Summer Makeup 2020

No matter how hot it feels outside, I still enjoy playing around with new summer makeup. Of course, it’s important to tweak our summer makeup products to fit for warmer weather outside. In Florida, the humidity can virtually make my foundation slip down my face if I don’t use a primer.

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Summer makeup involves a lot of lightweight formulas mixed with creamy, buildable coverage. I’m excited to share my current summer makeup routine! There are plenty of brand new brands and beauty products to discuss that comprise my everyday summer makeup routine for summer 2020.

Pre-Makeup Steps

This time of year, I also mix in some self-tanning drops with moisturizer for an added bronze glow on my face. Some of the best self-tanning drops are from the brand Isle of Paradise and I use the medium shade at night and wake up to a natural-looking bronzed face.

Although I didn’t include a sunscreen within this post I want to redirect you to check out my complete guide to the best sunscreens for sensitive acne-prone skin. My current sunscreen of choice is Supergoop! Unseen Sunscreen that I apply prior to my makeup.

Summer Makeup 2020: My Summer Makeup Routine

Primer: FENTY BEAUTY by Rihanna Pro Filt’r Mini Instant Retouch Primer

This primer wast the last product I ended up buying from my Sephora summer makeup haul!

I talked with one of the employees at Sephora and he encouraged me to test out this primer after I told him I have combination skin.

It’s also the second Fenty Beauty product I’ve ever owned! I have to invest more in Fenty Beauty because it’s a Black-owned business run by the amazingly talented, Rihanna.

I’ve seen great reviews on other Fenty Beauty products (such as the lip gloss and foundation) including this primer.

Since my Sephora makeup haul kept adding up, I decided to grab the smaller version of this primer to save some extra money. By buying the $16 version I could also test the waters on this primer to see how I truly felt about it.

A great face primer works into the skin to help adhere to the rest of your makeup.

I had high hopes for this primer, especially since its from the notable Fenty Beauty collection. The Pro Filt’r Instant Retouch Primer has an oil-free formula without parabens, too. Like I mentioned above, I have combination skin which means I have dry spots and oily areas on my face.

As advised by the Sephora employee, I took a small amount of this primer and only applied to the oily areas. The oily areas include the middle of my T-Zone (forehead, nose, and chin) so I could eliminate excess oil build-up throughout the day! The primer has a unique mattifying ingredient called Invispink™ that gives the skin a filter-like blurring effect.

Foundation: IT COSMETICS CC+ Cream Oil-Free Matte Full Coverage Cream

Ever since I saw the first IT Cosmetics commercials on TV sharing the incredible coverage the CC cream provided to clients with extreme redness, I have always kept a tube in my makeup collection. Those days only included their one signature CC cream and now the line has grown tremendously over the years.

IT Cosmetics products are not only curated for people who have severe redness and sensitivity, but they are great for normal skin types, too.

Anyone who seeks color-correcting capabilities in a single creamy foundation should look into the brand.

Whether you have hyperpigmentation, dark spots, or just regular uneven skin tone, IT Cosmetics has great full coverage without looking cakey.

In fact, the brand prides itself on using the phrase “Your skin but better” on their labeling because the product delivers full coverage without compromising a natural-looking finish.

For the summer, I switch out my thicker foundations for a CC cream. CC creams are much more lightweight, easily apply with fingers, and look moisturizing.

This CC+ Cream from IT Cosmetics stood out to me in Sephora because it has SPF 40 and an oil-free formula which are two essential ingredients for a summertime makeup product.

One special ingredient that I didn’t know it also has? Charcoal.

I already love using my DIY charcoal face mask once per week and now I’ve learned that my CC cream has it, too!

Charcoal minimizes the look of pores and absorbs excess oil so your face looks matte and shine-free all day long in the summer heat. Even the most sensitive of skin types can wear this oil-free IT Cosmetics CC+ Cream without feeling dry or flaky.

Eyebrows: The Lip Bar Brow Gel + Brow Pencil

Another key component to a complete summer makeup look is a nice set of filled-in brows! Unfortunately, I am not naturally blessed with thick eyebrows, so my goal is to fake it on a daily basis with the best eyebrow products I can find. Enter: The Lip Bar Brow Gel + Brow Pencil into my summer 2020 makeup routine.

