Happy Sunday! The Bay Area is experiencing some gorgeous, summer like weather this weekend. With the increase in temperature, now is a good time to discuss some changes to a makeup routine. Despite the warmer temperatures, don't feel that you have to swear off makeup, just consider the climate and feel free to experiment with some lighter, brighter colors.
First and foremost, sun protection. I don't care if you are stuck in an office all day - you MUST wear sunscreen. If your exposure to the sun is limited to a walk from your car to the office, slap on a minimum of SPF 15.
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Now personally, Neutrogena as a brand has not worked for me as a facial sunscreen. I've used it a couple of times and my skin has had a weird reaction, turning red and bumpy. Most people seem to love it though, and as it's relatively affordable, It's a good buy. I do seem to be fine with the regular body lotions.
What I do use is this Purpose Redness Reducing SPF 30 lotion. For my dry skin, it has plenty of moisture and doesn't cause any bad reactions. It's also available at drugstores.
One final product is Lancome's UV Expert 20 with Mexoryl SX. Mexoryl is an ingredient designed to protect you against UVA rays. While it's important to protect yourself against both UVA and UVB rays, it's the UVA rays that penetrate beneath the skin, causing wrinkles and perhaps skin cancer. UV Expert provides protection against both, but the Mexoryl compound is unique to Lancome. It's $35 for 3.4 oz, so it's obviously not cheap.
One of the good things about the increased awareness about sun damage is that cosmetics companies are adding sun protection to many of their foundations. However, the heat can melt off makeup, so in most situations, powder will be your friend.
Bare Minerals is a foundation that people either seem to love or hate. I've expressed my love for them, I do think it works well for my skin. I do realize that it's $25 for a full jar though, so I've been trying out some drugstore mineral foundations. So far, my trials lead me to recommend L'Oreal Bare Naturale Mineral Foundation. At half the price, it provides a great amount of coverage, and is a worthy replacement for BE. It also comes with the brush, something Bare Minerals makes you pay for. The L'Oreal one is a little sitffer than Bare Minerals', but better than other drugstore brands'.
Another product that I will be trying in this summer heat is Clinque's Redness Solutions Instant Relief Mineral Powder.
Long name, instant results. I tried a sample of this on a day where I felt my skin a little flushed, and it did indeed get rid of my redness. It's said to help skin 'keep its cool'; something we can all hope for in the summer.
Bronzers abound in summer. If you can't actually go to Hawaii for a natural sun-kissed glow, fake it!
For only $1, this E.L.F. Bronzer is a lot of sun for a little price. Is it the longest lasting or the richest color ever? Probably not, but nobody will be able to tell the difference. It's fairly matte, so if you want a little bit of shimmer to highlight those fabulous cheekbones, you'll have to try something else. But who cares when it's only 1 buck?
Nars Bronzer in Laguna is a favorite of a lot of people. It has more shimmer than ELF's, but it's also $30. You do get a lot of product, so it should last you several summers.
Sorry for the blurry quality of this picture, but if you can find this bronzing duo from L'Oreal, it comes with both a bronzer and a blush, so you can use it year round.
The hot eyeshadow color for summer? Blue apparently. Remember these images from Nars and Yves St. Laurent?
How about Christian Dior and Laura Mercier?
If you're going to spend the day in a swimming pool, skip the eyeshadow and just swipe on some waterproof mascara. My faves?
Lipstick can be a hassle in the summer, plus lips need SPF as much as your skin. A tiinted lip moisturizer or a gloss give you some color, while keeping things light. Mac's Tendertones would be perfect for summer, but they were a limited edition, and are not currently available from MAC. You may be able to find them through online auction sites like eBay. Keep in mind that the original retail price was $14.50.
MAC currently has something similar called Tinted Lip Conditioners. The TLC's, as they're known, also have SPF 15, but there are not as many colors as Tendertones, plus they don't have the nice smell of the Tendertones.
So there are some of my recommendations for summer makeup. If you have any tips or tricks for staying gorgeous in the summer, share in the comments!
Will it be perfect? We can find out shortly after May 18th, when it goes on sale online at CVS.com; Target.com; Walgreens.com, and Walmart.com. The MSRP is $14.95, which I assume is what these retailers will be charging on May 18th. If you miss out on the 18th, Pulse Perfection will hit all major retailers in July.
