Temperatures have been soaring lately and that can lead to major trouble when it comes to your makeup—especially your foundation. We’ve all been there: Your foundation looks perfect when you apply it in the morning, but by the time you get home it’s melty, streaky, or pooling in pores and fine lines.
Find out how to prevent makeup meltdown and stay fresh-faced with a few easy tricks.
Why does my makeup melt in the summer?
There are a few reasons for summer foundation meltdown. First of all, when humidity is high, your skin’s surface is more moist and your foundation won’t adhere as well. (Sorry to everyone who hates the word “moist” but we have to give you the facts here! ;) Second, high temperatures cause the waxes and oils in your makeup to soften up and turn to liquid—literally melting off your face. As if that weren’t enough, sweat also causes makeup to slide away.
How to stop foundation from melting: 5 key tips
These sweat-proof makeup hacks will help you prime your canvas and keep your foundation where it belongs. If you have an outdoor summer wedding or other event coming up, bookmark these tips!
1. Remove dead skin + peach fuzz: When dead skin cells build up on your skin’s surface, your foundation won’t be able to adhere as well. And when you bring peach fuzz into the mix, things get worse. Foundation can cling to fuzzies instead of your skin, giving you an uneven application that’s more prone to slipping and sliding away. Your solution: Exfoliate and de-fuzz with LUXE+ Sonic Dermaplaning once a week, so you’re always starting with the smoothest canvas.
2. Don’t skip primer: Primer may seem like a throwaway step, but we guarantee you it’s not. Celeb makeup artists know primer is one of the key steps to keeping their clients’ makeup from melting on the red carpet. Primers form an invisible barrier that helps prevent foundation from pooling in pores and fine lines. HYDRAFLASH Active Cocooning Serum doubles as a primer and is ideal if you have normal, sensitive or dry skin. If your skin is on the oily side, you may need a more mattifying primer that also helps to absorb excess oil.
And keep in mind, you can also adopt makeup artist Lisa Eldrige’s “patchwork skin technique” and use two different primer formulas. For example, if your cheeks are on the dry side, you could apply HYDRAFLASH to prime them. If your T-zone is oily, you can use a mattifying primer there.
3. Switch foundation formulas: In the winter, you may need a more moisturizing foundation to counteract the drying effects of cold weather and parched indoor air. But in the summer, a switch may be in order. Matte or semi-matte formulas will hold up better in high heat and humidity, and waterproof formulas have special polymers that form a long-lasting “film” on your skin. (If you choose a waterproof formula, make sure you’re double-cleansing to remove it!)
4. Finish with a setting spray or powder: Give your makeup an extra boost with a setting spray or powder. Setting sprays have film-forming polymers similar to waterproof foundation and they work by creating a “top coat” to help your makeup last longer. Setting powders work to absorb excess oil before it can break through. Two to try: Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Waterproof Setting Spray and Laura Mercier Ultra-Blur Talc-Free Setting Powder.
5. Carry blotting papers: It might be tempting to blot your face with a square of toilet paper, but please don’t! That’s just squashing sweat and oil back into your skin and will most likely smear your makeup. Blotting papers, on the other hand, are super-thin and made to absorb oil and transfer it away from your skin without disturbing your makeup. Tatcha Aburatorigami Japanese Blotting Papers are our personal favorite for the summer, because they’re oversize (and how pretty is the packaging?).