This single product has a dual-ended eyebrow pencil and eyebrow gel to shape the brows in minutes. The shade I ended up ordering is called “Brow-nish” which I’d suggest for anyone else who has a light complexion like myself.

In the morning I like to fill in my sparse eyebrows using the brow gel wand. I fluff up my brows and glide the pigmented gel in an arching motion.

I follow the natural arch of my eyebrows and even if I mess up I can easily wipe away the product on my forehead for easy clean-up.

After I use the gel applicator, I’ll switch over to the gel pencil to achieve even more definition a second time around. I won’t use this side of the product as often because I feel like the gel applicator gets the job done quickly.

The Lip Bar products, such as this awesome eyebrow defining pencil/gel, are available online at their website or through Target. I am so glad I discovered this brand and that I can also give my money to a Black-owned business!

Cream Blush: NUDESTIX Nudies Matte Blush & Bronze

A newer beauty line to me: NUDESTIX. I have Danielle from Danielle Gervino to thank for inspiring me to jump on the NUDESTIX bandwagon. All of her selections and recent summer makeup looks looked so effortless with the help of this handy blush tool.

The brand sells at major retailers such as ULTA and Sephora which means you can find this blush & bronze duo at your fave beauty store. I had a difficult time choosing which NUDESTIX shade to go with!

Finally, I chose the shade Bare Back for its neutral cool nude/rosy pink hue. Anything rosy pink — sign me up!!

Since I also have such pale skin, I needed to make sure I grabbed a shade that wouldn’t appear too dark or look out of place.

Bare Back provides my cheeks with just enough color to look like I’ve achieved a natural rosy flush with minimal effort.

See below for a product swatch for the shade Bare Back and a close-up visual of where I apply my NUDESTIX Matte Blush & Bronze all over face color stick!

I’ll generously sweep the color on the tops of my cheeks for the perfect rosy tint.

The product also comes with a stippling brush applicator that you can choose to use when applying this product, too.

Normally, I’ll take the color stick and apply the soft balm directly to my face because it saves time and works well that way.

I’m always left with a soft rosy matte blush that stays in place even when I layer on highlighter. I’m curious about what the other shades would look like on my skin. The shade Bondi Bae looks super intriguing to me for its light bronze color. It could end up being a great creamy bronzer for the summer, too!

The other all over color options from the NUDESTIX line offer glowy and dewy formulas depending on what you want to achieve for your own makeup look. Personally, I’m a big fan of using matte products (hence my oil-free CC cream and oil-free mattifying primer!) so I stick to matte blushes/bronzers.

Bronzer: The Lip Bar Fresh Glow 2-Layer Bronze Blush Duo “Travel Bug”

Another great Black-owned business to support is The Lip Bar.

Upon finding out more about this brand, I chose to order a couple of beauty products online. I ordered a gel eyebrow pencil and a bronzer/blush compact to play around with.

Once my bronzer arrived, I started using it immediately the following morning in my makeup routine. A quick note on using this bronzer: a little goes a LONG WAY!

I took a big fluffy brush and dipped into the compact and saw a lot of product fall out ended up on my bathroom floor.

At first, I was concerned that the quality of the bronzer wouldn’t hold up, but I was pleasantly surprised by the results once I applied it to my cheekbones.

I had to tap off a lot of the excess product onto the side of the compact until I saw a nice amount left to sweep on my forehead.

Normally, I stick solely to matte bronzers, but in the summer I’ll experiment with new bronzers that have luminizing pigments to add some shimmer to my face.

This beautiful bronzer/blush combo from The Lip Bar revolutionizes makeup application efficiency by combining a bronzer and blush duo system into one single compact for on-the-go lifestyles. For my most recent staycation at The Godfrey Hotel, I carried my 2-in-1 bronzer and blush duo with me to liven up my complexion after an afternoon of relaxing by the pool to look perfectly sunkissed for dinner.

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Highlighter: MILK MAKEUP Flex Highlighter in “Lit-Champagne”

Who doesn’t want a glistening highlight on their cheekbones during the summer?! I know I do! Upon looking into several highlighters, I finally found one from Milk Makeup that looked impressive.

Just look at the incredible shine in this pressed highlighter from Milk Makeup. The beautiful sheen of the shade Lit is evident in the photo of me applying it to my face.

