Some people are lucky enough to be naturally graced with freckles, but for those who aren’t, there’s a beauty hack to get the look: the best freckle pens. These pens can let you dot on tiny beauty marks, emphasizing those you have—or creating ones you wish you had. Unlike a standard liquid eyeliner, celebrity makeup artist Kasey Spickard explains that freckle pens are more sheer in pigment, adding just the right amount of color pay off for a barely-there, natural finish. “Think of it as the difference between a lip stain versus a lip liner—freckle pens are less opaque than traditional eyeliner,” Spickard tells Vogue.
Seeking a dusting from cheek to cheek? Freckle stamps allow you to add them with just a few quick presses for a smattering of speckles. Or, like me, if you already have a variety of natural beauty marks, a precision-tip freckle pen can help enhance those little spots, accentuating your features and bringing a little extra life to your look.
Vogue’s Favorite Freckle Pens
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But freckle pens aren’t just about whimsy or channeling your inner Marilyn Monroe—these clever tools have a practical side, too. In addition to creating faux freckles, they can be used as a sneaky acne cover-up. After all, strategically placed faux beauty marks over blemishes are a trick that dates back to the 18th century, adding a bit of vintage charm while camouflaging imperfections. Below, shop Vogue’s favorite freckle pens and stamps, plus pro tips on how to make your new faux freckle makeup look natural and last.
Best Overall: Freck Beauty OG Freckle Pen
- Why We Love It: One day, when beauty historians look back on the trends that marked the 2020s, they might say that Freck started the freckle pen craze when it launched in 2018. With packaging like a tiny liquid liner, the semi-sheer formula applies easily onto skin—for an extra natural look, gently tap on your faux freckle dots then blend out with your fingers or a small brush. Pro tip: while Freck’s pen is compatible with all skin tones, the brand suggests leaving the product on longer before tapping into skin for better visibility on richer skin tones.
- Key Ingredients: Rosa damascena flower water, glycerin
- Shades: 1
- Waterproof: Yes
- Type: Liquid
Best for Fair Skin: ColourPop Freckle Pen
- Why We Love It: Those with paler skin tones can achieve faux freckles with Colourpop’’ pen. More of a muted caramel shade than true brown, the lighter color allows for more natural-looking results, while the felt-tip pen ensures mess-free, easy application.
- Key Ingredients: Aloe vera leaf juice, glycerin, panthenol, tocopherol, sunflower seed oil
- Shades: 1
- Waterproof: No, smudge-proof
- Type: Felt-tip pen
Best for Beauty Marks: Glossier Brow Flick
- Why We Love It: Say you’re not after a full-on freckle look but love a flirty beauty mark à la Marilyn Monroe or Cindy Crawford—in that case, Glossier’s precision tip brow pen can work double time filling in your brows and highlighting beauty marks (whether you’re creating new ones, or accentuating those you already have). Brow Flick’s formula is semi-sheer, so your beauty spots (or brows) won’t look drawn on. Plus, three smudge-resistant film formers will ensure your look stays put.
- Key Ingredients: Copolymers, Glycerin
- Shades: 3
- Waterproof: Yes
- Type: Pen
Best Multipurpose: Benefit Cosmetics Mighty Fine Brow Pen
- Why We Love It: Another brow product that can double for seamless freckles—the trick lies within the ultra-fine (0.8mm to be specific) triple-tip pen. The three super skinny pen tips can go from creating impossibly slender, seemingly real brow strokes to a cluster of freckles across the cheeks much like a stamp. Dot, tap to blend, and go!
- Key Ingredients: Copolymers, charcoal powder, silica
- Shades: 8
- Waterproof: Yes
- Type: Tripple-tip pen
Best On Amazon: Erinde Upgrade Freckle Stamp
- Why We Love It: Erinde’s freckle stamp might have people wondering if you were born with freckles. The stamp tips come in different sizes, shapes, and heights to recreate the perfectly imperfect asymmetry of natural freckles. The liquid-to-powder texture dries matte for the most skin-like finish.
- Key Ingredients: Isododecane, copolymer
- Shades: 2
- Waterproof: Yes
- Type: Stamp
Best for Spot Coverage: e.l.f. Waterproof Eyeliner Pen
- Why We Love It: Less of a freckle pen and more of an eyeliner doubling as a beauty mark maker—e.l.f.’s waterproof eyeliner pen will not only give you a slick cat eye that lasts but also masquerades any unwanted acne spots underneath a faux beauty mark. Simply dot after concealer, and gently tap to blend for a natural look.
- Key Ingredients: Copolymer, hydrogenated castor oil
- Shades: 1
- Waterproof: Yes
- Type: Felt tip pen
Best Stamp: Tarte Go With The Faux
- Why We Love It: Tarte’s freckle stamp has been all the rage on social media among beauty lovers. The 5-point freckle stamp sprinkles color across the cheeks and nose for an effortlessly natural look with fool-proof application. No special technique is required to achieve a natural cluster of sun-kissed spots—just stamp and go.
- Key Ingredients: Amazonian clay, glycerin, castor oil
- Shades: 4
- Waterproof: No
- Type: Stamp
Everything You Need To Know
“Freckle pens differ from your traditional makeup pens in that they tend to have a sheerer formula to mimic natural freckles compared to your typical eyeliner pen, which holds more pigment,” celebrity makeup artist Kasey Spickard tells Vogue. “You’ll find the formula to be more like a stain with longer wear than your typical makeup pen, which is why you’ll sometimes see beauty influencers use their freckle pens as a long-wear lip liner or nose contour.”
How To Apply a Freckle Pen
To achieve the most natural-looking sun-kissed spots, Spickard recommends always applying freckle pen marks after your complexion correction products, such as foundation, skin tints, concealers, or tinted moisturizers.
“Lightly dot the pen where freckles would naturally appear on the face (think: nose bridge, cheeks, forehead.) Next, lightly tap your newly applied spots with your ring finger using a gentle touch to avoid getting too much product deposited onto the face,” says Spickard. “Using your ring finger to ever so gently blend your faux freckles will work the product into the skin, distribute the freckles, and give a more natural look. Repeat this process until you have the desired density of freckles.” As an additional pro tip, Spickard also recommends looking at photos of people with natural freckles as inspiration. For added assurance of long-wear results, opt for a generous spritz of a setting spray to lock your look in place.
- Kasey Spickard is a professional makeup artist based in New York and Los Angeles with more than 10 years of experience in the beauty industry. Spickard has worked with clients such as Jenna Lyons, Kamie Crawford, and Brynn Whitfield.
