How to Keep Your Skin From Looking Shiny When it’s Crazy Hot Outside
It’s fair to say we have a love/hate relationship with summer. We’re totally down for sunny days, braided ‘dos and bold colours, but we can’t stand it when the heat makes our skin shine like a disco ball (and not in a cool, highlighted way). How do we cope, you ask? We turn to our Beauty Panel for help (#duh).
From blotting sheets to mattifying foundations and primers, our Beauty Panel shares their tips and tricks on beating shiny skin this summer.
Challenge 121: How do you keep your skin from looking shiny during the summer? See the answers now!
Have a beauty question you want to see the panel answer? Send it our way at [email protected]. Read on for the answers to this week’s challenge and for more goodness, get to know all contributors on our Beauty Panel hub page.
Colleen Conroy
Vancouver | Blush Rouge
Extra glowy skin is inevitable for those hot summer days. Most of the time, I like to embrace it and let my extra shine go along as an accessory to tanned skin. However, there are situations when you want to calm down the sheen and opt for a more controlled and mattified look. Here are some of my favourite products to beat that oily skin! In the prep stages, use a good eye primer to help ban off oily lids. Set your makeup with a setting spray, which puts your makeup in its place. When it comes time to touch up, two of my favourite tried and true products I use are blotting powders, which soak up any excess oil and are basically invisible, and also blotting papers, which soak up the oil but do not disrupt the makeup (that way you don’t feel like you are applying too many layers every time you touch up!).
Products used: Benefit Stay Don’t Stray eye primer, Urban Decay All Nighter makeup setting spray, M.A.C Blot Powder in “Medium Dark,” Palladio Rice Paper oil absorbing blotting tissues with rice powder.
Kira Paran
Edmonton | Northern Style Exposure
As the temperatures rise, so does that inevitable shiny skin from excess oils. Over the years I developed a few steps that have helped ease that greasy look, instead maintaining that glowing skin all summer long.
To start off your day, cleanse with an InstaMatte Oil Control mask and cleanser. I love the Murad oil control line for cleansing. It eliminates up to 93% of excess oil on your skin surface leaving it matte and shine free!
Next, I prefer a ‘less is more’ attitude toward makeup for daytime hours. Find an oil free BB cream to help even your skin tone while still maintaining that matte skin look. Ive been using Maybelline’s Dream Fresh BB Cream. It’s so lightweight and shine free, perfect for summer days by the pool.
Finally, carrying blot papers in your purse is never a mistake. They are perfect for touch ups throughout the day and you’ve been in a heatwave too long. Tatcha’s Original Aburatorigami Japanese Beauty Papers are amazing! These natural leaflet blotting sheets absorb excess oil without disturbing makeup! They are a must have for beautiful oil free skin all summer long.
Products used: Dream Fresh BB in “110,” Eyestudio® Brow Drama® Pomade Crayon in “Soft Brown 255,” The Blushed Nudes Eye Shadow Palette in “06,” Murad InstaMatte Oil Control Mask, and Tatcha’s Original Aburatorigami Japanese Beauty Papers.
Katie Elwood
Vancouver | Katie Elwood
I often wish that life could be paused in the summer. With nothing to do but hang out by a lake or at the beach. Since life keep moving and summer is often jam packed with work and events, it can be hard to keep your makeup looking great all day in the heat. Here are my go-to tips for keeping your skin looking fresh and shine free in the summer.
Use sheer products: If you can, lighten up in the summer. Switch out regular or full coverage foundations for a lighter option like a tinted moisturizer or BB cream. I like to use Laura Mercier’s Oil Free Tinted Moisturizer in the summer because it still has a bit of coverage but doesn’t feel heavy on my skin. Also, instead of using cream products to get a sculpted look, I stick to powder and just because I am trying to avoid shine doesn’t mean I skip highlighter. I am just more strategic about where and how I apply it. Charlotte Tilbury makes the perfect sculpt and highlight palette. After using the sculpt powder to contour and bronze the skin, apply the highlight softly to your upper cheekbones and cupids bow on the lip. Avoid adding any highlight to the bridge of the nose and above the brows since these are areas that naturally get shiny in the heat.
Set your makeup: This one is a must especially if you will be out all day or night. This will help keep your makeup in place and minimize your need to touch up your makeup throughout the day.
Touch up with the right products: For quick touch ups on-the-go I recommend blotting papers and a pressed powder. Use a blotting paper on top of a tissue so the oil on your finger tips don’t go through the paper onto your skin. Then use a pressed powder to make sure the skin is stays matte and looking great.
Products used: Life oil-absorbing blotting sheets, Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze & Glow Face Sculpt & Highlight, M.A.C Blot Powder/Pressed, Urban Decay All Nighter Long-Lasting Makeup Setting Spray.
Shawna Friedberg
Toronto | Spill the Beauty
Summer time can mean wearing lighter makeup, because the heat can make it either melt away or get super shiny. However, it’s important to remember that shine does not equal glow, so don’t be afraid to sport some highlighter.
To keep my face from turning into an oily mess, I like to use mostly matte products and then finish it off with one or two products that give a bit of glow. I absolutely love wearing an almost-all-matte face, then pulling out a shimmery product, because it really makes that one special product pop.
For a clean matte base I used an HD foundation, then set my entire face with Maybelline’s Dream Wonder Powder. Then I bronzed with The Body Shop Honey Bronze Bronzing Powder, which has a matte finish and is a great option for people with fair skin like myself. I used matte nude shadows on my eyes, and wore “Lust For Blush” by Maybelline, which is part of their Creamy Matte collection (which is my all-time favourite drugstore matte lipstick—super comfortable). After I finished applying all my matte products, I set my face with a matte setting spray. As my last step I applied “First Lover”, a beautiful blush from the Estée Edit, that has a little bit of shimmer in it. And when in doubt, keep a pack of blotting papers in your purse!
Products used: Inglot HD Perfect Coverup Foundation in “#71,” The Body Shop Honey Bronze Bronzing Powder in “Light Matte 01,” Maybelline Dream Wonder Matte Powder in “Cream Light 4-5,” Too Faced Brow Envy Kit, NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in “Milk,” Physicians Formula Matte Collection Quad Eye Shadow in “Classic Nudes,” Estée Edit by Estée Lauder The Barest Blush in “First Lover,” Maybelline Color Sensational Creamy Matte Lipstick in “Lust For Blush,” NYX Matte Finish Setting Spray, and Covergirl Lash Blast Volume Mascara.
Marilou Moles
Ottawa | Twenty York Street
Summer is all about the sunshine but there’s one shine that you do NOT want and that’s on your face! If you are acne or blemish prone, you probably run the other way from putting oil you face. But fear not grasshopper, while it may sound counterintuitive, you can actually use a facial oil to help balance your own natural oils.
While I won’t go all scientific on you, just think: putting oil on oil will cancel each other out. For example, Jojoba Oil and Rose Oil have a composition similar to sebum, which helps counterbalance its production that seems to be on overdrive during the hotter months. I’ve been using Korres Wild Rose Facial Oil night and day and it really helps control the shine. As I like to keep things light in the summer, I choose to highlight either the eyes or the lips. And this time, I let my lips shine, not my face!
Products used: Korres Wild Rose Facial Oil, Korres Brightening Targeted Tone Corrector, Reversa Radiance Cream with SPF 30, Arbonne Sheer Glow Highlighter, Shiseido Volumizing Mascara, Stila Cosmetics Perfect Me, Perfect Hue Eye & Cheek Palette, QUO from Shoppers Eyeliner, and Colour Pop Cosmetics Lip Crayon via Radiant by Raadhaa.
