In these last few weeks of summer in the south, it can be very difficult to avoid the “makeup meltdown.” You know what I’m talking about… the humidity is at about 300 percent, eyeliner is smearing, mascara is collecting in pools under your eyes, and all traces of foundation and concealer are lost forever. Weep not, girls, there is hope! Follow these simple steps and you will feel less like a swamp monster and more like a southern belle, even when the forecast calls for a heat index of 120 degrees.
Before applying makeup:
Start with a fresh, clean face. Use an exfoliating cleanser in the morning to preemptively strike out against those nasty breakouts. My favorite right now is Aveeno’s Smart Essentials Daily Detoxifying Scrub. It’s gentle enough to use twice a day and it’s seriously refreshing.
Use an oil-free toner to control shine. Wet a cotton ball with the toner and rub it gently over the areas of your skin that you know are prone to breakouts. Make sure to choose a product that’s alcohol free so that it doesn’t strip your skin of essential moisture (try Neutrogena’s aptly named Alcohol-Free Toner).
Makeup:
Use a tinted moisturizer (with SPF) instead of foundation. Foundation cakes, peels, and generally just looks gross in the summer. Odds are that your beautiful face doesn’t need foundation anyway, so just throw it out. A tinted (and oil-free) moisturizer not only protects your skin from those pesky UV rays, it gives you subtle coverage that won’t melt off your face in the heat. My absolute favorite of all time is the Clinique City Block Sheer in SPF 25. It’s perfectly tinted, oil-free, and it goes on creamy and smooth.
Cheeks:
Use a powder blush. Cream blushes have a tendency to be a bit more shiny and prone to “caking” than powder blushes. Brush on a light shade of pink powder blush from the apples of the cheeks up to the temple and blend vigorously to avoid porcelain-doll syndrome. Brand to try? Nars in the shade Orgasm. Because who doesn’t want to buy a blush called Orgasm?
Not-So-Secret Tip: If you want to look like a total golden goddess, use a powdered bronzer instead of a traditional color to accentuate the cheekbones. Brush it underneath the cheekbone, in an arc that follows your jawline up to the temple, and blend.
Eyes:
Mascara. This is the only eye-product you need– I’m not even joking. Use dark brown mascara, no matter what color your skin tone, to keep it au naturel. Top lash, bottom lash, DONE. Clinique’s Naturally Glossy mascara in jet brown is so phenomenal I bought three tubes of it at once. I think I was afraid Clinique might stop selling it.
If you can’t stand to go out at night without more eye makeup (like me) then throw some eyeliner into the mix… but don’t use eyeliner. Line your eyes with a brown powdered eye shadow, which is less likely to smear than a pencil liner. To continue with the golden goddess theme, you can use a bronzer as eye shadow. Nifty!
Lips:
Chapstick. I swipe on some Blistex Silk & Shine, and I’m out the door. This stuff is so good I buy five at once. One for every purse I have in rotation. Literally, it’s so good that I just saw an offer for 144 tubes for $300 and I thought, “That might be worth it.”
If you’re going on a hot date and you’d like a little more color, try a sheer, tinted chapstick like Burt’s Bees Tinted Lip Balm in Rose. It provides just the right amount of color without looking too “makeup-y.”
Finally, to keep all this from melting away:
Blotting sheets!!
I put two exclamation points there because I am so enthusiastic about them!! Seriously, these little things are miracle workers. Never leave home without them. Ever. They remove oil without removing makeup! What a concept! It is pretty gross when you look down at the paper and it’s gone totally translucent thanks to all that residue that’s been building up on your face, but that’s a price I am willing to pay to be shine free. Speaking of price: there are a lot of expensive blotting sheets out there on the market, but go cheap with a brand like Bioré, which sells for around $5.