Summer doesn’t have to mean melting make-up, frizzy hair and dry skin…you just need to know the tricks of the trade! Lucky for you, we have you covered.
Summer requires its own special beauty tricks. After all, it is in summer that your eyeshadow becomes a greasy pool in your eyelid creases, your hair falls flat or frizzes to a crisp and your make-up won’t stay on. But have no fear; there are solutions to all your summer beauty dilemmas!
Sunscreen
The most important thing to remember when it comes to Summer is SPF! Whatever else you do you up your glow count, to keep a lid on ageing, to keep skin in plush, radiant shape won’t mean a thing if you don’t have an anti-UV force-field.
The trick is you need to have coverage against UVA and UVB and foundations rarely cover both. So it’s best to prep skin with a proper broad spectrum (so UVA and UVB) sunscreen and then wear foundation or shortcut to a tinted sunscreen, with a foundation-style payoff. As with all skincare, make it a mantra: skin does not stop at your chin! Think of your face extending all the way to your boobs – necks and decs included. Neck SPF is especially important in summer – perfumes make your skin extra photo-sensitive. Add hands – never waste product overload – work it into the backs of hands. If you’re trying to downscale ageing, necks and hands are the zones that give your game away and can be the trickiest to correct once the damage is done.
Some sunscreens can clog pores but they are getting smarter, more sophisticated and feel more like skincare these days. Look for oil-free and the words non-comedogenic, which means they’ve been tested to not clog-up pores and provoke spots. Sidenote: also make sure you’ve got a good cleanser to remove it all at the end of the day.
Hydration
It’s also very important to keep skin hydrated. If you were to raid my top drawer, glove box or handbag you’ll find a moisture-mist for quick refreshes. Also keep your antenna up for moisturisers that are built around hyaluronic acid (HA) which draws and locks water into the skin and that strengthen up your natural barrier function, which stops it evaporating and your skin dehydrating. Also, keep up regular, exfoliation too – if you’ve got a layer of dead, flaky cells on the surface, your moisturiser won’t be able to sink in to thirsty skin.
Makeup
One common problem with make-up during summer is that it won’t stay on! To combat this, in high summer, be low maintenance! The more layers you’re stacking on, the more likely they are to slip, so keep it simple. So make sure everything in your kit’s working a double shift – like a sunscreen with built-in coverage. There are mattifying primers, but the best answer is blotting papers or cloths. It beats powdering on cloggy layers all day. As for your makeup, switch to a lip and cheek tint that will lock down colour like it’s part of your skin (you can layer your blush over the top if you like), waterproof mascara and liner… Powders tend to wear better in hotter conditions but a cream blush is magic.
Hair
We need to take special care of our hair in summer. Give hair a ‘haircial’ – treat it like skin! So you give it a conditioning, hydrating mask regularly and because the sun fades colour wear a UV protector in your styling product or a leave-in conditioner. Sea salt and especially chlorine soak out colour, so here’s a trick: drench your hair in leave-in conditioner or even fresh water if it’s all you’ve got, before you take a dip – the less chlorine your hair can soak up while you’re swimming, the better. Then of course rinse in fresh-water afterward.
The humidity can do all kinds of crazy things to our hair, hair fuzzes out most when it’s dry and/or damaged. It’s an osmosis thing – if the airspace is more moisturised (humidity) than your hair, thirsty locks will soak in the water from the atmosphere and puff up. So, two things: keep your hair as hydrated and silky as you can with moisture masking and then clamp down the cuticle with a glossing, anti-frizz leave-in styler (when the surface of the hair shaft is jagged, it looks tangle and lets humidity in) to keep it smooth.
Tracey’s top five summer beauty tips:
1. Summer beauty 101 is always SPF – no tan, unless it’s from a bottle, is a healthy or safe tan. Sunlovers, the sun does not love you back. It rewards you with mottled skin and wrinkles!
2. Keep it simple – fact: it’s hot, it’s sultry. You’re going to struggle to keep on a full-on face of high-glam, you’ve got better things to do. Keep makeup natural with glamour-points like a great lip or an eye…
3. Have haircials – love your hair like it’s your skin
4. Holiday tip: have a long-life, fine gel manicure. They’re practically bulletproof for weeks.
5. Waterproof makeup needs a good cleanser and a bit of technique. For mascara, opt for dual (oil and water-base) removers on a cotton pad, gently grasp your lashes and glide the mascara off. Rubbing it just rubs it in!
Tracey is the Beauty Editor for Grazia.
