As the sun has been shining down in London for a good week now (I know, I'm surprised too), I decided why not share with you my top 10 summer beauty buys of 2013. These are my favourite items that I have to use in summer or when I go away on holiday. Here's a photo of me in Ibiza in 2011 wearing all the beauty products listed below:
1. My favourite foundation to wear in summer is Chanel's Vitalumiere Aqua (review on this here), which obviously isn't cheap (around £30-40) due to being a high end product, but is the perfect summer foundation. The reason I love this foundation so much is that it is so light to wear. I absolutely hate when you're out in the sun, or sat in a heated office and you can feel your skin desperately trying to breathe through your foundation. This foundation also has SPF 15 which is perfect for those days you didn't realise you'd be exposed to the sun. It also leaves your skin looking as though you have no makeup on just a fresh dewy look.
2. My second must-have beauty item for summer is the Soap and Glory Glow All Out Luminizing Face Powder, priced at £11. This product is just the perfect final touch to your summer makeup look. Brush it lightly over your cheekbones and it will give your face a healthy glow. Not only is this another product that is light to wear, but it's not too over-the-top like some shimmery luminizers. It's a great product for day or night, as you can use a small amount in the day to get that summer glow, and at night you can use a little more to lift your cheekbones and enhance your foundation. You can even use it as a brow highlighter or an eyeshadow.
3. Moving onto the nails, which have to be painted in summer, my all time favourite nail colour is Barry M's Cyan Blue #294, a bargain at just £2.99. This nail colour looks so summery and is a gorgeous shade of blue. Every time I wear it someone comments on how nice it looks, it is really is an eye catching colour. I have to say Barry M's Mint Green #304 is another favourite summer varnish, also cheaply priced at £2.99.
4. You can't have a summer beauty favourites blog post without adding a bronzer. We're coming back to Soap and Glory for this one, the Soap and Glory Solar Powder, price £11. This is the perfect bronzer to give you a shimmery tanned look without being too much. It contours perfectly, and is half bronzer half highlighter to give you a luminous glow. Whilst it does have the highlighter, it still works perfectly with the S&G's 'Glow All Out', they compliment each other really well. There is a mirror in the compact, and also a little brush which I don't use on a regular basis, but if I forgot to take one with me it's a great substitute. For the price I definitely think Solar Powder is a steal.
5. I love bright coloured lipsticks for summer, in fact I love bright colours anyway but they work best on the lips and nails. When it comes to my favourite summer lip colours, I honestly can't list one so I'm going to have to at least put two. I could add so many more to this but instead I think I'll write another post just dedicated to summer lips! Before I tell you my favourites I just want to say, don't be afraid to wear a bright colour on your lips, especially in the summer time; once you've tried it once you'll be doing it all the time! My favourite summer lipsticks are: L'Oreal's Color Riche Intense Fuchsia #288, priced around £8. I am saddened to say that this colour has been discontinued, and I've used half of mine already! :( I think the closest replacement to that colour is L'Oreal's Crazy Fuschia. As my top choice has been discontinued it makes sense to tell you my second favourite anyway, and that is one I have previously reviewed: YSL's Rouge Pur Couture in Le Orange, which costs a mighty £25. It is worth it though, if you read my review you'll see that it is a perfect summer lipstick, that in time will show you it was worth the money.
6. Do you find that your eyeliner seems to melt in the heat? Then give Maybelline's EyeStudio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner a try. It's usually priced at £7.99, but is often in the Boot's 3 for 2 offer so you could even get it free! It comes with a little gel brush which works well as an applicator and is small enough to add to your makeup bag and take on holiday. The gel itself is easy to apply and the high pigment means the colour lasts all day without smudging, and is perfect for creating a 'cat eye' look.
7. Some of you are probably going to think I have a Soap and Glory addiction. Well maybe I do, because I'm adding yet another S&G item to my summer must-haves. The It's About Prime Eyeshadow Underbase Primer is £8, and another regular in the 3 for 2 offers at Boots. In my opinion, if you want to wear eyeshadow in summer or on holiday, then you need to use an eyeshadow primer. With heat on your face for even a small amount of time eyeshadow/liner won't last and you have to run to the nearest bathroom or whip out your compact and reapply. Not if you use It's About Prime you don't, or at least you won't have to as often. I've used this primer on summer nights out and not needed to reapply my eye makeup all night. Not only does it keep your eye makeup in tact, but it makes any eyeshadow colours more prominent.
8. Here's another cheap favourite of mine. I bought this eyeshadow just because of the price and so I could try out the NYC brand. The eyeshadow I have is the NYC Metro Quartet Eye Shadow Queens Boulevard 796B which was £2.99 but again is discontinued! :( However, a very similar one has come out which is the NYC Metro Quartet Eyeshadow Manhattan which is only £2.99. These eyeshadows are really pigmented and if you use them with the eyeshadow primer from Soap and Glory (listed above at number 7!) it really bring out the colours. The packaging even shows you which colour is for contouring, highlighting, in your eye crease and for an all over look. It's the perfect little eyeshadow kit, great value and small enough to fit in the smallest of handbags.
10. Ok so personally I think St Tropez is the number one fake tan, however the cost is a little off putting, which is why St Moriz is also in my top 10. However, St Tropez really is the best, and when it comes to applying fake tan to your face I would definitely recommend using something that's going to do the job properly. St. Tropez Gradual Tan Everyday Face Lotion (£12.39 at Boots) is definitely my recommended purchase. Mix it with a bit of the St Moriz when applying to your face and you'll immediately get a perfect bronzed look. If you want to use it on it's own, apply it each day and within a week you will have a gorgeous golden tan. You can also buy another of my favourites, the St.Tropez Everyday Gradual Tan Body for an all over gradual tan. Note: I buy all of these products in the light/medium range.
I hope you liked my top 10 summer buys. I did sneak in a few more products so it's not exactly 10 beauty items, but still these are my all time favourite beauty products that I really love.
What are your favourite summer beauty items? Do you dislike any of the products I mentioned? I'd love to know.
Lots of love,
Samantha Dawn
xoxo
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