Instep Desk

It’s hot. Our makeup feels like it’s melting off our face in half the time that it usually takes. Our liner bleeds into our eyes, giving us an unflattering Panda-eye look. It’s a complete disaster. However, it’s worse for those who deny the effect of the sun on their face during the day time and continue to wear layers of makeup in the sweltering heat.

We understand that everyone wants to look their best for work, meetings, shopping, other day time commitments, but a caked up, greasy face that can be spotted from miles away is hardly the ‘best’ you would want to go for. So it’s time to tone it down, (in case you weren’t already keeping it simple during the day) and let us take you through a step-by-step process of what to wear on your face when the mercury is rising around you.

Protect your skin

This is a crucial step that women tend to miss out on when stepping out of the house. A sunscreen is one of the most essential ingredients for a pimple and spot-free face. However, we know that sometimes women skip out on sunscreen because it makes their face greasy and cakey with another layer of foundation on top. We recommend you use a liquid foundation with a built in sunscreen instead. Or better yet, try Garnier’s BB Cream. It’s light, gives good coverage AND it works as a sunscreen, foundation, primer and moisturizer all in one!

Avoid liquid eyeliners

There are no two ways about it. If you apply kohl in your eyes or use liquid eyeliner, chances are that it will bleed and spread out to the adjoining areas making your skin look messy. This is why our humble suggestion is that one should skip out on the unnecessary mess around your eyes this time of the year.

What you can do instead is use a pencil thin brush to lightly dust your eyes with a matte finish eye shadow in shades of dark brown, or even black. It won’t look vampy and will give some shape to your eyes.

Do not contour

Contouring is generally our least favourite beauty trend but it becomes even more unbearable when it’s being used in the day time. The thing with contouring is that it only makes your face look good in pictures because in real life, people can see the stark lines on the bridge of your nose and along your chin; it just looks quite tacky, to be honest.

So ditch the dark and light lines and use foundation or a concealer to give your skin an even tone but please don’t contour.

Master the lip line

The trick to applying lip-colour flawlessly is to have control over your arms and make sure that they’re steady when you apply the lip-liner first. If you get that right, it becomes easy to fill in the rest of the lips. However, the task becomes a tad bit tougher in the day time because you can’t hide your flaws in broad daylight.

The way to make things easier is if you simply use a light colour to begin with. Light and nude shades generally look better in the day time; they are also easier to draw out on the lip as they won’t stand out as much!