Louise McSharry: How to strip back your make-up look when the weather hots up

Irish Independent

19-06-2025

Unfortunately, dampness doesn't exactly lend itself to most of our beauty practices. Make-up melts off, hair gets frizzy, and crevices get stinky. So how do you stay looking good when the heat comes a-calling?
My advice is always to lean into it. Sure, you could invest in expensive setting sprays and anti-humidity hair sprays, but if you know things are going to be really damp, there's no point in stressing about your face or hair getting wrecked. Instead, I like to think about how I can manage to maintain a look even if the sweats are intense.
Last week, at Primavera Sound in Barcelona, I went to see musicians Charli XCX and Troye Sivan perform their Sweat tour, so you better believe I employed this tactic. For make-up, this meant that I kept it relatively simple.
As far as I'm concerned, there's no point in applying heavy foundation in these circumstances; it won't look good as you sweat and will feel uncomfortable. Instead, I accept that my skin simply will not look flawless and use a pot concealer, like Nars Soft Matte Complete Concealer (€35 via brownthomas.com) to cover major blemishes.
Elsewhere on my face, I do what I can to distract from my less-than-perfect skin with long-wearing cream products and glitter. Bronzer, blush and highlighter go a long way to adding life to your face, and while they won't last forever, they will wear relatively evenly, meaning you won't end up with weird patches. Also, they're handy to pop in your bag and can be tapped on with your finger tips should you decide to top it up.
Makeup by Mario's cream products are excellent — easy to apply and long-wearing. I recently bought Sculpt & Pop On-The-Go (€34 via makeupbymario.com), which includes two mini versions of his excellent contour sticks and blush sticks. Their small size makes them ideal for travel, and the formulas themselves are great. They're available in three shade pairings.
I'm also absolutely loving Charlotte Tilbury's new Unreal Blush Healthy Glow Sticks (€40 via brownthomas.com). These chunky blush sticks come in six shades and deliver a fresh and youthful flush to the face. They blend easily, and I find they look great on the lips as well, making them a handy product to carry with you.
The eyes are my real focus on sweaty days, however. Eye crayons have come a long way and, in my experience, are some of the longest wearing products on the market. If you go for a grungy look, it will actually improve with wear and look more authentic as the day goes on. I love Half Magic's Sparkle Sticks (€23 via beautybay.com), which are packed with glitter and come in 10 shades. I wore Punk Pony, a deep blue, to Primavera, and it was still on 28 hours after application.
Finally, a tubing mascara is your friend. The good ones won't move until you remove them with oil. 5. Maybelline Lash Sensational (€12.99 via boots.ie) is my favourite and has never failed me. Now, go forth and sweat!
Lost in translation
I feel like I can't turn a corner without someone asking me about salmon sperm these days. (What a life I've built for myself!) Why? Because of the beauty treatment which injects it into the skin. Well, sort of. Salmon sperm contains a high concentration of DNA fragments known as polynucleotides, which are thought to improve the appearance of wrinkles by stimulating collagen and elastin production. Are they effective? Yes, sometimes they have a visible impact on the texture and appearance of the skin. Will they make you look like a newborn? No. It's also important to remember that your response to a treatment like this might not be the same as someone else's, so it's always a bit of a 'buyer beware' situation.
Something old…
I remember the first time I tried a beauty product that 'adapted to your skin colour to formulate your perfect shade', and it was a very long time ago. Like, decades ago. Since then, they come and go, seducing a new generation of youngsters into thinking it's some sort of magic. Brands suggest that their product provides a unique shade via the skin's pH but, in my experience, the shade is always the same. If you photograph said shade on a variety of skin tones, it will look different, but isn't that just their individual skin tone shining through? Me? Cynical? Never. Anywho, that doesn't necessarily mean the shade it provides isn't pretty and, as the result, is usually sheer and glowy, I've known and loved many of these products in my time. The first of them was a Barry M lipstick I used on my cheeks, and while it doesn't exist in that precise iteration anymore, the brand's Colour Changing Gel Blush (€7.99 via boots.ie) provides very similar results.
... Something new
To be honest, I was shocked to learn that Dior was getting involved in the pH-balance tomfoolery but, nonetheless, here we are. In fairness, it has been at it for some time with its Lip Glow and Rosy Glow products. Additionally, it's not launching a single blush stick and claiming it will adjust to every skin tone — instead the Backstage Rosy Glow Blush Stick (€49 via brownthomas.com) is available in six shades, which features 'pH-activated colour' for a 'made-to-measure' result. Do I think that's a load of nonsense? Yes. Are the products beautiful nonetheless? Well, yes. The formula is light and creamy, gliding onto the skin and delivering sheer but buildable colour. Do I think you need it? If you already have a cream blush you like, probably not.