Facing the summer

As the weather has been getting warmer I've found that the old adage of 'less is more' has never been more true, especially when it comes to make-up.

I realised that for the best part of the last month I've been using the same quick and light make-up and I've been best pleased with it. It's just enough to look polished and pretty without stress or fuss. In the last week I've been feeling doubly smug at my discovery of the Erborian BB Creme au Ginseng. This has just taken the ease of my summer routine up (or should that be down?) a notch to 'effortless'. 

So here's how to get the look. You'll need the following items:

1. Your base - Tinted moisturiser or mineral foundation, or even better,  BB cream (click on the Erborian link above for more info on BB cream)
2. Concealer - Under-eye and/or face concealer if you need it I use Garnier Tinted Roll-on for eyes
3. Shimmer blusher I use MAC Springsheen or Nars Orgasm
4. Pale shimmer cream eyeshadow My choice is Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow
5. Black or brown eye kohl
6. Mascara
7. Whatever you use to sort out your brows - pencil, shadow, wax etc  I use Benefit Speed Brow
8. Any lipstick or gloss of your choice. The brighter the better!

Ok, so the point of the look is that it lasts pretty much all day with minimum slide off. If you have particularly oily skin then I recommend using an oil-free primer before your base if you find that your make-up slides off. BB cream is heaven sent for me as it's not really 'make-up' hence nothing to slide off, just great looking skin all day. Could I rave any more about a product? I don't think so....

• Apply a light layer of your base working it in well and concentrating on the areas you need it most. 

• Apply your under-eye concealer, patting it in gently underneath the eye and concentrating on the inner corner and also slightly on the side of the nose if you are dark there too.

• Don't bother concealing imperfections which are only faint, the concealer will only slide off later on leaving you looking a bit patchy. If you have large noticeable blemishes or spots then conceal where needed and then set with a little powder.

• Using a soft blusher brush sweep your blush from the top of your cheekbones down onto your cheek. You want a lovely glow of healthy colour. The shimmer in the blush will also act as a highlight on your cheekbones. Build up the colour to a healthy flush. 

• Apply your cream shimmer eyeshadow to your eyelid with your finger.  Go just past the creaseline. If it's not a long-wearing cream shadow then prime the eyelid

• Now take your eyeliner and fill in the upper lash-line from UNDERNEATH. Concentrate the colour inbetween the lashes. You are not drawing a line here, you're simply darkening the lashline. By doing it from underneath the lashes you will be adding intensity and definition without creating a line which will eventually melt off and smudge. This is called tightlining. 

• Curl your lashes and apply mascara generously to top lashes only, then groom your brows. 

• Put on your lippie. MAC Costa Chic (a tangerine pinky coral) is my ultimate go-to colour.

And that's it, you're done!  Trust me when I say that the trick is in the tightlining, so please try it if you haven't done so before. It really makes you 'done' without looking 'done up', if that makes sense.

Let me know how you get on!