glow baby glow
It's getting warmer out in San Francisco and that means sporadic sunny weather! Yay!
Focus on hanging out with friends, getting some sun, and eating tons of ice cream but you want to look good. Just stick to a few products to create your look. You don’t want to have to worry about your face melting and carrying around four compacts. It won’t fit in your straw bag from ASOS. During the warmer months, a fresh face with a hint of color and shine is all that is really needed.
Start off with clean, prepped skin using your skincare favorites and lots of sunscreen. Follow with a layer of tinted moisturizer or foundation for your base. The lighter the base, the better and opt for sheer to light formulas and coverage. The goal is to even out skin tone and eliminate redness without covering up freckles, moles, and any imperfections you love. I switch between the Glossier Skin Tint in Dark and Nars Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer in Cuzco since the formulas are weightless and applies smoothly on skin. You slap it on and you’re done!
For imperfections you would rather keep hidden, use concealer sparingly. Use a creamy, buildable concealer since you don’t want anything cakey to sit on the skin. I use Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer in Ginger because it blends well. I am interested in trying the Becca Aqua Luminous Perfecting Concealer for a change of pace. If you’ve tried it, let me know! Focus on under eyes, any marks you would want to hide, additional redness, and down the nose of the bridge. Rather than using a beauty sponge or brush, use your fingers to let the product melt into the skin to create a seamless finish.
Bronzer is wonderful to bring warmth and create soft definition. Rather than your typical matte, grab a baked one. Baked bronzer is ideal this season for its mixture of multiple colors, shimmer, and soft finish. Look for ones that have subtle shimmer rather than large pieces of glitter. The Laura Mercier Matte Radiance Baked Powder is great since it contains the right amount of shimmer and dimension without it looking like a chalky mess. I use the color Bronze 4 since I get tanner around April and I love how you need very little of it. Use an angled, dense brush to sweep onto cheeks, forehead, a bit on the tip of the nose and chin.
Top it all off with a nice, healthy amount of highlight. A powder highlight with a creamy texture works best since it adds the right amount of pow and lays on the skin flawlessly. If you want a dewier look, then liquid highlighter is a good option. A champagne shade is a no-brainer in that it’s universally flattering. I prefer one on the paler champagne side for that warm glaze donut look. A favorite in my steadily growing collection is the Anastasia Beverly Hills Amrezy highlighter. The formula, shade, texture, everything is just perfection. A light dusting with a small brush is key and focus on the usual cheek bones, nose bridge and tip, cupid’s bow, and forehead. If you want extra glaze, hit under the brow bones.
The weather is constantly changing in the city. You can’t rely on weather reports to tell you how it’ll be. One moment it’s sunny in the Mission, the next it’s freezing in the Sunset. The only constant we can rely on is that there will be a coffee shop on every street corner and that your face will look spot on from morning to night. Whether out in Dolores Park or hiding away in a dive bar with a Michelada, you got this season in the bag.
