ICYMI, Megan Fox is on the cover of Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issue and the actor wore a completely new look for the occasion. Fox is known for her bombshell beauty and is no stranger to full glam, which is why this cover took many by surprise. Her barely-there makeup and natural-looking freckles are such a departure from her usual vibe. 
While everyone was obsessing over Martha Stewart being on one of the covers at 81 years old (no doubt, looking incredible), I was geeking out about Fox’s pared back beauty look. Of course, I had to find out how to copy her look stat, so I went right to the source. 
Celebrity makeup artist Jenna Kristina has worked with Fox on lots of different makeup looks including her SI cover. Kristina said that the swim issue is inherently about more of a scaled back look, so minimal makeup with freckles poking through just felt made sense. It “feels raw, youthful and playful,” she adds.
In order to make the most natural-looking freckles, Kristina loves the brand Freck, which as the name implies, is all about freckles. Their Freck OG and Freck Noir are two different shades that actually play really well together because real freckles usually aren’t all the same color.
The same goes for freckle size. Kristina says that you can use powder shadow with a stiff Q-tip, or any brow pencils in order to create darker, more intense freckles. “I find that layering all the versions create the most realistic freckles.” 
In terms of application, Kristina explains, the best freckles are ones that aren’t perfect circles. “Some need to blend together, some need to be darker and concentrated in areas where the sun kisses the skin.” There’s really no right or wrong method, simply start dotting away and see what happens. You also have the option of drawing on your freckles before or after your base makeup. Just know, if you do them on top, they’ll be darker.
If you don’t feel too strong about your own freckling capabilities, there are also temporary tattoo versions that come in the form of a patch that you place across your nose and along your cheeks (where freckles are naturally found.) On the other hand, if you get really confident in your freckle-drawing, some people even use sunless tanner or henna to draw theirs on, which makes for a more long-lasting effect. 
As far as Megan Fox’s freckles go, I don’t think we’ve seen the last of them. In fact, she was rocking them again at the Sports Illustrated party in Miami, courtesy of Kristina. This time, she paired her frecks with glowy, bronzed skin and a wet hair look that complimented the I-woke-up-like-this feel.