Easy, Enduring Summertime Makeup

Posted By Kate

The lazy, hazy days of summer dictate that minimal, easy, light makeup be worn. Pops of colour, paired with fresh, clean, comfortable skin: that's what Summer, 2014's look is all about!

Part of looking your best this season: ensuring that you're wearing products to prepare skin and maintain your cosmetics, lest suffer makeup meltdown. Eternal and eSkinCareStore have some helpful hints and tips to keep you looking your best, easily, all summer!

Prep & Prime!

The purpose of a primer is to perfect, smooth, and create a canvas for other cosmetics, giving more endurance to makeup wear. A perfectly primed skin will not only give the illusion of a more flawless skin (blurring imperfections), but there are a variety of formulas available which have other benefits. Some of our favourites, based on skin characteristics, performance & seasonal requirements:

To PROTECT skin from UV rays while priming, Colorescience leads the way with its Sunforgettable SPF 30, as well as four other skin-specific, sun shielding primers which cater to the needs of maturing, combination/oily, sallow, and bronze-seeking skin. Likewise, Suntegrity's Natural Moisturizing Face Sunscreen & Primer SPF 30 and Dermalogica's Age Smart Skin Perfect Primer SPF 30 will also shield skin from the sun, while giving endurance to your perfectly-applied cosmetics.

To BALANCE, HYDRATE, and SOOTHE skin, Jane Iredale's Smooth Affair Primer; Whip Hand Cosmetics' Set The Stage Primer; bareMinerals bareVitamins Prime Time. Use of an eyelid primer such as those from bareMinerals, Jane Iredale, or Whip Hand will secure and give longevity to eye makeup.

Keep It Light!

Choosing to forego foundation while not wishing to go completely bare faced? One of the trends this summer is a near-natural, nude skin, and this may easily be achieved with a BB Cream, CC Cream, tinted moisturizer, or dusting of a mineral foundation. (No need for a primer, unless you're wearing a mineral foundation!).

Tinted moisturizers provide sheer colour, while hydrating, adding a bit of surface moisture, and sometimes sunscreen. Éminence Organic's Tinted Moisturizers offer sheer coverage, with an SPF 25, and are available in three shades: Vanilla Latté, Caramel Latté, and Cocoa Latté.
BB Creams (beauty balms) provide coverage with added skin care benefits like SPF and anti-oxidants. Lighter than foundation, but heavier than tinted moisturizers. Embryolisse BB Cream Artist Secret Complexion Illuminating Veil is a complexion enhancer that blurs pores and fine lines, and conceals imperfections with its mattifying, light-reflecting mineral powders and colour-changing pigments. Jane Iredale's Glow Time offers UV protection, and is available in six shades.
CC stands for colour correcting, and CC creams are meant to address issues like redness or sallowness (usually with light-diffusing particles); BB creams are like lighter foundation, with a few skin care benefits thrown in. CC creams have more of a whipped, light, fluffy feel and finish than a BB cream. Karora Skin Sensation CC Cream For Face and Body is versatile and organically based, while Dr. Dennis Gross CC Cream SPF 18 is available in four shades.
Mineral foundations provide ultra lightweight, buildable coverage, depending on their application, and are typically available in loose or pressed forms. Their natural mineral content also provide some sun protection in the form of a physical sunscreen, and are ideal for people with sensitive skin. There are many different brands available, at varying price points. The top-selling mineral foundations at Eternal Skincare are from bareMinerals, Jane Iredale, gloMinerals, Colorescience, and Youngblood, offering a variety of shades, forms, and formulations.

Add A Pop Of Colour!

Trends come and go, but while the makeup often seen on fashion runways is nearly theatrical for shows, and fashion editorial media may publish avante-guard looks at times, there are pretty, simple ways to subtly incorporate seasonal trends into your cosmetic application to adopt a look: pops of colour on the eyes, lips, or cheeks are always pretty if the application and formulations are correct.

