YOUR ULTIMATE GUIDE TO SUNKISSED MAKEUP

Glowing skin is the best, right? But allowing the sun to weave its wicked ways on your complexion, damaging collagen and aging you up lightning fast is not ideal. Instead, fake a safer summer glow with these simple sunkissed makeup tips.

Don’t get us wrong, we’re big fans of winter makeup. Give us a smokey eye and glossy dark lip any day. But in the summer, we just don’t want to go down that road. For us, long, sunny days are all about sunkissed skin. The type of skin that looks as if it’s been literally kissed by the sun, but in actual fact has been fully SPF-ed up all summer long. Because you’re smart like that.

The best thing about sunkissed skin is that it actually looks way better when it’s faked with makeup. Makeup allows you to play with color (and start again if you get too carried away!) without fear of getting all sweaty and red-faced. Couple yours with warm, sun-flushed cheeks, barely-there eye makeup and glossy lips and you have a winning look on your hands.

So let’s get to it, shall we?

How To Fake Sunkissed Skin

Looking summery and bronzed is all about building the perfect base for your skin. So, while we generally prefer to do our eyes first, today we’re going to start here – then you can tailor the rest depending on how much makeup you actually want to wear!

1. Prep First

Make sure you start off on the right foot by gently cleansing, moisturizing, applying SPF and then prepping your skin with our velvety Pre.Face Primer. This will ensure your skin is smooth, hydrated and ready for its glow up. Apply concealer to any dark circles, pimples or annoying red patches and then it’s time to concentrate on your cheeks.

2. Time To Bronze

Our favorite trick here is to apply blush and bronzer because this gives you a slightly flushed, just-stepped-off-the-beach look without it appearing too fake – which bronzer has a tendency to do on its own.

Apply bronzer first, lightly dusting it over all the areas the sun would naturally hit your skin. Your cheekbones, of course, are important, but don’t forget to apply a little down your nose, on the middle of your chin and over the highest plains of your forehead. You could even blend a small dusting down your neck to help everything come together. We like to work the Essential Blush & Blend Brush in circular motions over the cheek area first to ensure it blends well, then finish by swooping it back and forth over other areas to contour your features. Just remember to blend like your life depended on it.

What kind of bronzer should you choose? Well, our Dark Contour Powders are actually perfect – and your ideal shade is right there in your Fold Out Face Palette! The finely milled powders are fantastic for all skin types because they to help to balance oily and combination skin but they will never make dry skin feel parched. They’re also low on shimmer and with not an ounce of orange in sight. Both of which are super important if you want to avoid looking DayGlo-ed!

(Insider Scoop: we've been cooking up some very exciting bronzer-related news to share with you very soon! Hint: it's bronzer. We've made bronzer. Stay tuned for its release next month.)

3. Next, Turn Up The Heat With Blush

Applying blush and bronzer may seem a tad too much but trust, us, it’s going to leave you with a really lovely, warm look that’s far more natural-looking than bronzer on its own.

Use the same brush and apply your favorite Blush to the apples of your cheeks just above your bronzer. Again, go lightly, tapping away any excess powder from your brush first, and blend the colors together for a seamless finish. 

Color-wise, you’ll probably be tempted to go for the warmer tone in your palette (which is totally fine) but don’t be afraid to the try the cooler, pinkier tone instead. The whole idea of sunkissed makeup is to make your skin look like it’s seen some sun so a pinky blush is a great way to add a fresh flush, while enhancing your bronzer perfectly.

4. Apply Foundation Powder Last

Once you’re happy, finish with Foundation Powder. All of our face palettes contain two shades of foundation so it’s probably time to go for the darker one right now – or, at least try a blend of them both if that suits your complexion better.

Grab our Complexion Brush and work your foundation all over your face and neck, using a combination of sweeping and circular motions. Continue to do this for a good 30 seconds to build, blend and seamlessly work the color into your skin. And if it looks a tad dark? NP. Simply dip your brush in your lighter Foundation Powder to lighten it up a little.

5. Fancy A Bit Of Shimmer?

We're not loving full-on shimmery bronzers – they’re way too ‘80s power woman for our liking – but a touch of sheen in all the right places? Yeah baby.

Don’t, however, go overboard. Highlighting powders need to be applied sparingly and smartly. That’s why we like to stick with just a dash on the tops of the cheekbones, on the cupid’s bow of the lips and under the eyebrows. You can also apply a little down your nose if you fancy it. But truthfully? Less is definitely more.

Not Forgetting The Added Extras...

Your Eyes

Face makeup might be enough if you want a simple but gorgeous, sunkissed look for the daytime. But if you want more, try our Fold Out Eyes Bright Palette which contains a color-matched concealer along with two fabulous eye shadows (a neutral base and subtle shimmer) to beautifully glow up your eyes. Finish with Like Magic Mascara and you’ve instantly transformed your look for gin o’clock.

Your Lips

Lest we forget that all-important lip gloss. Most shades pair well with sunkissed makeup as long as you keep yours fairly sheer and toned down. Our summery favorites, however, are Glimmer for a nude wash of shimmer, or Splash (below) for a gorgeous, punchy hit of color – without any glitz.

All of our Spin-On® Lip Glosses are going to do your sunkissed glow a solid, however.

No exaggeration.