Makeup My Summer

Summer, how do you destroy my makeup? Let me count the ways. Sweat and humidity will melt that stuff right off your face. If you have oily skin, it looks even better! (sarcasm) Summer heat intensity differs depending on where you are, some summers are hotter/dryer than others. I live in Southern California, so for me, summer is HOT. Here are some tips for this super hot summer.

First things first,

1. Moisturizer
2. Primer
3. Makeup (foundation or CC cream.)

In that order.
Make sure you are using the right one for your skin (oily, combination, sensitive, dry). Also make sure you are cleansing in the morning, when you wake up from the skin repairing itself, and at night, the time the skin repairs itself. 1 or 3 should have sunblock of some sort!

It's summer, GO LIGHT. less is less and that's why its so much better in this heat. Instead of foundation you can use a tinted moisturizer, or primer and CC cream, or just the CC cream by itself. The natural look would be the easiest, and least likely to melt (because you won't be packing anything on to show extreme/awesome colors).

Liquid foundation is also good. If you have some spots/areas where you want to add concealer, you can use the stick concealer. You could also use a liquid foundation that is a tad lighter than your skin tone for dark areas. This can be applied with a damp sponge and dab in upward strokes starting from the center of the face moving out to the edges.

I dab my face with streaks of liquid foundation and spread it with a brush. (I use three colors, one for my natural color, a lighter one for concealer, and a darker one for blemishes). After the brush I blend with a damp sponge, and then LIGHTLY dab pressed powder on for a nice finish. That holds nicely all day...still, I want CC cream!

Eyes and Cheeks: I've heard that powders get cakey and creams work better, but creams tend to melt while powder sticks better. I think the solution would be to use a highly pigmented product so that you use less of it. Eye Primer also helps powder stay on better. Take it easy with the creams and ALWAYS blend well. Lipstick can also be used as blush. I used a cream eye shadow as blush and it stayed pretty well.

Another good idea for the summer (and always) is

Oil absorbing tissues. Helps get rid of the oily, sweaty, look...or gently use a normal tissue if you don't have these.

For lips use a tinted lip balm or lip gloss. At least rub in some lib balm on your lips before applying a LIGHT coat of lipstick. A lip stain will work well.

Other tips that work for me:

Use bright lighting when applying makeup

Let moisturizer set onto skin for a bit before applying makeup

If foundation looks cakey, powdery, or runny, dab with a damp sponge and blend it

If the foundation still looks runny then add pressed powder to damp sponge and blend-lightly add powder.

Blend with fluffy brush with lots of bristles, it collects and drops less powder (blush and bronzer)

Use eyeliner after shadow, goes on top, not covered with powder.

A coat clear gel for eyelashes over mascara can substitute for water resistant mascara.

Keep in mind skin color when going for the natural look, basically try to match the colors already on your face. Find a balance between sheer and natural colors and outstanding, unusual, shades.

If it doesn't look good on you, its not you, its the color or the texture or the method of applying it. 

You're Beautiful!!!