Radiant, glowing skin is summer’s single biggest beauty trend; a healthy, dewy complexion with cheekbones strobed to perfection.
It’s not about adding layers of makeup to your skin, it’s more about paring it back – dabbing soft, shimmery highlights to the high points of the face with a hint of bronzer for that just-got-back-from-Bali look. Less is truly more when it comes to achieving a luminous glow, so ditch the heavy foundation and contouring palette and dig out your illuminating products, because natural-looking skin is in. Here’s how:
Highlight the high points
Strobing and highlighting is all about embracing your bone structure by giving lift and dimension to the skin through the use of illuminating products. It’s essentially the opposite of contouring – which tends to mattify skin and is much heavier in application – but both share the same goal of enhancing your best features. Once you’ve applied a base that suits your skin type, use a highlighting product one shade lighter than your natural skin tone on the high points of your face – think cheekbones, bridge of the nose, cupid’s bow, brow bone and the upper centre of your forehead.
Cream-based products blend easily into the skin and are great for getting a natural dewy finish. If you need an added boost of colour, choose a bronzer and blush with a more matte finish to keep shine focused solely on the high points or use sheer liquid tints for a soft flush that has true staying power. For beginners, Bobbi Brown’s director of artistry and education for Asia-Pacific, Kai Vinson, recommends choosing a priming product with a hint of gold shimmer or a blush in gold pearl for a more subtle finish. “It’s a way of giving you a sun-kissed glow without having to have a bronze tone,” he explains.
Glow without the shine
When the midday sun is at its peak and humidity levels hit the 90 per cent mark, keeping shine at bay can be tricky, especially when using highlighting products on the skin. If you have combination or oily skin, Kai recommends using a mattifying product on the T-zone or switching to a powder foundation to keep the centre of your face from becoming greasy.
On the flipside, if your skin is dry, don’t switch to a heavy moisturiser, simply use a hydrating primer with a pearl radiance, such as Lancôme Absolue Precious Cells White Aura, $335, which will glow through your base. Or mix a multi-benefit treatment such as Murad Invisiblur Perfecting Shield, $140, into your foundation for a boost of moisture.
Sort out your skincare
A smooth, hydrated canvas is essential for that lit-from-within-look, so for a glowing complexion you need to get into a good skincare regime. Kai says consistency in your skincare is key to natural radiance. “We’re human,” he explains. “One day we’ll wash our faces and go to bed, another day we’ll take a little extra time, use a serum, a moisturiser and a mask, but if you can get your skincare set up to be consistent day after day, you’ll actually start seeing your skin condition improve more and more which creates a real glow from within.”
For makeup with added skincare benefits, you can’t go past BB and CC creams. Not only do they moisturise, provide SPF protection and offer a light, humidity-friendly coverage, but BB creams offer healing and soothing properties and CCs boast colour correcting technology to improve skin tone.