The spring trend of orange lips carries on with its popularity into summer! Pupa's Miss Pupa Lipstick in "Bikini" offers a sheer hint of orange, while the more bold "Jaffa" from butter LONDON packs more pigment, in an opaque gloss.

At the recent 2014 Met Gala, there were many famous faces on the red carpet whom appear to have launched a revival of a soft, nude lip for the season.

A nude lip is flattering on everyone, and more versatile of a shade than bolder, punchier shades. Great shades of nude to consider: T. LeClerc's Satin Lipstick 23 - "Innocent" ; gloMinerals' gloLip Stick in "Natural"; Armour Beauty's new vegan-friendly, gluten-free V-gloss in "Brigitte" (inspired by animal activist and icon, Brigitte Bardot!)

Nude and bronzy eye colours are also ever-flattering in their subtly, perfect for warm summer days (and HOT summer nights!). For more adventurous types whom seek to wear a vibrant or daring look, pops of turquoise, cobalt blue, and opaque white eyeshadows and liners have been popping-up everywhere this season! (Pair with waterproof mascaras & liners from Blinc & Geisha Ink, of course!)

Seal The Deal!

With a quick spritz of a setting spray, your summertime makeup will resist meltdown, while maintaining skin hydration. Some, such as FACE atelier's Ultra Matte, Jane Iredale's Balance Hydration Spray, and Model in a Bottle's Original Formula offer a demi-matte finish, perfect for combination-oily skin types and those whom live in humid climates. Others, such as FACE atelier's Face Finish , Jane Iredale's D20 Hydrating Mist , and Skindinavia's Bridal Finishing Spray offer a dewier finish, great for normal to dry skin, or those whom need an extra bit of hydration.

Make Summer, 2014 a beautiful, easy one: instead of spending a lot of time with unnecessary, overdone, unseasonal makeup, taking the steps to ensure that your comfortably applied, heat-friendly face will endure throughout the day will give you more time to spend enjoying the best parts of summer: barbecues, picnics, parties, and poolside patio time :)

The lazy, hazy days of summer dictate that minimal, easy, light makeup be worn. Pops of colour, paired with fresh, clean, comfortable skin: that's what Summer, 2014's look is all about!

Prep & Prime!

Keep It Light!

Tinted moisturizers provide sheer colour, while hydrating, adding a bit of surface moisture, and sometimes sunscreen. Éminence Organic's Tinted Moisturizers offer sheer coverage, with an SPF 25, and are available in three shades: Vanilla Latté, Caramel Latté, and Cocoa Latté.
BB Creams (beauty balms) provide coverage with added skin care benefits like SPF and anti-oxidants. Lighter than foundation, but heavier than tinted moisturizers. Embryolisse BB Cream Artist Secret Complexion Illuminating Veil is a complexion enhancer that blurs pores and fine lines, and conceals imperfections with its mattifying, light-reflecting mineral powders and colour-changing pigments. Jane Iredale's Glow Time offers UV protection, and is available in six shades.
CC stands for colour correcting, and CC creams are meant to address issues like redness or sallowness (usually with light-diffusing particles); BB creams are like lighter foundation, with a few skin care benefits thrown in. CC creams have more of a whipped, light, fluffy feel and finish than a BB cream. Karora Skin Sensation CC Cream For Face and Body is versatile and organically based, while Dr. Dennis Gross CC Cream SPF 18 is available in four shades.
Mineral foundations provide ultra lightweight, buildable coverage, depending on their application, and are typically available in loose or pressed forms. Their natural mineral content also provide some sun protection in the form of a physical sunscreen, and are ideal for people with sensitive skin. There are many different brands available, at varying price points. The top-selling mineral foundations at Eternal Skincare are from bareMinerals, Jane Iredale, gloMinerals, Colorescience, and Youngblood, offering a variety of shades, forms, and formulations.