It’s so hot in Milan these days… We feel like we might be melting! In the Survival Olympics that summer life actually became in the city, here I am, with a beauty challenge: how to make your makeup last longer in hot weather. It’s that time of the year during which I would like to live an igloo, honestly. Temperatures are way higher than average, there is no breeze at all, and my carefully executed, much loved makeup needs extra care to even just survive the entire day. Don’t worry, I have no intention to keep the secret on how to do it to myself, I am going to share all I know, and everything I can do, to try to make my face look remotely intact on days on which temperatures rise over 80 degrees, and you might not even have aircon.
My first tip could be summarized as “less is more”: the less makeup you use, the less worries you will have. Kiss your foundation goodbye, because it is clearly useless on days like this, it is actually your worst enemy, unless it is super light or it comes in a powder format, like the ones from bareMinerals.
The second tip might seem trivial, but I swear it is not: make sure you take a lot of time to prepare your canvas, because it will be key to actually producing beautiful work. At this time of the year, it is essential to consider the state of your skin’s health, as this is the main element that will influence the condition of your makeup during the day. ALWAYS use a primer, and keep a moisturizing spray close by, to cool down your face every once in awhile during the day. This is one of my favorite rituals, and I even managed to convince a few of my coworkers to follow my lead. Refreshing spray can become a small joy during a hot day, and it will be good for your spirit as well as for your complexion!
The third tip is to make sure you fix everything well, even if this requires a certain amount of patience. Alternatively, go for waterproof formulas that will not budge an inch in the heat. If you choose the first option, a matte finishing powder will be your best bet, but you might notice that it still might not be a bullet-proof option in this kind of heat. If you really don’t want to use powder, choose a face spray with a fixing effect, like Skindinavia’s or Urban Decay’s. If you choose waterproof formulas instead, find the one that works best for you: in my case, I feel like cream eyeshadows are a true godsend, because they don’t move an inch, and they don’t have that annoying tendency to accumulate in the creases of your eyelids, like powder ones do. I will leave you to your experiments now, for which I collected some suggestions in the gallery. Good luck on your survival Olympics… And may the best (wo)man win!
