beauty addict

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The latest trends, techniques, and insider secrets—revealed.

Endless Summer
Your warm-weather days will soon be numbered, but you can savor the season’s look well into fall.
By Nissa Botthoff

The days are getting shorter, and there will soon be a chill in the air, but who’s ready to get out of the pool? Certainly not us—at least not yet, anyway. While it’s difficult to bid a fond farewell to summer, for beauty addicts, it’s even harder saying good-bye to sheer, low-maintenance makeup; dewy, glowing skin; and sexy, tousled strands. The silver lining to this late-summer cloud? Although we can’t hold on to the sun, we can hang on to its golden beauty rays well beyond Labor Day. Check out these tips to enjoy your very own Indian summer.

Keep It Simple
To keep your face looking as fresh as a summer breeze, celebrity makeup artist Andrea Fairweather recommends taking a “less is more” approach to cosmetics: “Apply foundation with a light touch, use a brow gel instead of a pencil, and hold off on lipliner and eyeliner for as long as possible.” In general, a little shimmer will make you look more summery than matte colors. But instead of relying on a blingy, full-face bronzer, “try using light, shimmery powder as an eye shadow and cheek color—it’s a great way to keep your face looking sun-kissed,” she says. For just a hint of lip color, finish with a sheer glaze like Revlon Super Lustrous Lipgloss, which “has just the right balance of pigment and shine.”

Extend Your “Tan”
Assuming you’ve been sun-smart this summer—using the best broad-spectrum sunscreen you can find and relying on self-tanners for a faux glow—transitioning your look into fall will simply require you to fake it a little longer. That said, if you’ve been slathering on your fake bake St. Tropez–style since June, you may want to lighten up a bit as summer winds down. For more realistically glowing face and limbs, switch to subtler self-tanners like Jergens Natural Glow, Hawaiian Tropic Island Glow Daily Moisturizer, or L’Oreal Sublime Glow Daily Moisturizer. Also, pay close attention to your nail polish: Although dark lacquers are all the rage for fall, the same nudes, pinks, and corals that enhanced your tan poolside will continue to do so in September, while deep wines and browns tend to make skin look lighter by contrast.

Make Waves
You can take the girl out the ocean, but with all the saltwater hair products on the market, you can’t take the ocean out of the girl—not before she wants you to, anyway. To prolong your summer look, spritz your strands with a product designed to replicate beach hair, such as Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray, or make your own mist by dissolving a half cup of sea salt in two cups of water over the stove (be sure to let the mixture cool completely before pouring it into a spray bottle). When it comes to styling, take a cue from Jessica Simpson’s mane man, Ken Pavés, and distribute a conditioning mousse throughout towel-dried hair before bed. The next morning, your tresses will be tousled and piecey; just finish off the ends with a curling iron. Or, if you’re curl-challenged, simply braid damp hair before hitting the hay for soft, sexy waves in the morning.

Be a Golden Girl
Months of glorious golden highlights don’t have to end in hair-raisingly obvious roots. If the difference is extreme, ask your colorist for a root lift—a quick, roots-only process. Not only is it a subtle way to extend your summer look; it’s also less damaging than the standard lightening process. The D.I.Y. equivalent? Many women touch up their roots at home by dipping a cotton ball in lemon juice and hydrogen peroxide, dabbing around the hairline and roots, and blow-drying for a few minutes. Keep in mind, however, that this will only work if your roots are a relatively light shade to begin with; for safer, more reliable results, it’s always best to enlist the help of a professional colorist.

Details, Details, Details
Another easy way to hold on to your summer glow? Wear gold jewelry. “I almost always prefer gold to silver—it warms the skin so beautifully,” says Hollywood stylist Anya Berger. Opt for clean, basic pieces to highlight, but not upstage, your wrists, neck, and décolletage: “You can’t go wrong with simple hoops, a delicate chain, or a couple of sleek bangles,” Berger advises. And don’t forget that appearance is only one part of the endless-summer equation: Scent is perhaps the most evocative of the senses, so choose a fragrance that reminds you of sunnier days. Fruity accords like L’Artisan Ananas Fizz, lush florals like Givenchy Very Irresistible, or tropical elixirs like Comptoir Sud Pacifique Fleurs Des Caraïbes are all good choices. Or try a scented shimmer lotion, such as Bath & Body Works’s Coconut Lime Verbena, or Tom Ford for Estée Lauder Azurée, a light oil that leaves skin with a fragrant, summery sheen.

Photo credit: Kateryna Govorushchenko

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