My Summer Beauty Heroes: The Products Saving Me This July
Every summer beauty article seems to contain a list of approximately 47 things we’re apparently supposed to buy before the temperature reaches 20 degrees.
I’m going to make this considerably simpler.
These are my summer beauty heroes.
Not necessarily the newest products.
Not necessarily the prettiest.
Just the things that make summer beauty easier.
Because when I’m hot, my hair has developed its own weather system and my makeup is considering leaving my face altogether, I don’t need another twelve-step routine.
I need backup.
🦸 Dry Shampoo
Let’s begin with the obvious winner.
Dry shampoo deserves a cape.
There. I said it.
Summer hair can go from freshly washed to what exactly happened here? remarkably quickly.
Heat, humidity, styling, being outside, generally existing…
Suddenly those roots aren’t feeling quite as fresh as they did yesterday.
Enter dry shampoo.
A little at the roots, give it a moment to do its thing, work it through and suddenly we’re back in business.
I also love it for adding a little texture when my hair is being annoyingly soft and refusing to cooperate with an updo.
Ponytail needs help?
Dry shampoo.
Fringe having a crisis?
Dry shampoo.
Didn’t organise hair-wash day particularly well?
DRY SHAMPOO.
Hero.
💧 Argan Oil
At the opposite end of my hair, we have my current love affair with argan oil.
While dry shampoo is dealing with what’s happening at the roots, a tiny amount of oil through my lengths and ends helps everything look smoother and shinier.
And yes, I am emphasising tiny amount again.
We’ve discussed what happens when I get overenthusiastic.
😂
Summer seems determined to make my ends look thirsty, so this has become one of those products I genuinely notice when I haven’t used.
That earns hero status.
💋 Lip Oil or Gloss
I’m still firmly living in the glossy-lip world we established during June’s Juicy Edit.
A lip oil or easy gloss is one of the quickest ways to make me feel like I’ve actually made an effort.
Even if the rest of my face consists of mascara and optimism.
I particularly love anything I can apply without a mirror.
If it requires precision, a lip brush and complete silence…
It’s not coming to the beach with me.
🌸 Cream Blush
Another Juicy Edit survivor.
Cream blush just makes sense to me in summer.
A little colour immediately makes the whole face look fresher, particularly when I’m wearing less foundation.
Peach.
Pink.
Coral.
Something bright and happy.
Blend it in with fingers or a brush and suddenly I look considerably more awake than I actually feel.
Beauty magic.
🧴 A Really Good Body Lotion
This isn’t glamorous.
It’s also something I notice immediately when I stop doing it.
Summer means arms and legs are actually seeing daylight again, which means my habit of forgetting body moisturiser for three consecutive months has consequences.
I like something that sinks in reasonably quickly because I have neither the patience nor the organisational skills to stand around waiting twenty minutes before getting dressed.
Bonus points if it smells gorgeous.
Which brings me neatly to…
🍑 Body Mist
Summer is when body mist really earns its place in my beauty cupboard.
Sometimes I don’t want a big, heavy fragrance.
I want something light that I can spray generously and refresh later.
Fruity.
Fresh.
Floral.
Something that smells like summer.
They’re particularly lovely layered with a matching or complementary body lotion.
Do I need to smell like a walking peach?
No.
Do I enjoy it?
Absolutely.
🧴 SPF
Not the exciting answer.
Probably the most important one.
My summer beauty bag can contain all the gloss, blush and perfume it likes, but sun protection is doing the serious work.
The best SPF for me is ultimately the one I’m actually happy to wear properly and consistently.
If something feels horrible on my skin, I’m going to resent using it.
So texture matters.
How it sits under makeup matters.
Whether I actually want to reach for it matters.
SPF isn’t the glamorous member of the summer beauty team.
It’s management.
✨ Something for Shine
And I don’t mean highlighter.
I love glow.
I do not necessarily want my forehead joining in.
😂
Having something available for those we have moved beyond dewy moments is incredibly useful.
That might be a little powder.
It might be blotting paper.
It doesn’t need to involve rebuilding the entire face.
Just enough to convince everything to stay where I originally put it.
🧼 A Proper Cleanser
This one doesn’t get enough summer credit.
SPF.
Makeup.
Sweat.
The general grime accumulated by spending an actual day outside.
By evening, I want all of it off.
There is something particularly satisfying about properly cleansing your face after a hot day.
Fresh skin.
Clean pyjamas.
Hair tied back.
Possibly something cold to drink.
Bliss.
👜 The Emergency Hair Tie
Is this technically beauty?
I’m allowing it.
Every handbag needs one.
Preferably several because hair ties apparently live according to the same laws as socks in washing machines.
You buy twelve.
Three days later you own one.
But when the temperature suddenly rises and your hair is touching the back of your neck?
That solitary hair tie becomes the most valuable object you possess.
My Real Summer Beauty Heroes
What I’ve noticed while putting this list together is that very few of my summer heroes are particularly complicated.
They’re products that solve little annoyances.
Greasy roots.
Dry ends.
Hot hair.
Shiny skin.
Dry legs.
Makeup that needs five seconds of help.
That’s what I want from beauty this July.
Not more work.
Less work.
I want products that fit into my life rather than products that require me to reorganise my life around using them.
And perhaps that’s my new test for whether something deserves space in my beauty cupboard:
Does this actually make getting ready easier or more enjoyable?
If the answer is yes, you’ve earned your cape.
And dry shampoo?
You can have two.
Love,
Hayls x