Shake Up Your Make Up

Today marks the first official day of summer and just like we swap our heavy clothes out in favor of airy dresses, t shirts, sandals and shorts, we should switch out our make up, too and it doesn’t have to cost a fortune. 

Heavy Foundation

Swap your heavy foundation for a tinted moisturizer with SPF. If you want to buy new, try Cover Girl CG Smoothers. It costs about $7 and it has an SPF 15. Otherwise, take two parts of your regular moisturizer to one part of your regular foundation. Mix it together on your hand between the knuckle on your thumb and the knuckle on your index finger, right behind the “web” of your thumb. Apply it to your face with a foam make up sponge.

Powder Blusher

Switch out your powder blush in favor of a crème blush. NYC makes a crème blush stick that’s about $4. Make a few dots on the apples of your cheeks and again using a foam make up sponge, swirl your blush upward in a clockwise motion back toward your ear. If you find that even that’s too heavy of a layer, use a Qtip and take a bit of the crème blush and mix it together with a bit of moisturizer to cut the color.

Dark Polish

I love the look of a short, dark manicure, but drab hues have no business in your summer makeup bag. Bright, bold hues are the way to go this summer. Neon is everywhere and if you’re too afraid to wear it on a garment, you can still be on trend with your mani. Tangerine is all over the place. As is bright red, coral, and bright green. If you aren’t that daring with your nails, buff tones and pale pinks are great for summer as is the plain old classic french. Sally Hansen has a great line of polishes and nail care and they're under $10.

Matte Lipstick

Matte lipsticks and shiny glosses are too much for a sunny summer day. Try a lip stain instead in a berry like color. (Remember when you were a little kid and ate fruit right out of the garden? That’s the look you should be going for, but without having it all over your face, hands and sundress.) NYC makes Smooch-Proof Lipstain in a variety of colors and for around $5 (which is less than half of what others cost for the same amount of product) you can afford to mix it up. Plus, this one stays put so you don’t need to keep applying it. I think it’s a pretty good investment and you can stretch it into fall as a base under regular lipstick.

Smoky Eyes

I LOVE the look of a smoky eye for date night. It just dresses up your face so well and puts the focus right where it should be, but for summer, not so much. Switch out the smoky eye look in favor of a shimmery eye shade with flecks of gold because the gold will pick up on the pigment of your skin and make you look more tan than you are. Milani Cosmetics makes a "baked" gold eyeshadow that can be used wet for an intense look or dry for a softer dusting and it's $6 or $7 depending on where you buy it.