Summer Make-Up

What's your summer make-up like?  I find I change lip colours and moisturisers, but don't really change dramatically what else I use between seasons.  This is a little overview of what I have been using recently.

 
I rarely bother with foundation, partly because I've never found one that's particularly good, but in summer heat my skin needs to breathe as much as possible, so I skip it altogether.  This does necessitate using a moisturiser that doesn't give too much shine - I use Kimberley Sayer's Ultra Light Facial Moisturiser.

Over the top, I always use a sweep of powder, and am currently using Chanel 'Les Beiges' Healthy Glow Powder (£38), which although pricey, is great for summer.  It's very subtle, but gives a bit of warmth to the skin and looks better than my standard pale translucent powder with the inevitable tan that I get (despite walking around under umbrellas, hats and factor 30 - that's what happens when you are an outdoor runner!).

For lips, again keeping it as light as possible, I would choose a sheer lip colour for everyday such as Poppy King's 'History' for Boots No.7 (£10.95), or why not try Poppy King's offering of 'Medieval' (£20) at her range available at Space NK?  It gives lips a "just bitten" look according to India Knight's review in the Sunday Times.  For evening, summer is a chance for me to break out the really bold colours - 573, a lovely coral pink from years ago by Barry M (£4.49), or Besame's Carmine (£22), or a strong pink such as 'Classic Rose' by Boots No.7 (£9.50) all look chic with a summer wardrobe's tropical colour palette.

Mascara-wise, I try and go for something waterproof that isn't going to start running either with sweat, trips to the beach, or pure heat.  I find that against my ever so slightly darker skin in summertime, the Besame mascara doesn't stand out enough, so I've been using Boots No.7 mascaras (£11-£13), of which there's a huge choice.

I am not very good at applying black eyeliner with the required precision, and eyeshadow just slides off my eyes in any kind of heat (must find a good primer to stop this happening!), and so I tend to use bright liquid eyeliners to give a little slash of colour - a good one is again from Boots No.7, I have it in green.  Unlike black, you don't need as much precision as it will never look as stark.

Hair-wise, I can't bear the heat of curling my hair and so often leave it to air dry, pinning up sections from my face.  Naturally my hair has a wave, so I'm lucky to be able to do this.  I haven't yet found a quick and easy updo that my hair can be tamed into (it's very heavy and would take an army of pins for it to stay put).  For summer nights, I find all you need is a flower hair accessory, and you're good to go!

Here's a typical result from all of the above (excuse the expressions, but you're meant to be looking at the make-up, not me!)

After I wrote the above, I then decided I would like to revamp my summer evening look a bit and headed to the Dior counter.

I asked for a natural looking foundation (always hesitantly when you're asking someone who wears a LOT of foundation!!) and tried out Diorskin 'Nude' (£32).  I really liked the product, it didn't feel heavy at all despite it being a humid day, and I have a sample to try out again before I take the plunge and make a purchase. 

In pursuit of another 'everyday' red I tried out Dior Addict in 'New Look' (£24).   I loved the lip colour, which you could build up from sheer to wow, but the staying power was about the same as the 'History' sheer red I use, at less than half the price, and I also encoutered the problem of feathering for the first time ever with a lipstick, despite having used a lipliner.  I think you can see this a bit in the second picture below.

Eye make-up wise, I tried out Dior Skinflash Pen (£26), which is kind of like YSL's touche eclat, but comes in different hues (pink, apricot) rather than just skin tones.  The make-up artist used it also as a primer for my eyelids, and now sat here at the end of the day with the eyeshadow still in place, I can say that it worked!  The eye-shadow was just a couple of shades from the Dior 5 couleurs palette (£40) - they have them in lots of different colour combinations to suit your skintone.  It's heavier than I would normally wear, but for an evening I think it might be OK.

So, I shall think about purchasing the foundation, but the hunt is still on for another everyday red lippy.


That's it really, sorry it's not more exciting.  Has anyone got any tips for summer make-up looks?  They've got to be better than mine!!