Summer beauty: radiant golden skin

Because I’m olive skinned, I usually get a tan without trying. Even though I wore my SPF 45 daily while on vacation and didn’t go to the pool outside the hours of 8-11am and 4.30-7pm, I still got home quite a bit darker than when I left.

The combination of my darkening skin and the intense heat made me completely rethink my makeup routine. Who wants to wear full-makeup in summer, anyway? It’ll likely melt off your face, and probably feel all sticky and heavy. Yuck. But to my surprise, I kind of mastered the “golden glow” look, the one where you just look radiant and healthy – and it was so simple and so flattering I fell in love with it.

Want to try it? Here’s how:

• Start with a clean slate: after your shower or after washing your face with a delicate cleansing gel, pat it dry and wipe it gently with a cotton pad with a non-drying toner.
• In the palm of your hand, mix a pea-sized (yes, really!) amount of tinted moisturizer (or if you want more coverage, a matte foundation) with a few drops of a slightly shimmering cream bronzer and blend well, then massage on your face, starting with the apples of your cheeks and your cheekbones, and then your forehead and the rest of your face and neck. The small quantity is key, because you want a light glow that isn’t too obviously coming from a bottle
• With your index finger, spread a small quantity of a Maybelline Dream Mousse (I use Plum Temptation for day and Caramel Karma for night) on your eyelid, up to and just slightly above the crease. Line your top eyelid with a soft dark brown kajal, and apply a nice coat of dark brown mascara.
• Dab just a bit of cream blush on the apples of your cheeks and blend it in with your fingers, going up towards your cheekbones. This is the time when you’d normally used powder to set it all, but here you are going to use a small quantity of powder bronzer instead, focusing on cheekbones,  and browbones, and then lightly on the rest of the face, neck and decolleté. Use a light hand here – you don’t want to add much color, mainly set the makeup so it doesn’t melt off your face and ruin the golden glow.
• To finish off, your lips: I like a nude lipstick for this look during the day (my absolute favorite: Neutrogena Moisture Shine in Honey Breeze), but tend to reach for lip gloss in the evening, in a nice nude shade with a touch of bronze or maybe a peachy color, which is really flattering on tanned skin.

Here are the other products I use to achieve this look:

1. John Masters Organics Rose face wash

2. Laveré Relax Splash

3. Rimmel Stay Matte foundation

4. Murad Firming Bronzer SPF 15 for face and body

5. Maybelline Dream Mousse shadow and its US version, Maybelline Eye Studio Color Gleam Shadows

6. Stila kajal eye liner in Tiger’s Eye and Beneft BADgal mascara in brown

7. Tarte cheek stain in Blushing Bride

8. Benefit Dallas powder bronzer

8. Neutrogena Moisture Shine in Honey Breeze and Lancôme Juicy Tubes Pure in Ginger Root

(Please note that if your skin tone isn’t medium or olive, you might have to go lighter or darker with the bronzer, lip gloss, and possibly also the shadow – you want to look as if you are barely wearing any makeup at all, not like you are trying to emulate Snooki )

I hope you’ll find this helpful! Let me know how it turns out.