10 Summer Picks for Playing with Your Makeup Again
Kick off the summer and pride month with a sparkling face forward.
“I’m Coming Out” by Diana Ross is the song of summer 2021. As more and more people get vaccinated and go outside without their masks, it is a sunny season of new beginnings like never before. For some, this exciting season of new normals means expanding their makeup horizons and playing with new colors. While many people have paired down their skincare and makeup routines in light of extended time indoors, this summer provides the chance for a full 180. I predict a surge in glowing, bronzed complexions, as well as vibrant pigments, graphic liners, and glossy lips.
Kick off the summer and pride month with a sparkling face forward. After such an exhausting year of change, loss, and hardship, it’s time to put some color back on our cheeks. This summer, I’m playing with my makeup again — and I hope you’ll join me with some of these sunny day faves.
About Face Fluid Eye Paint
Beauty trends of decades past are making a comeback. For example, graphic eyeliner and neon matte eyeshadow are taking magazine covers by storm. Celebrities from Doja Cat to Tracee Ellis Ross are sporting geometric and bright eye looks in music videos and on the red carpet. As such, it seems only appropriate that a celebrity makeup line is one of my current faves. Halsey’s About Face is a vibrant line of inclusive makeup infused with beauty trends from the 60s to the 90s. The Fluid Eye paint is a super-pigmented product that dries matte for an electric eye look that lasts all day.
Kosas Air Brow Clear Gel
Sometimes you need a brow product that gives you shape and volume without pigment. For a refreshed summer look, brushed and fluffed brows are a refreshing way to frame the face naturally. The Kosas Air Brow Clear Gel helps brush and style coiffed brows with hyaluronic acid and nourishing ingredients that strengthen and support hair growth. Unlike some other brow gels, the product is also easy to remove and doesn’t yank out hair.
Aether Beauty Supernova Crushed Diamond Highlighter
No summer routine is complete without sparkle. Get your ethereal beach goddess glow with ethically-sourced diamond powder that helps protect collagen while illuminating the skin. You won’t find any toxic ingredients in this light-reflecting superhero product. Further, Aether Beauty is committed to sustainability and strict environmental protocol. Become the otherworldly muse you were destined to be with a transcendent shimmer that the stars will envy.
Kjaer Weis Dazzling Cream Glow
Kjaer Weis is living proof that luxury and sustainability can coexist. This creamy, shimmery bronzer comes in an elegant, refillable compact that reduces packaging waste. Once your product runs out—and trust me, it will—all you’ll need to purchase the next time is the product refill. Not only do the refills come at a significantly lower price, but many of the product refills are the same shape. Once you buy one case at Kjaer Weis, you can try whatever shade of foundation, cream blush, highlighter or bronzer you’d like the next time!
Freck Beauty CHEEKSLIME Lip + Cheek Tints with Plant Collagen
Nothing beats a versatile, multipurpose product that you can use on your lips, lids, cheeks and more. This silky-smooth product packs buildable pigment, sticky staying power, and nourishing plant collagen. Brighten up your complexion with shades of peach, berry, coral, rust and orange packed in a cute squeezy bottle. Just a small amount of product goes a long way!
Clarins Natural Lip Perfector
This is one of those go-to products that always keeps me coming back for more. Instead of pigmented matte lipsticks, I always like to go for a subtle gloss during the summertime. Shades of rose and plum team up with shea butter and vitamin F to plump and soften your shimmery pout. Even better, clouds of sweet vanilla coat your lips for a sugary smooch.
L’Oréal Paris Unlimited Waterproof Mascara
A recommendation from BWB founder, Clémence, this drugstore mascara helps your lashes go the extra mile. Adjust the two-position wand depending on the shape of your lash to lengthen and volumize at any angle. While a bold black is a classic staple, I recommend trying a blue mascara this summer for an extra pop of color. When someone leans in close with excitement to ask if your lashes are blue, the makeup risk will certainly be worth it.
Exa High Fidelity Foundation
What can I say? Oprah named it the #1 foundation of the year in O Magazine. This satiny, buildable foundation gives your skin that shiny summer glow without the weight of a heavy base. In addition, this foundation refreshes the skin with smell-good fruity ingredients that plump and nourish the face, like soothing maqui berry and peach fruit extract.
Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser
Some products go viral on TikTok for good reason. For example, this affordable concealer has become an instant fave of mine. Thanks to a fluffy applicator sponge and a lightweight pigment, this concealer delivers a near flawless application that lasts without creasing. On days when I don’t need full coverage, this hero product is all I need to even out my complexion for a natural, refreshed summer face.
Supergoop! Glowscreen Body SPF 40
The final touch to a summer look is a touch of reflective shimmer on the décolletage. While you can achieve this effect with one of our sun-kissed faves, like the Pai Impossible Glow Drops, I would also recommend a product that doubles as a sun protectant. For example, Glowscreen is a whipped body lotion that combines light-reflecting minerals with broad spectrum SPF 40 protection. While you experiment with vibrant colors and highlighting powders this summer, safe sun-care remains the number one priority!
Feature Image Credit: Alicia Zhang
Teresa Deely is a graduate from Columbia University with majors in English and Creative Writing. She is a freelance writer and marketing assistant working for clients in the wellness, jewelry, creative, and sports industries. She believes that one’s skin is yet another canvas and vehicle for art, and has loved styling her hair and applying makeup from a young age. Spending much of her time in educating youth and leading enrichment programs for children, she is highly motivated in discovering new ways to care for herself and sharing them with others.
Beauty trends of decades past are making a comeback.
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