Summer beauty talk time! With the hotter weather here, and my summer holiday coming up, I’ve been changing what’s in my makeup bag to lighter, easier-to-wear clean beauty products.
While I’m not a heavy-makeup kind of girl normally, the summer sun often lures me away from any makeup at all (only a teaspoonful of sunscreen for me!)
But when I do want to look my best, these are the makeup products I tend to wear. They’ve accumulated over the course of the last few months, and with a bit of trial and error, I think I’ve now distilled my summer makeup collection down to these few favourites…
What’s in My Makeup Bag: Summer Edition
Moisturiser with SPF. Ok, ok, I know I’ve already gone on about SPF face moisturisers before. But, if I’m to be true to my current beauty routine, this is the first cosmetic product I put on – even when it’s not sunny. Right now, I’m working my way through my gifted Freshly Naturals Healthy Protection moisturiser, with my gifted REN Skincare Clean Screen Mineral SPF* up next.
Watermelon Face Serum. Once my moisturiser has set in, I’ll go for a little face serum. In the colder months, I tend to top up my moisturiser with argan oil or a rich serum, but Bybi Beauty’s Supercharge Serum* is perfect for the summer. It’s a smoother, lighter serum which glides on, and keeps my foundation looking dewy all day long.
Coconut Oil Concealer. There’s nothing better than RMS’ Un-Cover Up*, and it remains my go-to concealer no matter the weather. The coconut oil base makes it super easy to apply, and I tend to use my EcoTools concealer brush to dab it on, before blending with my foundation. I have it in the shade 11, which is good for covering up redness and colour-matching my yellow-toned skin.
Fluid Foundation. I’m an Ere Perez fan through and through, so this summer I decided to try switching my regular oat milk foundation* for their quinoa water line. Coming in eight shades, I decided to go for the middle of the road ‘Dawn’ colour. It’s definitely a shade darker than my usual oat milk foundation in the shade Honey, but it works quite well when I apply the oat milk foundation as a base, and then work up the quinoa water foundation across my cheeks and t-zone with their multi-purpose brush*. I try to halve the amount of foundation I use when applying both, so that I’m left with good coverage, but still enough transparency for my sun-induced freckles to peek through.
Bronzer. I think one of the biggest changes I make when it comes to summer makeup is adding a dab of bronzer to my cheek bones. I like Ere Perez’ Highlighter*, as it’s dewy, golden, and only needs a few really light dabs with my ring finger to create a glowy effect. I tend to switch out my blusher when doing this, as I feel like my skin can get overloaded.
Black Eye Liner. Ah, my good friend PHB Liquid Eyeliner*. This is another hero product of mine, and something that stays put in my makeup bag all year round. It’s the gentlest and best clean liquid eyeliner I’ve been able to find over the years, and I doubt that’s going to change any time soon. If you see me without my winged liner on, something is probably up…
Beeswax Mascara. Back in my makeup bag is Green People’s Volumising Mascara*, a lighter alternative to my usual Dr. Hauschka mascara. The beeswax in this formula makes it super easy to glide on, and keep my lashes long and individually set, even when it’s humid. If you don’t like to use beeswax, try Ere Perez’ carnuba wax mascara* instead.
Olive Oil Lipstick. Another firm favourite is Ere Perez’ olive oil lipstick, which I’m still rocking in the shade Picnic. This lipstick just glides on, and it doesn’t take more than a swipe to get full colour across my lips. I’ve just ordered one of their lip-to-cheek colour pots, so I’m excited to play around with colour and application in a future post.
Aloe Face Spray. And finally – face spray. This stuff is heaven when working through the day and feeling warm. It should say “Spray for relief” on the bottle! I used to have a colleague who would periodically reach into his desk, grab a can of water spray and douse himself in the stuff, and since then I’ve followed suit! Right now I’m loving Made by Coopers Manuka & Aloe Face Mist, which I was kindly gifted after meeting with Clare Cooper earlier this year. Inspired by her learnings of Ayurvedic plant properties while in India led to the creation of the Made by Coopers range, and she now makes her range with her small team in Sussex, and their products are both beautiful and powerful. Love love love this stuff – and you can get 20% off with the code BESMA20.
French Mani Polish. And an added extra – I’ve been wearing Kure Bazaar’s French Nude nail polish* for the last month or so, and I have no plans to change. I feel like I’ve tried so many nail polishes since my teen years, and I’ve finally found the one. This polish is so easy to apply, lasts for over a week, and looks chic and simple at the same time. A summer product now, but I’m sure it’ll follow me into autumn and winter too!
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Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links (denoted '*') and gifted products (denoted 'gifted')
