Summer's coming

[Dakrish]

Yeah. Much as I love summer, I'm at a loss as to what to do about make-up. I do tan a little, but mostly (and embarrassingly), I sweat. A lot. Especially beneath my nose.

So with one long, warm and moist summer ahead of me.. does anyone have any ideas for what to do to keep my foundation where it belongs - on my skin, rather than running down my neck. I was considering using some of the pigment, mixed with a moisturizer, as a tinted moisturizer. Or even buying a waterproof tinted moisturizer from MAC, though seeing as it costs a fortune and I can't test the shade before buying... I'm just a "little" apprehensive.

Doth anyone find themselves able to help this poor young lady in need?

[Cupcake]

One of the good things about mineral makeup is that it doesn't have a liquid base to dissolve in sweat. Thus a mineral foundation usually has a lot more staying powder than conventional foundations. (Not all mineral formulas are equal, but I'm talking generally). Being able to sweat is a good thing and necessary for your skin to stay healthy, so a mineral foundation is more likely to stay intact and comfortable in humid weather / light rain / sweating through heat or exercise and also not cause extra problems with blocking pores / restricting sweating etc than, say, a liquid foundation would.

A few ideas - keep it simple with just the Ivory Foundation and your base tint foundation mixer. You could add a little of your foundation tint colour to your moisturiser or sunscreen to give a tinted moisturiser effect, if you find that the blended foundation (Ivory and colour tint) is not comfortable or retaining coverage. You could also try using the Sheer Zinc powder as a primer /first coating on to clean skin underneath makeup. Zinc is great for helping skin to feel comfortable. As you'll see, it cannot be sold with any sunscreen claims, but I can personally vouch for it helping to keep my white-as-milk skin comfortable through last summer - and I burn in minutes in 20*C Scottish weather! It prevented heat rash and discomfort.

It'd be good to get a discussion going here to gather tips from ladies with more experience dealing with suncare. They'll know more about how to keep good cosmetic coverage. My best tip is to keep skin comfortable - that's about keeping hydrated with drinking water and good hydrating skin serums, using a sunscreen you trust and just keeping the overall cosmetic look simple for low maintenance.

[Dakrish]

Ta! I'll have to try stick with the mineral make-up. I've got a sample of zinc at home now, so I'll give that a shot too. My silk-naturals foundation feels a lot better than my EDM-one, from what I've tried so far. If nothing else, I'll just skip make-up at all. Just need to find a good, light sunscreen that doesn't give me the feel of having a plastic bag over my heads. I prefer avoiding silicones and mineral oils. Does anyone have a suggestion as to which sunscreen to buy?

I recognize the burning bit! I'm living in southern Sweden (by the sea) and I've got that pale-Finnish skin that burns real easily. I was outside in sunshine for three hours during noon last summer trying to fix my bike, without a jacket on, and I burned my upper back and arms so badly that they blistered. Nurse said second degree burns on some patches. I had to cancel work for three days before I could start running again (I delivered morning papers). I'd really rather not repeat that experience, thanks ever so much! Perhaps I'll just take to carrying a goth-umbrella around.

[Maria_Elvira]

I know greenpeople have a sunscreen for face with spf 15.
It's sold at www.bodystore.se for example.

And it does not contain mineral olis or silicones.

[Dakrish]

Oh, a name I recognize, fancy seeing you here! Thanks, Maria_Elvira, I'll check it out. (Erhm. I'm SixThreeFive from Lockig, just in disguise.)

[sewwies]

Hehe well as a Welshie I'm not really the best person to offer advice about heat! But saying that, I've dealt with a lot of rain and had my fair share of runny makeup. Eyelash tints are amazing, I don't know where you stand on the chemicalness of it all but if there's a chance mascara could be smudging down your face they really are worth a go. You can buy little kits I think but luckily there's a place near me that does it for £4.50 and it lasts weeks.

Also I don't know if Karen's bringing back the lip stain gumballed a while back but that would be great for a no runny flush of colour. I find that the SN foundation sticks around pretty well though you could maybe mix some of your foundation with one of the perfecting powders for touch ups?

[Maria_Elvira]

(Erhm. I'm SixThreeFive from Lockig, just in disguise.)

Oh hi

[karen]

I guess it depends on how much you sweat... If it's really bad, and you're at an event where you absolutely have to look perfect there's a product called No Sweat made by a company called Mehron- you can get it on eBay and it's about $9 a bottle. It's aluminum based, so it's not something you want to wear frequently, but if you're getting married or something like that it's worth grabbing a bottle. It's massively weird and sort of uncomfortable to wear, but it does work. DH is from Finland and just doesn't handle heat at all so he uses it to keep the sweat out of his eyes when he's shooting weddings. If it will keep a Finn from sweating on a day when it's 90 (35) with 90% humidity it will work for just about anyone.

For what it's worth I agree with Cupcake. I think just the dry pigments are the best way to go. They're sort of formulated to be relatively sweat proof, and I actually tested the medium coverage in a sauna just to see what it would do...it held pretty well.

[kitten1711]

I know greenpeople have a sunscreen for face with spf 15.
It's sold at http://www.bodystore.se for example.

And it does not contain mineral olis or silicones.

I can't help you any with the sweating I'm afraid but I do consider myself to be a natural sunscreen afficionado!!!! I am caucasian but with that tone of skin which tans literally within seconds of sun exposure (not great for strap lines etc) but in the past few years I've developed melasma (skin pigmentation condition) which means my facial skin looks patchy - so in the summer I wear a wide brimmed hat pretty much permanently, and wear a high fctor sunscreen every day of the year, rain or shine.

If you want something natural with a higher spf (no silicones, parabens etc) I can recommend Kimberley Sayer's products; they are spf 25 and come in a lightweight oil free lotion formulation (in a jumbo 150ml pump dispenser) or a thicker, creamier version in a less-good-value 60ml jar, both for the same price (about £26). They rely on zinc oxide & titanium dioxide as the sun screening ingredients. I haven't used the cream but am now on my 3rd re-purchase of the lotion - it smells deliciously lemon-y and feels completely weightless on the skin, like I'm not wearing it. I bought mine from
http://www.lovelula.com/cat_kimberly_sa ... incare.cfm and I would estimate that the 150ml pump dispenser lasts ~9 months with liberal daily use (mainly used on my face, very occassionally on my hands/decollete). This works brilliantly for me, and on extra sunny days I dust some SN zinc powder on top for good measure.

Slightly higher spf at 30 would be Petite Marie "Ounce of Prevention", an all natural product which again uses mineral sunscreens. You can buy this at
http://www.juliegabriel.com/Organic-Min ... n-s/42.htm - haven't tried this but have heard good things.

Both of these online stores ship internationally but are based in the UK.

HTH.

Txx

[Dakrish]

Oh, thank you all so much! Now I've got lots to look into!

I'd rather not go with eyelashtint. My eyelashes are long, thick and very very black. I tend to even avoid using mascara, as I'll look like a porceline doll from even the tiniest amount. I've got a waterproof one that makes them a little more noticeble, but avoids the fake-lashes-look.

If SN-foundation stays on in a sauna, I think I'll be able to handle this summer. It gets around 25-35C here, with a 78-90% humidity.