Okay ladies, it's June now, and that means summer is upon us! When I think of summer, I think of sundresses, late nights, and glowy skin.
Getting the perfect all-over glow can be tough. Personally, I've gone through a good amount of trial and error to find what works. Lucky for you, I'm going to bestow this gilded knowledge onto you, blog readers, so you don't have to deal with all the glow-gone-wrong mishaps I have!
Tanning Mousse
I love the idea of gradual tanning moisturizers, but I'm not consistent enough to keep up with them (plus, who wants to smell like tanner every day?). I've found the best self tanning products come in mousse form. I like both the St. Tropez Mousse, and Jergens Instant Sun. These products come at very different price points, but produce a similar result. However, the St. Tropez seems to fade better than the Jergens.
Regardless of which product I opt to use, I always apply it with a St.Tropez Tanning Mitt. I've tried using tanning products with bare hands, rubber gloves, etc., and tanning mitts are so far superior it's honestly not even worth using self tanner if you don't use a mitt.
Pro tip: Don't even think about using a tanning product without exfoliating and shaving first!
Tanning Face Lotion
I'm too scared to use tanning mousse on my face after finally clearing up years of cystic acne. I happen to know plenty of people who use self tanner on their face and have never had an issue, but personally, I'm not willing to risk it.
So, I like to use a tanning product formulated specifically for your face. Usually one or two nights of applying Jergens Natural Glow before bed, and my face will look pretty even to the rest of my body. I also find myself using less makeup when my face has a bit of color, so it's basically a win win!
Illuminating Primers
Now that we've covered tanning your skin for an all over glow, let's talk makeup. Primers are super important to prep your skin for makeup, and ensures all your beautiful works lasts throughout the day. I've found two products that give me a glowing-from-within look under foundation: L'Oreal's Lumi Glowtion and Becca's First Light Priming Filter.
The Glowtion gives you a bronzed look with a subtle, pretty glow. I've also used this without makeup to give my skin an illuminated, healthy look! This is more of a lotion than a primer, but i find it still works well under makeup.
Pro tip: dab a bit of this on just your cheekbones for a subtle highlight.
The Becca primer is a lavender color, which has a brightening effect (you can also find brightening lavender concealers and powders). When I use this with Becca Ultimate Coverage Complexion Cream, my skin literally looks like I'm using a filter to smooth it out, but in real life! Who needs golden hour to take Instagram worthy pictures when this primer exists!?
Highlighters
Now for the grand finale, highlighter! I find myself getting a bit carried away with highlighters, but they're just so pretty! My highlighter looks range from dewey and natural to glittery psychopath.
For a more dewey look, I love Becca's Shimmering Skin Perfector. You can definitely build this product up depending on how you're feeling. This highlighter also works great in less conventional areas to highlight like your cupids bow, collar bones, shoulders, and basically anywhere you want to accentuate.
The day I bought Maybelline's Master Chrome was the day I started going overboard with my highlighter.... and I'm loving it. This product has more pigment than other highlighting products, yet can still look natural when applied with a light hand. But, as I have insinuated, I pack this stuff on and never look back. I almost always get compliments on my skin when I wear this product, so tbh maybe I'm not going as crazy with it as I think.
Finally, two tips I'm sure you've heard over and over (but it's because they're true).... 1. Always wash your makeup off at night 2. Drink lots of water! It's easy to get lazy about both of these, but it makes such a difference. You can fake a glow all you want, but there's nothing more beautiful than truly glowing from within. Trust me, it's worth it.
Now go glow up for summer girl!
