Step by Step to a Beautiful Summer Face

When the temperatures and humidity indexes rise, it is time to reconsider your facial routine. In fact, whenever the weather moves from one drastic change to another, it is time to reconsider. Winter facial care and makeup is much different than what you want to apply for summer. The reason for this is not just because you want to be more comfortable in the summer, but you want to apply products that are not going to combine with the natural oils your face produces in the heat. This leads to a clogging of pores, and BAD things will happen to your face. Just because the temperature index is high, does not mean you have to forego makeup and sacrifice your beauty. Here I will go over some basic tips to help keep you cool, unclogged, and feeling pretty on those hot summer days.

You need to start off with good face preparation. First you will start off with the standard cleanse, tone, moisturize steps. It is a good idea to exfoliate your face every few days, but no more than that. Exfoliating too often will lead to dry scaly skin, and not exfoliating enough is ironically going to have the same effect. Use your exfoliating step in place of your cleansing step a couple of times a week. You also want to consider using tinted moisturizers in the summer. These have a progressive effect by slowly giving your face a sun kissed glow over a matter of days. Make sure you wash your hands after you use them, and also you want to do this every day to have a lasting everyday glow. If you aren't sure which ones to try, and trust me, there are so many out there it CAN be difficult, have a look at some product comparisons. This article offers a comparison of some of the best products out there.

Your face is prepared, well, almost. If you intend on putting on makeup, you want to look at priming your face first with makeup primer. This again just takes an extra step of priming your face for makeup application. Most formulas are light and non-greasy and will help reduce fine lines, remove red spots, and hide flaws. All of this before you even put on makeup! They act as a great base, and honestly, since I started using makeup primer, my finished face is so much fresher. Also, with a primer in the summer, you can get away with wearing less makeup as it really does make a difference in how your face looks. Not sure which one to get? Read this article for a primer on primer's and reviews of some excellent products.

Next you are going to do concealer and foundation. The concealer should go under your eyes, and on your lids. Use a makeup brush to apply as using fingertips will stretch this delicate eye area. Use a sponge to blend. After you apply concealer, you want to put some translucent powder on to set it. Foundation then goes on the rest of your face, but not under your eye. In the summer months, you want to avoid cakey heavy liquid foundations. Two great options for the summer months are matte mousse products or mineral foundations. These are both light, offer great coverage, and have tremendous staying power. If you aren't sure which ones to buy, look at this buying guide for some great tips.

These are the basics to any makeup application, and are a good starting point for your summer face. Once you have completed these steps, you will see that you are pretty "done", you look great and depending on what your outing is, you may not even want more makeup.

For a trip to the beach or some light errand running, some lightly dusted bronzer, mascara and sheer lip gloss will finish the face perfectly and give you a beautiful natural look. If you are going out on the town, throw in your bag some powdered shadows, colored blushes, and some darker lipsticks. Once you have prepared your face the way you started, just a few touchups is all you are going to need throughout the day and will make it very easy to go from day to night. What you want to keep in your purse for touchups is some pressed powder, lip gloss and or lipstick, and your mascara.

Lastly, when it comes to summer makeup, you need to stay away completely from anything that comes in cream form with the exception of what you wear on your lips. These get cakey, melt faster, and do not last as long. They don't just melt in your purse, but on your face as well. To matte down your lipstick a little, brush some powder on after the first coat and reapply another coat. This will give it some more staying power. Powder, powder, powder, is the key to having the freshest, prettiest, summer face. Have fun!