Everyday Summer Makeup and Skincare

For the last few weeks I've been changing the way I do my makeup. I tan a lot; I love to be brown and glowing and when I'm tanned I love to try and embrace natural glowing skin. I have ginger in me (I was a ginger-nut baby) so naturally I have a tonne of freckles, specifically on my shoulder and my face. Growing up I hated my freckles, even 18 months ago I would use heavy coverage makeup to hide every single freckle on my face and now I look back and think WHY?! I see women all over the Internet drawing on faux freckles and I'm blessed to have them naturally so it seems silly to me now to cover them up.
Skincare - Since having my daughter, Maisie 18 months ago, I made it my mission to improve my skin care and I believe I have perfected it for my skin. Every morning and evening I will cleanse my skin using the Liz Earle hot cloth cleanser regardless of whether I have worn makeup that day. The cleanser leaves my skin feeling fresh and clean with very minimal effort. I will then apply a clay mask at least once a week to help draw out dirt and impurities. A particular favourite mask at the moment is the Boots own brand Tea Tree & Witch Hazel Charcoal mask which is around £4 for a bottle. I apply the mask with a foundation brush for a smooth and even application. I find the mask helps brighten and refresh my skin. After cleansing and sometimes masking, I like to apply the Yu-Be moisturising skin cream in the morning and the Sunday Riley Tidal Cream in the evening. Both creams are fantastic at moisturising and replenishing my dry, tired skin. I will then finish off my routine with a spritz of rose water. At the moment I am using the Herbivore Hydrating rose hibiscus mist and it's bloody lovely, and smells amazing too!
Face - I have always loved full coverage 'glam' even for every day makeup but recently I have been loving using good quality foundation applied with a damp beauty blender to provide a sheer and light coverage that still shows my freckles. My go-to foundations for achieving this look have been the Armani Luminous silk foundation in 3.5 and the Charlotte Tilbury Magic foundation in 4. Both foundations ordinarily would be classed as medium-full build-able coverage but I find when a small pump is applied with a damp, not wet, beauty blender a gorgeous sheer coverage can be achieved that enhances my tanned skin tone without making me look really unnaturally perfect. I always make sure I apply a hydrating primer under my foundation also to avoid dry patches and 'thinning' of the foundation and my favourite for the summer has been the Becca backlight priming filter as it is beautifully hydrating whilst also being naturally illuminating. If you do have the confidence to wear no foundation, this primer would really enhance your features and provide a healthy glow to the skin.
Brows - I am a sucker for perfectly symmetrical brows despite living by the ethic of 'brows are sisters, not twins' but similarly to my foundation, I recently have been loving my natural brows. This is thanks to my amazing friend and personal 'beautifier' Sarah (HD Brows by SJP on Facebook) who works her miracles on my brows with the power of HD brows - I plan to do a separate blog post to talk about how amazing HD brows really are ASAP! If I have no plans to do anything much for the day except perhaps a food shop, I will apply my foundation as mentioned before, then instead of perfectly drawing my brows on with my ABH dipbrow, I use a tinted brow gel. Currently I'm loving Benefits Gimme brow in 5 which is the darkest colour they do. I use the brow to tame and shape my brows whilst still maintaining a natural look.
Lashes - When it comes to lashes I go from one extreme to another. Some days I love having absolutely nothing on my eyes to add to the natural look, then other days I have to wear lashes with or without a wing liner. My particular favourite lash brand(s) at the moment are Doll Beauty lashes (specifically the styles Stephanie, Sophia and Gilly) as well as Land of Lashes (Hollywood being my personal favourite) and of course Unicorn Lashes (Unicorn flutter and Pixie Wisp being my go-to lashes).

Lips - Despite having an extensive collection of liquid lips, glosses, lipsticks and other lip related products, 8/10 times I prefer nothing on my lips on a day to day basis and recently that has been no exception. Recently my favourite thing to have on my lips is the Fresh Sugar Rose tinted lip treatment as it is super hydrating, smells amazing and give the lips a juicy, fresh and healthy tint that isn't overly fake looking (unlike my lips with the filler - which I need topping up!!).
Highlight, Bronzer and Blush - Last but not least it's my favourite thing of all. During the summer I love to look glowing as I said before. To bronze/ contour I have been using my favourite Charlotte Tilbury bronze and glow palette to enhance my cheekbones then over top I have been using the Sweet Tea sweetheart bronzer from Too faced with a large powder brush to warm up my whole complexion. This has a slight fleck of shimmer which is gorgeous for the sunny weather. For blush, I've been loving a natural flush and I've found that the baby love blush again from Too faced is perfect to help me achieve that look. For highlight it would be rude not to layer and I have of course been using my favourite Becca X Jaclyn Hill Champagne pop allll over the high points of my face (nose, cupids bow, cheekbones, brow bone and above my brow) then further enhancing that glow with my Prosecco pop highlight again from the Jaclyn Hill collab. I do love the cover FX custom enhancer drops in 'sunlight' when the weather is nice but my bottle is becoming seriously empty and I'm scared to run out. I'd like to try the Iconic drops that everyone raves about but I'm on the fence about liquid highlight!!
Regardless of how light or heavy my makeup is, I always have to apply a setting spray and the one I have been obsessed with recently is the Gerard Cosmetics Slay spray in Peach (if you haven't tried this, it's a serious must - lemongrass and green tea are also incredible scents).
I can't describe how much I am loving my small makeup changes as I can really see a huge difference. I'm starting to feel so much more confident with both my face and body and I think it's starting to show!

Thanks for taking the time to read through my blog post. I hope you've found something interesting. Please feel free to follow me on instagram @seeingingreyscale and don't hesitate to message me if you have any questions about products etc.