Although summer feels light years away, it is not only our bikini lines that we should be thinking about sorting out soon-ish. There’s also the fact that your winter make-up look just looks plain heavy in the sun. Unless you are Kate Moss, you need to leave black kohl rimmed eyes for the winter, along with the layers of foundation, and lighten your routine. So when the sun has finally arrived, you’ll be looking as though you have just come back from a tropical holiday – not stuck in light deprived/air conditioned office for the past 6 months.
Here’s how: If your skincare routine is leaving you feeling pasty, try the Bliss Triple Oxygen starter set.The fab minis firstly give you a great introduction to the line and, as they all work better as a team, you can brighten up your complexion in time for summer. There is an eye gel in the pack but the This Works Perfect Eyes Recovery Cream is ideal to de-puff and light enough to soak straight in – it really, really works and is one of my hero products.
Make-up wise, the best thing you could do is start again from the base up. Benefit’s Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow foundation will leave you with medium coverage, whilst looking and feeling barely there, and boasting an impressive inbuilt SPF 25. If you need concealer, Soap and Glory’s Kick Ass concealer is pretty hot to trot, and includes a setting powder in the cleverly-designed kit.
Now, here’s the tricky part of summer skin. A healthy sheen is most desirable; the face of an oil slick is not. Get it right with a touch of shimmer directly under you brow bone and on the tops of cheek bones where the light hits. The Nars Illuminator collection is pretty unbeatable for this and, if you mix a teeny tiny bit into your foundation, can happily double as an all-over illuminator.
Thankfully, Stila have been reinstalled in the UK. A summer glow just wouldn’t look right without a dab of convertible colour. This creamy palette works as both a lipstick and blusher and just won’t let you down. I love petunia but, really, you just need to find your shade to be a lifelong devotee. Dab a little gently onto the apples of your cheeks and blend, blend, blend. Dab a touch on your lips if you’d like to match. If not, a great lipstick with a lighter formulation and it also has SPF 15 in it, as well as being typically Bobbi in some very wearable shades.
For your eyes, switch down a notch on the colour chart and swap black for brown. Soap and Glory (my new best friends of make-up) have just created a brown kohl pencil with a clever sharpener attached to the pencil. Hold your upper eye at the corner and roll this into your lash line before smudging for a relaxed, bohemian look.
Finally, make sure you aren’t using your clumpy old mascara. I love the Hourglass Film Noir right now but whatever you use, remember that during the summer the light is that much better and clogged eyelashes never appeal. Once you’ve done the above you ought to feel fresh as a daisy and unintimidated by the bright summer to come. And, without meaning to remind you of that Baz Luhrman song, if I could offer one tip, sunscreen would be it. But that is a whole other post…