This highlighter counts as my first product from Milk Makeup, too. With this highlighter newly added to my makeup collection, I am eager to see what else people are raving about from this clean beauty brand.

The most intriguing ingredient found in this Milk Makeup highlight is the marshmallow root extract which gives the product movement on the face so it never creases.

To apply this Milk Makeup highlighter, I take a fluffy angled brush to gently tap into the compact to pick up some pigment.

It takes no time at all to pick up the right amount of pretty golden pigment and start seeing the sheen on my cheekbones, tip of my nose, and center of my face.

Inside this Milk Makeup highlight are crush gemstones, pearls, hyaluronic acid, and blue lotus to instantly calm the skin and hydrate it wherever it’s applied. Not only does this highlight look seamless on the skin, but it hydrates at the same time!

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Eyeshadow: ColourPop Cosmetics Blush Crush Eyeshadow Palette

Searching for the right summer eyeshadow palette usually leads me down the aisle wherever pretty pink hues can be found. What can I say I am a sucker for light baby pink shadows!

The Blush Crush eyeshadow palette by ColourPop pictured here contains soft pinks, dusty champagne golds, and rosy shadows to create a shimmery light pink eye look.

Blame my affection for all things pink on my blue eyes. Ever since I first discovered how nicely pink hues look against my blue eyes I’ve never looked back.

Every single romantic shade in this affordable $14 ColourPop Cosmetics eyeshadow palette has the potential to apply on the eyelid on its own, too.

I’d take one of the matte shades (Lovesick or Made U Blush) and apply it all across my lid and move onto the next step of my makeup routine.

I purchased this palette from the brand ColourPop which exclusively sells at ULTA Beauty stores in your city.

Looking through the ColourPop section of my neighborhood ULTA Beauty makes me feel excited because I know the quality will be on par with some of the more expensive and comparable products, but the price point of ColourPop fits into my lifestyle.

Browsing through ColourPop Cosmetics has me wishing for a gift card because there are so many wonderful products I want to try and even more eyeshadow palettes! Everything from this line sells for less than $20 making it super affordable for all budgets.

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Mascara: Benefit BADgal BANG! Volumizing Mascara

One of the final steps to finishing up any makeup routine: mascara.

This year I’ve been focusing on using volumizing mascaras to lengthen my short lashes.

Benefit Cosmetics makes awesome mascaras. Another one from this brand that I love is “Benefit They’re Real” mascara.

This mascara layers easily and gives eyelashes the perfect volume without weighing them down.

It creates an impressive 36-hour volumizing effect on lashes and the long wand helps build-up to the optimal length you desire.

My lashes look fluffed up and dramatic after applying 1-2 coats of Benefit Cosmetics BADgal BANG! mascara.

A lot of people can agree that using this mascara compares to wearing fake eyelashes. Instead of opting for the disposable falsies, get a tube of this lengthening mascara to achieve the same dramatic approach.

Benefit Cosmetics BADgal BANG! Volumizing Mascara also won Allure magazine’s ‘Best of Beauty’ Award for Best Volumizing Mascara in 2019.

Lips: KOSAS Wet Lip Oil Gloss in “Dip”

Rounding out this summer makeup routine with a new lip product from an exciting clean beauty brand, Kosas.

The shade I picked up from Sephora is “Dip” which has a neutral pearly nude tone to it.

There were a few other options to choose from in the store, but ultimately I went with one of my favorite nude pink hues.

After reading mostly positive reviews about this lip oil gloss online I went for it. After applying this wet lip oil gloss to my lips, they feel hydrated and not sticky whatsoever.

I’m so glad I ended up grabbing this lip product for the summertime, too.

It gives me a pretty and subtle natural pink tint to my lips to complete my summer makeup look! For a sunkissed and glowy look, I recommend finding a lip product that adds a little shine.

I keep this lip product with me in my purse to give my lips the proper refresh of slightly tinted color when they look dull.

The wand features a large doe foot applicator for expert precision when gliding this slick lip oil across the lips.

Honestly, whenever I have this on I can’t stop staring in the mirror at how JUICY and PLUMP my lips end up looking. If you’re looking for a nice hydrating lip product I couldn’t recommend trying out the ones by Kosas enough for the summer. It’s the right lightweight formula that won’t overdry your lips the most you use it, either.