Summer here in the South means a few things, HEAT, HUMIDITY & SWEAT! All of these things are super important to consider when choosing your summer makeup. I have found that either a product is too moisturizing and “slides” right off my face or a product is too dry and begins to look cakey after being outside for a few hours; both are BAD! My goal in this post is to let you all know my tried and true Summer “everyday” face routine that will keep you looking “all-natural” while also protecting your face against the UVA/UVB rays our skin comes in contact with!
First things first, after moisturizer, of course, I start with my foundation! Now, you all are probably thinking you have seen this foundation in all my previous posts as my favorite. This Tarte Amazonian Clay foundation is great all year around and it is the “holy-grail” of foundations that are SWEATPROOF and WATERPROOF and do not leave a thick cakey appearance! This foundation is a full-coverage foundation that literally melts right into the skin and won’t budge! My family is a big fan of the lake and I love to wake board as well as tube and you can ask any of my siblings, this foundation NEVER comes off! My sister jokes about how I need to take a picture after 30 minutes of wake boarding and my makeup is still on to post for you all and Tarte! This product is THAT GREAT! I apply this foundation in the summer with a damp beauty blender. I like to apply my foundation with the fat bottom end of the blender and being damp it helps apply the product more smoothly and evenly!
After my foundation I apply this amazing product, I have mentioned once before, but it is something I have re-purchased and use every day; the Trish McEvoy Instant Eye Lift . This product comes in two shades and I use the lightest shade for my under eye! This product comes with a brush applicator and I apply it in a triangle shape under my eye coming down by the side of the nose, up to the outside corner of my eye and fill it in. I then take a damp beauty blender and flip it to the small side and dab it in. This product brightens the eyes which will shave years and those dark circles away! To set this product I use the Tarte Amazonian Clay Smooth Operator Translucent powder that I apply with the Real Techniques Powder Brush. Depending on how my skin is looking and how many little break-outs I may have, I typically just sweep this translucent powder all over my face.
After my face, I move straight to my eyebrows with the best eye pencil in the world (ok, in my opinion) the Anastasia Brow Definer! The Brow Definer, is the same as the Brow Wiz by Anastasia, except for the way it is dispensed! The brow definer has a thicker angled end that is perfect for the shape of the brow. A tip for brow defining… Place the pencil in line with the inside corner of the eye and that is where your brow should begin, then take the pencil and angle it from the inside corner outwards and where it goes through on the brow is where the tail should be. I take my definer and lightlty draw a lin from where my brow should begin upwards to where the arch should be and then I angled the definer down and lightly follow the tail and “flick” the pencil lightly to create a natural looking tail that goes to where my brow should end. I then do upward strokes to create a “hair like” appearance to fill in the brow from the thicker beginning up to the arch. Brows are a HUGE and those days of thin eyebrows are gone and have been replaced with thick, full face framing brows. It is sooo amazing to see how much brows define the face! I do so many weddings and this one product everyone snaps a picture of to buy, because the application looks so good and natural. Although I am a blonde, I do use the “MEDIUM BROWN” pencil and I have found this is a great “universal” tone for almost every hair colors I have done makeup on. I do set my brow definer with the Anastasia brow gel . I like to know if I “NEED” a product and I will say, this is one you can go with a more affordable one for sure, but this brow gel does to a tremendous job of laying down those pesky little hairs that I am trying to grow out, that are in the awkward sticking straight up phase. I never used brow gel until this year and now I don’t know how or what I was doing.
I finish off my look with a few wisks of an amazing mascara that I just discovered by Lancome; it’s the Lancome Grandiose Mascara! The story behind this mascara is, I was in the airport and rememebered my mascara was getting dry, so I ran to the Benefit dispenser in the airport to buy their “They’re Real” mascara and to my dismay it was SOLD OUT!! In a desparate search I ran into a little shop that sold Lancome… I had worn the Lancome Hypnose mascara before and loved it, but the girl told me to try the new Grandiose. I asked her if the price difference was worth it, she said yes (of course 😉 ), so against my better judgement I purchased this $32 mascara (and quickly threw the receipt away so my husband would not see haha). I have to say… the first time I applied this mascara I was disappointed. The wand was odd shaped and I just didn’t get the lift and volume that it promised. After a few days, I realized that I was holding the wand completely wrong and now, my lashes almost appear false they are so full! In the summer when I am just running around, I don’t wear eyeliner and so I want my mascara to really “lift and open” my eyes! This mascara works wonders! The formula is unlike any I have ever used and it does not budge or smudge! The wand does a great job separating the lashes as well! The best way to put mascara on is with the “dip” in the brush making a “u” and put on a few layered by lightly closing the lashes to really lift and separate as you apply.
Now, with everything else look all “bright eyed” and ” flawless it’s time to add a little contour color to the cheeks and that summer GLOW!! I am addicted to the Trish McEvoy Glamour Bronzer as my contour! This product is just the perfect color and has the right amount of matte and shimmer to make my cheeks look defined! I use the Sigma F40 contour brush (this is a MUST HAVE brush for contour) to apply and I sweep it from the top of my ear down towards my mouth is a sweeping motion! I do this probably 4 or 5 times because I like to deepen my contour because I have such a round face, but at least two swipes is good!
Now, it’s time to GLOW!! A few months ago, I decided to try the Anastasia Glow Kit, that ALL my favorite makeup artists were raving about! I took the plunge and got the “That Glow” Anastasia Glow Kit. Online, the colors look so much darker, but they are super sheer and full of glow… I can use the darkest one mixed with the others and it looks great (so don’t get scared about the colors you see). I have found that I love to mix, “Dripping in Gold” and “Sunburst” on the top of my cheekbones and they really pop in the sunlight! My friend, Gaby and I started watching some of our favorite makeup guru’s and they too mix those two a lot to create a brighter glow! This kit is great because it has 4 shades of highlight and they are super pigmented and will last a LONG TIME! I use the Real Techniques Setting brush to apply this to the apples of my cheeks! I layer this “glow” on like it’s no tomorrow! In my book, the more glow the better 🙂
I know this may sound like a lot of steps and products to achieve a “natural” “sun-kissed” look but it’s a really fast process once you get the hang of it and should take no more than 6 minutes. The key is learning application! This look will give you that “natural-flawless” look without looking like you tried to hard. In the summer it’s all about a fun, easy quick put together sweat-proof look and these products will give you just that! Please feel free to message me or leave comments with questions, I am super happy to answer! I hope this helps any of you who may be struggling with a Summer routine or products that stand the weather!
I hope everyone had a tremendous July 4th and don’t forget to check out my “Summer’s Hot List” and “Beach Getaway Shop Tabs” stocked full of looks I am swooning over this season!
Products Mentioned:
Tarte Amazonian Clay Foundation
Lancome Grandiose Wide-Angle Fan Mascara
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Omg the brow gel is the best, Lancôme mascara is perfection and the brow wiz is all I would need if I were left on an island with nothing. Lol I must say though, I just recently purchansed the Ka Brow gel by Benefit’s new brow line and its even better and alittle more waterproof:)
Obsessed with all things Tarte! Will
Have to try that foundation!