MAKEUP DEETS
To me…
Creating the perfect smooth, summer makeup look is all about channeling the effortless, sun kissed vibes of coastal living. You know what I’m talking about. Freshly bronzed skin, the salt air on your skin, the natural waves it adds to your hair… it’s all about LESS IS MORE- Less makeup, more GLOW!
As a beauty and style influencer based in Charlotte, NC, my inspiration comes from the sunny, relaxed feel of summer in the Hamptons and Wrightsville Beach. All the East Coast vibes, tied in with the luxury of the Italian coast: gives you healthy dewy GLAM baby!
Buttery smooth, flawless skin made possible by...
Step 1: Prepped Skin
Healthy, glowing skin is the foundation of any great makeup look. If you haven't established a daily skincare routine yet, it's never too late to start!!!
Here's a guide to kickstart your skincare routine.
Step 2: Foundation: goals are light, dewy and sun kissed.
For a flawless base, I love the Lady Gaga Haus Beauty Foundation. If you haven’t tried this yet… let this be your sign, it’s SO GOOD!
This stuff is not just a foundation; it's infused with skincare benefits to nourish your skin while sealing and smoothing every fine detail! The shade I’m wearing is 300 Medium Neutral, a medium base with neutral balanced undertones. I prefer using a beauty blender to apply it, as it helps achieve a more natural finish compared to a brush.
To use:
Apply to the back of your hand: dot on foundation, and blend all over with a beauty blender sponge.
More Matte? No problem! Meet Fenty Pro Filt’r Soft Matte Longwear
I recently started using this one too, in shade 290 (it’s like a perfect warm gold olive tone that looks so nice on my skin!) and the texture is light weight, cream to super matte.
Step 3: Cream Bronzer
A must-have for summer, cream bronzer adds warmth and definition to your face. Use it right after your foundation to contour the forehead, cheekbones, eyes, chin, and jawline. A little touch on the nose enhances the sun-kissed look! I have even used this as eye colour for shading and adding a liner effect. It’s so versatile and I love it for that!
****use before setting powder: using it right into the foundation will give you that effortless, gorgeous look!
I wear the Anastasia Matte Contour and Sculpt Cream Bronzer, in Warm Tan (fair to light with warm pink undertones).
Step 4: Soft Powder
To set everything in place (especially after cream products), I use Rare Beauty lightweight smoothing powder. It's perfect for eliminating shine and smoothing out your makeup without feeling heavy. It’s literally SO smooth that it just melts into the skin, and helps to blend it all together!
I use the Rare Beauty “always an optimist” Soft Radiance Setting Powder in Medium: a warm honey for medium/ medium deep complexions. That’s a perfect match for me in the summer!
Step 5: Brows
For structured, natural-looking brows, the Gucci brow pencil in Chatain (light brown) is my go-to. Start at the front of the brow, feather it out, and use the brush on the other end to create hair-like strokes.
! BONUS COLOR !
This color works for EVERYONE! The Chatain is such a good neutral color that blends out super easy: allowing gorgeous little hair like strokes when used with the brush.
Step 6: (Soft) Eye Makeup
Keep your eye makeup simple and elegant. Use the same cream bronzer in your crease and up to the brow bone. Yes, the same one that I listed above! Add a bit of liner in a tightline style along the upper and lower lashes, then smudge it slightly for a softer look. Apply a conditioning mascara like Cils Booster, followed by Lancome Hypnose Drama for dramatic length.
Cils Booster: conditioning primer
Hypnose Drama: super volume mascara
LYS Full Volume Mascara: a great CLEAN, full bodied volume mascara, available at Sephora!
Lash Mega Volume TREATMENT: I have been loving this treatment from Lumify: this lash and brow serum is amazing!!! I use mine every night and have noticed a huge difference in the length of my lashes.
Step 7: Cheeks and Lips
Finish your look with Nars Deep Throat blush in a light pink peach shade for the cheeks. For the lips, start with a neutral color lip liner, then add a mauve liner to the cupid's bow for a pop. My favorite lip color this season is Pat McGrath's Peep Show (or Divine Rose for a richer tone), a bright yet light pink that's perfect for summer and it goes PERFECTLY with that blush!
Finish with… lips! The liners and the ESSENTIAL lip colour!
The Nude liner: Pat McGrath Labs Permagel Ultra lip pencil in Nude Venus: will go with all of your peach pink vibes.
My hope is that you leave this blog feeling inspired to create your own version of this super fresh, super relaxed peachy, summery, bronzy beautiful skin!
