An Instagram filter is the cherry on the top of a perfect photo, especially if it’s a selfie. Today I’m going to show you how you can use makeup to get a similar effect IRL, and in five minutes flat.

What you’ll need:

  • Highlighter
  • Blush
  • Loose powder
  • Lipstick, in a color similar to your blush

How to do it:

Step One

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Apply whatever makeup you normally wear as a base, if any. Instagram filters usually are the brightest in the center; brush on a few stripes of highlighter in the center of the face. If you look like a cat, you’re doing an excellent job!

Step Two

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Add a heavy dose of pigmented blush to your cheekbones. I chose peach, but any color will do. Don’t hold back when you’re brushing this on: You’re going for a soft haze of color that can be seen from the front and the sides of your face.

Step Three

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Take a large, fluffy brush and load it with face powder. Dust powder all over your face. This will help diffuse light, and will control the intensity of color.

Step Four

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Take a smaller powder brush and dust some blush on your eyelids. Don’t be precise—the less precise you are, the softer the color will look. The point of this is to make all the shadows on your face a unified color, like Instagram filters often do.

Step Five

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Put on a bit of lipstick that matches the blush, and you’re all done! ♦