreate it with a small handful of multi-use products.
?How do I adapt these looks for deep skin?
Reach for pigmented, richer shades. Raspberry or brick blush, cocoa-brown lip liner, deep berry-mauve shadow, and gold or copper highlight all read far better on deep skin than the pale pastels and icy tones, which can look ashy.
?Will the smudged eye last all day?
Once you set the smudged pencil with a little matching powder, it holds well for a full day. Glossy lids are the exception; they crease and move, so save those for photos or shorter outings and keep liner for everyday wear.
Make the Undone Look Yours
The beauty of this whole aesthetic is how forgiving it is. There’s no perfect line to nail and no full-coverage base to maintain, just soft, dewy skin and a smudgy eye that looks better the more worn-in it gets. That’s a rare kind of freedom in makeup.
Pick two or three of these to try, start with the smudged liner and strawberry cheeks, and let yourself be a little imperfect with it. The undone quality is exactly what makes the look feel like you.
