Daily Mail journalists select and curate the products that feature on our site. If you make a purchase via links on this page we will earn commission – learn more
The second heatwave of the year is upon us. One of the beauties of these late spring scorchers is that they provide an excellent opportunity to switch up our slap for summer, and get our cosmetic ducks in a row for the next four months.
During the last bout of spring sun, I received lots of compliments on how amazingly well I was looking. I wasn’t: it was my sultry summer slap. The aim is to appear effortlessly low-key. However, as ever with a ‘natural’ look, the devil is very much in the detail in terms of product and application. Here are my eight steps to transforming into a summer stunner.
1. Bold Brows
Dye your eyebrows for face-framing and youthful thatch-bolstering purposes. A brow that looks over-bold in wimpy winter light, will look magnificent in the sunshine. Eylure Dybrow Permanent Tint (£6.47, amazon.co.uk) is a cinch, lasting a couple of weeks or more.
The browns veer warm so use a light, speedy application of black, if you’re cooler in tone, light brown for blondes. Not only will your brows appear thicker, colouring them lends gloss. Next, use Colorsport 30 Day Mascara Lash Tint (£9, amazon.co.uk) to open up your eyes.
2. Prep Skin
Depuff your face come morning by rubbing it all over with with an ice cube, especially about the eyes, then working round them with cooling wands. I’ve found myself coming back to Brow Spa Gold Eye Rollers (£20 for two, brow-spa.com). Then, nourish with a plumping oil as your daily, dewy layer. If I’m feeling fancy, it’s Olverum Pure Radiance Face Oil (£80, uk.olverum.com), or Sisley Black Rose Precious Face Oil (£198, sisleyparis.com), both not only face-feeding, but sublimely scented, meaning one does actually massage. My budget fallback is Q+A Superfood Facial Oil (£8.50, hollandandbarrett.com).
3. Luminous SPF
For skin to look like skin it should be alive with gleam. My beloved Heliocare 360° A-R Emulsion SPF50+ (£32.99, Boots.com) grants luscious lustre. I’ve also become fixated with Mecca Cosmetica To Save Face SPF50+ Brightening Sun Serum (£38, meccacosmetica.com), boasting light-reflecting pearls for sensational radiance.
4. Brilliant Base
There are some wonderful minimal skin tints about, but to hold pigment in the heat a more traditional – if modishly up-to-date – foundation works best. Bobbi Brown Weightless Skin Foundation SPF 15 (now £33, johnlewis.com) is the real-skin emulating business. Apply sparingly, lightly powdering with the sheer, flatteringly blurring By Terry Mini To Go Hyaluronic Pressed Hydra-Powder (£20, sephora.co.uk) on the T-zone (forehead, nose, chin) only.
5. Sculpt Away
Minimal slap requires maximum shaping. I invested in an NYX Wonder Stick Highlight & Contour Stick (£11, Boots.com), using the brown end to create a defining shadow beneath my jaw. Bingo – a youthfully taut effect. Add under the cheekbones for accentuation here too.
6. Get Blushing
Create a smouldering guise not with muddy and ageing bronzer, but juicy, spring chickenish blush. Start with a diffused slant of powder to lend cheekbone emphasis and grip: Chanel Les Tarots de Chanel in Lavender if cool-toned, Blood Orange if warm (£54, chanel.com). Then, take one of Merit’s cult Flush Balms (£26, meritbeauty.com) in the hotly-pigmented Aprés (cool), or Postmodern (warm), and apply high on the cheekbone for sexpot-in-the-sun high drama.
7. Time To Highlight
Highlight is key to summer lustre: small C-shapes of it running from your outer eyebrow to the top of your cheekbone, on the tip of nose, and above your Cupid’s bow. Warm-toned women can use the gold end of their aforementioned NYX Wonder Stick. Cool hues will prefer a whiter shade, such as Rare Beauty Positive Light Silky Touch Highlighter in Enlighten (£24, sephora.co.uk).
8. Less Slap, More Pigment
Potent cheeks work beautifully with a bold-coloured mouth. Use your usual bright lip, or TRY your Merit Flush Balm, above. Fiddly eyes are too irritating in the heat. Dab on Kiko Pearly Eye Base (£8.49, kikocosmetics.com), let dry, then crayon on one of Ilia’s silky in the metallics Venetian (a pinky gold), if cool, or Opulent (a golden taupe), if warm.
Add a little emphasis with your usual pencil and/or mascara, but tread lightly. This is about tropical glow, not a power eye. Finish with glossy, undone hair, and you’re all set until September.
Heatwave Hair Accessories
Race You To It
Naturium Multi-peptide Rich Cream (£27, spacenk.com) went viral when it landed at SpaceNK on March 1st, and remains passionately adored; by me included, and I can’t usually abide rich creams. Still, this one is a pure, plumping, peptide-rich joy. After eight weeks, 100 per cent of subjects reported a reduction in fine lines and wrinkles.
Cosmetic Craving
The term ‘French manicure’ is a misnomer. This pink and white nail was an American invention, Parisian style mavens running a mile from anything so crudely contrasted. Behold, instead, the true French manicure: Kure Bazaar Nail Hardener in Tinted Rose (£22, johnbellcroyden.co.uk). This excellent treatment-cum-varnish uses an exclusive patented complex proven to harden and strengthen weak, fragile nails from first application, showing results within two weeks. Chic, straightforward to use, it genuinely works – and keeps selling out here and in Paris (where it originates) accordingly. Also in Beige and Transparent incarnations, it’s a simple, yet sophisticated game-changer.
