The Prettiest (and Easiest) Makeup for Summer
Here’s a counterintuitive makeup-artist secret: You can use a lot less makeup if you wear brighter colors. Summer—when glowing, healthy skin is more on display—is when this trick is most effective. “Adding sheer, intense color to your eyes, cheeks, or lips is an easy way to brighten your face without wearing much makeup,” says LA makeup artist Jillian Dempsey (famous for her vibrating face bar, another foolproof face-waker-upper). “Bright colors can be really sheer and still enhance your natural glow, so you get that no-makeup makeup look with even less product.”
The easiest way to pull off any color—whether it’s hot pink, deep blackberry, bright poppy, or fiery copper—is to apply it as a whisper, as opposed to a full-on statement with lots of texture. As cleantech has advanced, the new pigments for lips, lids, and cheeks are more beautiful than ever; pick a shade that suits your skin and start experimenting. Applied with restraint, every one of these shades is sexy (for day or night), easy, and gorgeous on absolutely every skin tone.
1
CHEEKS
The idea is a softly invigorated flush, as if you’ve just jogged on the beach. Balms and cream formulas enhance a dewy sheen, while powders last longer, especially on oily complexions. Apply either one at the apples of the cheeks, then blend upward at an angle for a soft, lifting effect.
BLUSH
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Soft Fuchsia
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Terra-Cotta
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Warm Peach
BRONZER AND LUMINIZER
Blend a little bronzer on top of blush for a gorgeous sun-kissed burnish. It can also go just about anywhere else—the bridge of the nose, Cupid’s bow, chin, lids, or collarbones. Warm copper-gold tones light up darker skin tones beautifully, while cooler shimmer-flecked formulas flatter lighter skin.
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Bronzer for Summer Skin
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Cool-Peach Shimmer
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Warm Copper-Gold
2
LIPS AND CHEEKS
Dab color on both your lips and cheeks for an easy, pulled-together look that really flatters the skin. Whether your vibe is more tinted balm, juicy stain, or buildable multistick, a warming flush instantly brightens your entire face.
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Sheer Tinted Balms
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Crayon with a Shiny Finish
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Stick for Buildable Color
3
EYES
A faint wash of color across the lids is magic: low-key enough for day and fittingly moody for a night out. You can layer the copper and pink shades below for a full-on metallic effect, use either on its own, or smooth on a wash of iridescent gloss from Jillian Dempsey, a gleamy flourish that’s the sexy essence of summer itself.
SHADOW
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Shimmery Gold and Copper
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Chic Metallic Pink
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Iridescent Soft White
MASCARA
Add fluttery, shiny, inky lashes—the sexiest, easiest way to look instantly more rested.
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Inky Serum-Mascara
OR: NATURAL-LOOKING FALSE LASHES
4
BROWS
Shape and define your brows and your entire face somehow looks more sculpted, whether you’re shading in a sparse patch with a creamy pencil, adding volume with a tinted peptide gel, or nourishing with a clinically tested serum designed to support growth.
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Chicest Pencil
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Serum for Thicker Brows
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Peptide Gel for Lift
5
ADD POLISH WITH LIP GLOSS
A sheer tint and a gorgeous bit of sheen is really all you need for the ultimate summer lip.
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Milky Gloss
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Sheer Plumping Oil
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Deeper Pigment
BONUS: FOR GLOWING, HEALTHY-LOOKING SKIN
Beautiful skin is essential. Here’s our formula: This fantastic eye cream made with vitamin C and phytomimetic vitamin A—a nonirritating plant-based retinoid alternative to firm, smooth, and brighten—really helps fake the look of a great night’s sleep. A layer of weightless hydration smooths and boosts radiance; follow it with a luminizing tinted moisturizer and a truly amazing concealer.
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Firming Eye Cream
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Featherlight Moisturizer
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Tinted Moisturizer with SPF 40
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Melts-Right-In Concealer
