Stop your makeup melting in the heat
Party season and soaring temperatures mean one thing – melting makeup! Make sure you don’t end up looking like Alice Cooper this summer with our guide to a face that stays put even when the mercury rises.
Blank canvas
Exfoliate so that your face is ultra-smooth and products will stay on evenly, rather than migrating to one particularly dry area.
After your usual moisturizer, make sure you apply SPF30+ or SPF50+ sunscreen. After all, there’s no point in going to all this trouble if you’re just going to end up looking like a tomato anyway!
Then use a primer to take away shine. Another layer might seem counter-productive, but you can imagine what happens to make-up that’s applied to a slippery surface.
Dare to bare
Too much powder and sweat aren’t a good mix, literally. Powders can clog and looked caked when we start to ‘glow’ on scorching days. Similarly, long-lasting foundations can be too heavy and textured and look too much like make-up.
Instead, opt for a light coverage foundation or illuminating tinted moisturiser to keep your look sheer and natural.
Cheeks
Using a brush, apply a cream blush to the apples of your cheeks. The beauty of a cream blush is that if it starts to budge, you can just blend it back in with your finger.
Go easy on the bronzer. Use a shade that’s just one shade darker than your natural skin tone and apply it only where the sun would naturally catch your face.
Eye
Smokey eyes soon become raccoon eyes in the heat, so keep the natural look going with a creamy, slightly shimmery eye shadow in a coppery shade. Stick-style shadows stay in place very well and are easy to reapply on-the-go.
Liquid eyeliner is best avoided in the heat. Use a pencil or at least a waterproof formulation.
To avoid your eyebrows melting, go for a light pencil rather than a wax, then finish your eyes with waterproof mascara.
Lips
Thick gloss can feel a bit gloopy when the temperatures soar, and a heavy lipstick will overwhelm the natural look on your eyes and cheeks. Try a light chubby-stick style lip stain or a tinted lip balm with SPF in it to provide sheer colour and sun protection in one.
Staying power
It’s really important to ‘set’ your face after you’ve applied it, but it’s a fine line between setting it and adding powder that’s just going to cake.
Use a good quality translucent powder just on your T-zone. A little goes a long way so dab it on the back of your hand first, then apply from there.
Finally, keep some blotting papers in your handbag. Blotting papers don’t just mattify shine- they actually soak up excess oil and sweat, so they’re perfect for hot days!
Image credits: Getty Images