“Lighten up and brighten up your look,” says Kashuk, “because this season is all about replacing deep, dark shades and infusing your look with color.” She highlights corals, pinks, bronzes, and other colors that emulate the sun and give the face a fresh, natural glow as being particularly great for summer. “Simple washes of color over the eyelid are a favorite summer look,” which is why Kashuk developed her 12 shade Instructional Eye Shadow Palette in Eye on Pure Color. It’s a seasonal palette that includes pastels, brights, and metallics and is meant to replace the darks in your beauty aresenal (think plums, mauves, and anything with a lot of depth, all of which are better suited for the cooler months).
Many women will use a tinted moisturizer instead of foundation in the warmer months, but Kashuk says that foundation can be used in the summer, as long as it’s used on an as-needed basis and not heavy in application, but adds that it’s important to remember to update your foundation shade. “You may have to go a bit warmer in the summer months when your skin has a little more color. If you use a shade that’s too light, it can make the skin fall flat.”
Of course, makeup can only go so far, especially during the summer when it’s the fuss-free natural look that most of us want. To that end, it’s especially important to take care of our skin. Like many women, my skin gets acne-prone when it’s exposed to summer’s heat and humidity, so Dr. Tanzi suggests we do an at-home glycolic mask once a week. “The best ones,” she says, “contain glycolic acids to keep pores clean and clay to soothe skin that’s irritated by sun and salt water, or chlorine from the pool.” Her go-to is Verdure Rejuvenating Mask Peel.
As a dermatologist, Dr. Tanzi was quick to point out the importance of sunscreen, but she says that for busy women, powder sunscreen is a great and often overlooked option. Use it over your makeup in place of a powder and it will help keep it in place (a personal favorite of mine is this one from Chantecaille). The powder will also help cut down on facial oil on a humid day and it can be applied several times without messing up makeup.
The last important thing to do when it comes to preparing for the transition into warm weather is take care of your feet. “For better-than-pedicured soft feet, apply a cream containing urea – Rea Lo 30 is a good one – every night under socks for a week to soften all the dead skin,” says Dr. Tanzi. Once heels are softened, use the Pedi-egg on heels to remove thick, cracked skin, followed by an exfoliating cream like Sephora Hand scrub by OPI on dry skin to really polish the skin. Then rinse with water and apply a moisturizer with shea butter for the most sandal-ready feet possible.
images: IMAXtree
