Summer is not cancelled
Every day of 2020 feels like we are all stuck in someone else’s Jumanji game, complete with an ostrich running loose, and we all need a beauty boost.
Metro Manila, Laguna, Bulacan, Rizal and Cavite have returned to Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine. MECQ means businesses like salons, barbershops, gyms, cinemas and spas are not allowed to operate. We can’t dine in at restaurants. But other than these, nearly all businesses under GCQ are allowed, albeit with limited capacity. It is not the lockdown that the medical community pleaded for to flatten the curve, so I am voluntarily staying home, and I encourage everybody who can to go on a self-imposed ECQ, work from home, and keep parties to Zoom. I do all transactions online and carefully sanitize my packages at the foyer-turned-sanitizing station.
Cloudy days and near-daily thunderstorms have me feeling like summer really just passed me by. With a liberal dusting of bronzer, dabbing blush and highlighter here and there, I look at my reflection and am reminded of all the traveling that I will do once all this passes. Here are some of my favorites.
Bronzer: It’s in how you apply it
If you’re trying to keep it natural, bronzer is not a substitute for contour. True to their names, bronzer is meant to bring a tan to the face, while contour deepens or imitates shadows in one’s face. The former will have more warm undertones, while contour will be cooler, some bordering gray. So when bronzer is applied as contour, it can appear muddy. One of my favorite bronzers is the cult favorite Nars Matte Bronzing Powder in Laguna, a warm brown shade that’s now in a new matte formula. Using a fluffy brush, lightly dust it wherever the sun naturally hits your face. I like it on my hairline and keep it right above the cheekbones and jawline for sun-sculpted dimension.
Highlight: Keep it dewy
For the very pale in pursuit of a healthy glow, creating luminosity instead of faking it with bronzer is your best bet. I prefer all-over dewiness with skincare like Shiseido’s Ultimune Defense Refresh Mist, which is actually the brand’s best-selling serum in micromist form so you get all the skin immunity benefits, too. And then apply a creamy highlighter with golden tones (powder and cool-toned highlighters can be frosty and ashy), beneath foundation, and on the cheekbones, cupid’s bow, and the inner corners of the eyes. The product will melt beautifully onto the skin, lifting your complexion.
Stay home: Shop Nars and Shiseido at rustans-thebeautysource.com.
Blush: Mimic a youthful flush
Forget the apples of the cheeks and sweep blush across them for a look that’s authentically sun-kissed. Turn to the ruddiness of a childhood summer afternoon spent playing outside. Observe a child’s blush. It’s rosy pink, like Issy & Co’s new Creme Blush in Good Girl.
Still confused? Leave it up to your skin’s pH and Happy Skin Cooling Color Adapt Stick. Swipe on the colorless moisturizing balm and watch it transform into a color that’s unique to your natural flush. Happy Skin is also offering one-on-one beauty consultations at tinyurl.com/HappySkinCurated.
Stay home: Both Happy Skin and Issy & Co are available at Lazada, Shopee, and BeautyMNL. Happy Skin has a personal shopper service; contact Ymara at 0917-5015519.
