By Alison McGill
The heat is on, and the living is easy. The sun-soaked days and steamy, starry nights of the season always mean a dialed back beauty vibe and adopting a less-is-more approach to your summer makeup.
For Summer 2024, glowy skin, sunset-hued flushed cheeks, reflective eyeshadows and powdery-finish lips with a touch of creamy colour are just a few of our favourite summer makeup trends. Here’s our hit list of seasonal favourites and the essential products you need to create them.
Sunlit Skin
It’s the look of being at the beach all day, without the damaging sun exposure. Skin that’s warmed with just a hint of colour, imbued with a dewy freshness and a flickering, golden glow is the goal and it’s easily achieved with a warming skin tint or magical tanning drops that produce an instant fresh-from-the-Caribbean glow up. Consider this summer’s It Girl Sabrina Carpenter as your ultimate skin inspo.
TRY: Charlotte Tilbury Beautiful Skin Island Glow Easy Tanning Drops, $62, charlottetilbury.com
Sunset Cheeks
A fresh flush continues to be a huge beauty headline, and this summer cheeks glazed with a blush shade reminiscent of a fiery sunset are the most wanted thanks to beauty influencer Alissa Janay who hard launched the trend back in April on TikTok. The easiest way to create a long-lasting pop of colour? Tap on gel-to-powder formula that delivers the best of both worlds—the softness of a powder blush with endurance of a cream.
TRY: Haus Labs by Lady Gaga Bio-Radiant Gel-Powder Highlighter in Fire Opal, $57, sephora.com
Metallic Eyes
Have fun with your eyes by skipping graphic liner and bold smokiness and keep things light and bright with a pop of metallic shades on lids. Reach for an eyeshadow stick you can quickly apply to eyes and blend with your fingers to create an alluring, sheer flicker of colour; to build intensity, layer on more shadow and blend with a brush. Easy and effortless is key. Who’s wearing it best? Rihanna of course.
TRY: Fenty Beauty Shadowstix Longwear Eyeshadow Stick in Fizzy Frosé, $34, sephora.com
Blurred Lips
Lip colour that looks perfectly imperfect is a summer makeup must. Skip the lip liner and lip brush because this is not a season for precision; instead, it’s all about creating a lip look that’s soft and not saturated. Use a powdery finish lipstick formula—we love oversize crayons that you can line and shade with—apply to lips, then tap to blur and create a soft-focus effect. The more naturally faded your lip colour looks the better.
TRY: Ilia Lip Sketch Hydrating Crayon (available in 12 shades), $36, iliabeauty.com
Berry Beautiful Everything
There’s just something about berry shades. Evolving the “Strawberry Girl” trend of last summer, this season the juicy tint of choice veers more into raspberry territory. This is a colour that looks gorgeous on everyone and is a perfect tone to wear monochromatically smudged on eyes, cheeks and lips like Ayo Edebiri did recently at the Met Gala.
TRY: Huda Beauty Cheeky Tint Cream Blush Stick in Baddie Berry, $34, sephora.com
