Summer Beauty Regime - Frugal Upstate

Summer brings not only gorgeous sunny days. . . but heat and humidity that can wreak havoc on your beauty regime. Do you change things up for summer? That’s the question Walmart asked me recently.

Now I’m a pretty low maintenance gal. Unlike my teenage daughter who can spend an hour doing her makeup (20 minutes alone just “contouring” her cheeks) I don’t want to muck around with a lot of expensive products or take more than a few minutes getting ready for my day.

And for the record–Princess is gorgeous without a drop of makeup on.

My basic beauty regime consists of washing my face in the shower with whatever soap I’m using anyway (yes–I hear some of you out there cringing). I blow dry my hair, possibly with a tiny bit of product–blow out spray–if I’m feeling fancy. Then I moisturize–most often with just the barest sheen of olive oil rubbed into my hands and then rubbed lightly on my face.

Seriously. Olive oil.

For makeup I put on some long lasting lipstick (because otherwise I chew it off in about 30 seconds), swipe on some eyeliner and when I’m in the mood add a bit of mascara.

That’s it. If I’m dressing up for a conference, meeting or photograph then I might do the whole foundation and powder thing. because of my rosacea I don’t bother with blush–I’m plenty pink.

With such a simple, dare I say almost non-existent regime, what is there to change up for summer? A few things as it turns out.

First I opt out of the oil as a moisturizer. I figure that’s on par with the 1980’s trend of using baby oil as a tanning lotion. Ack–skin cancer anyone? Instead I picked up this sunscreen at my local Walmart– Coppertone Clearly Sheer Faces. It’s light, doesn’t clog your pores and works well.

For makeup I don’t suddenly change my style–it’s still a simple liner, mascara and lipstick. What I change is the type–I go for waterproof. Sure, that means I have to use makeup remover instead of just soap and water (or babywipes) to remove it, but in exchange I don’t look like a racoon every time I jump in the water. That’s important because in the summer we spend a lot of time in and around the water.

Lately I’ve been loving purple eyeliner–I think it looks nice with my hazel eyes, so I grabbed a Maybelline Eyestudio waterproof gel pencil in plum. For the mascara I got a very economical NYC City Proof mascara that’s waterproof.

Finally I just stuck with my regular Super Stay 24 lip color by Mabelline. It already is super long lasting–a little lake water won’t come close to getting it off!