When it comes to makeup for warmer weather, I like to keep it as simple and lightweight as possible. That means, no heavy powders, no heavy concealers, just fresh and easy.
It gets warm fairly early in northern California, where I reside, this week it's been in the low 80's and that for sure means I don't want my makeup sitting heavy on my face, or melting off my face. The makeup needs to be: sweat proof;check, water resistant; check, and oil proof; check.
Basically my spring/summer routine starts with an exfoliated and well moisturized face, to get deep moisturization while drying down to a matte finish, I apply the Cetaphil moisturizing cream(it's in a huge tub and is for sensitive and dry skin like my own) and the Neutrogena oil free moisturizer form combination skin. Here's the interesting thing about the Neutrogena moisturizer, when I first got it, I liked that it was lightweight, but it ended up doing nothing for my skin even though my skin tends to lean from dry to combination depending on the time of year. So I thought to myself, how can I make this work? One day I decided to mix my Cetaphil moisturizer and my Neutrogena one before bed because in all honestly, the Cetaphil moisturizer can be quite greasy on the skin and not be fun to sleep in, the mix of Neutrogena and Cetaphil ended up being a miracle creation, it locked in the moisture of the Cetaphil moisturizer while drying it down so it wasn't greasy. This is now my go-to routine to get away with wearing a heavy moisturizer during the day without it feeling heavy.
Next I apply sunscreen, SPF 50. Now, I'll be honest, I am olive skinned and I never really believed I needed sunscreen because I always tanned deeply as a kid. Well, I grew up and spent more time in doors on the internet as most people between ages 19-23 do, and I lost a lot of that beautiful tanned color, which also means, because I have less melanin to protect my face, I have to wear sunscreen. And everyone should wear sunscreen of at least SPF 15 to combat skin cancer, even if you are dark skinned you should still wear sunscreen. I personally wear SPF 50 because even though I'm sure it's not really that much more protective than SPF 30, I'm lazy and don't want to have to reapply(which under makeup is not gonna happen without taking all of my makeup off), so I slather on the sunscreen on my face, and prepare for makeup application. The sunscreen I use is the generic brand from CVS and it comes in a foil-like squeezy tube, I like the formula, it is moisturizing but not too greasy, and it doesn't break me out, and bonus, it's cheap!!
After that I like to apply eyeshadow primer as I always do my eyemakeup first 90% of the time, even if it's light eyemakeup. It just makes the process easier and it gives my facial products time to sink in to the skin a bit. One thing I do that I think may shock people, is I apply eyeshadow primer to the places my foundation creases on my skin. For that would be my forehead lines, and a bit around my mouth, you'd be surprised but this actually does help fight those creases and oils because eyeshadow primer is designed to prevent oil from breaking down shadow as long as possible. I just always make sure to apply a generous amount for a thin layer across those specific areas and wait for it to dry completely before I apply any base products.
After eyemakeup is done, I prefer to use a tinted moisturizer over a heavy foundation in warmer weather. One, it tends to sit on the skin better, and two it usually won't melt off as easily because it's a tinted moisturizer and is a lighter formula so it doesn't sit on top of the skin as much. My preferred choice is the Sonia Kashuk Radiant Tinted Moisturizer. Believe it or not, it dries down to a semi-matte finish instead of being too dewy, which I prefer.
Next up I conceal where I need to and only where I need to, my skin is actually fairly clear and has been for about 6 months now. I only get a few breakouts here and there, and conceal them if need be but usually I just leave them be and show through my foundation or tinted moisturizer a little because caking them with makeup just ends up causing more breakouts in my experience. I mostly just focus concealing redness on my cheeks and cheekbones and the under eye area. Depending on the day, I'll use either the Maybelline fit me concealer under the eyes or Benefit's boi-ing concealer under the eye. It just depends on how much color correcting I need that day because my under eye circles shift from a blue tint to a purple tint depending on the day. The Maybelline is more yellow toned while the Benefit one is more peachy-tan. And that's what makes the Maybelline fit me concealer perfect for concealing redness around the face, I have it in the color 20 Sand and it does a decent job at concealing redness while not settling into pores if blended in seamlessly and set with a powder.
The third step I do is setting with powder, this may seem counterproductive to having a healthy dewy glow, but I always set my makeup with powder even if I am just wearing a tinted moisturizer, it just seems counter-intuitive not to set with powder. Powder keeps oil at bay and increases longevity of face makeup. My favorite powder as of late is the Physician's Formula CC Powder in shade Light/Medium. When I first got the powder it was speckled with yellow, green, and pink spots on the powder, but as you use it they slowly wear away. As far as color correcting goes, this is a pink toned powder and it does do some color correcting, especially when setting the under eye area. I personally like the powder for the coverage because that means I can get away with not wearing a heavy base because the powder has medium coverage and it blends really nicely into the skin. The great thing about the powder is the more you buff it into the skin, the more coverage you get, on my extremely lazy days I just buff the powder into my skin and conceal my under eye circles and call it a day. Another bonus is the powder has SPF 50, which during summer in a warm climate, you need all the sun protection you can get.
Lastly I finish my base by applying bronzer and a little bit of blush. My favorite is the Wet N Wild Color Icon Bronzer in Ticket to Brazil. It has a nice golden undertone and a nice sheen, it's medium pigmented and is easily to build up if need be or for your desired look. I sweep it along the temples and up into the hair line, on my cheekbones blending in softly towards the apples of my cheek and onto my chin and down the bridge of my nose for a glowy bronzed look. Depending on the day I will use a more neutral or a coral colored blush. For coral I use the Covergirl Instant Cheekbones Blush Trio in Coral, I use the midtone shade out of the three shades. And for a more neutral color I use the Revlon Blush in Naughty Nude.
Lastly I finish off with a tinted lip balm or high shine lipstick as those tend to be more glossy and sheer and look more effortless. The one I am wearing in my pictures below is from the Revlon Super Lustrous line in Fuchsia Shock.
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