Cosmetics To Beat The Heat

Is your beauty routine failing to cut it in the summer heat? It could be the makeup you're using.

With just a few key cosmetics that work in the heat and humidity, any woman can look gorgeous and glowing instead of melted and miserable, according to The Early Show's stylist to the stars, David Evangelista.

He says there are five products every woman needs in her makeup bag this summer.

Evangelista says women don't have to put up with summer makeup meltdowns such as rings around the eyes from melting mascara or eyeliner, or foundation that clumps and lumps on cheeks after standing outside in the humidity for five minutes.

He gives a few rules of thumb for looking stunning in the summer heat.

First, as during any other season, skin care has to be a priority. Since summer is about sheer cosmetics, your skin has to look fabulous, and the makeup he suggests will make a great complexion glow even more. Perhaps the most obvious rule of the summer is to wear sunscreen every day on your face, even if you're not heading to the beach or pool. Whether you opt for a basic facial sunscreen, or a moisturizer with sunscreen in it, just make sure you apply it each and every morning.

So, advises Evangelista, ditch the huge makeup bag that's eating up half of your purse space, toss your cosmetic brushes to the bottom of your bathroom drawer until autumn rolls around, and downsize to a cosmetics bag with a few simple items that will have you looking gorgeous in no time, even on the hottest and most humid of summer days.

Most women walk around with makeup bags that are entirely too big, which leads to carrying around far more items than you'll ever need, Evangelista observes. Often, women wind up with makeup kits that turn into a cosmetic-ravaged mess after three weeks in their bags. Instead of picking up a massive plastic case, try a smaller fabric tote like Smashbox's Ray of Light makeup tote ($18 at Smashbox.com): It's adorable, sensibly sized, and can double as a clutch for a night on the town, but is also completely washable, so if anything explodes in your makeup bag, you can just pop it into the washer, and it's good as new.

One of the best things about the key cosmetics for summer is that you don't need various applicators to apply them: The only tools you need in your makeup kit are a set of blotting papers to blot up any excess oil on your face, and Q-Tips for any makeup application mishaps, rare though they'd be. To ensure cleanliness, toss both into a sandwich-sized Ziploc bag, and they're ready to go into your new makeup bag.

As for the five simple products that every woman needs in her cosmetics case this summer:

Cosmetic must-have No. 1: Skin illuminating pen

For quick cover-ups, from under-eye circles to a big red blemish, pick up a skin illuminating pen like Yves Saint Laurent's Touche Eclat ($37), Estee Lauder's Ideal Light ($24.50), or Clinique's Airbrush Concealer ($18.50).

Each pen contains light-reflecting camouflage cream — you just brush it into problem areas, pat in to skin lightly, and you're covered up in seconds with no fuss, no muss. The product in these pens is ultra-light so it won't wear heavily on your face or melt off like foundation — and a little bit really goes a long way. These pens work better than your standard concealer.

They're formulated to go on smoothly, and even skin out with just a few strokes of the pen.

Cosmetic must-have No. 2: Gel cheek color or bronzer

Using a gel cheek color or bronzer is THE best way to get a potent pop of color into your skin that looks glowy, natural and that won't move all day. The beauty of gel is that it melts right into your skin — it doesn't sit on top of the skin like creams or powders — so it won't rub or melt off right after application.

Gels are also coming in a bunch of different formulations, so you're not tied to just one: Armani Bronze Mania Face Gel ($50) can be used all over the face for a gorgeous golden glow; Kanebo Instant Natural Golden Glow ($30) and Guerlain Terracotta Fresh Bronzing Gel for Face ($41) both incorporate SPF protection in with an all-over face color, and Stila has Color Push-Ups ($20 — sticks of solidified gel) and Gel Cheek Color ($14) that you can apply in select areas of the face instead of all over. Just pick the formula that feels most comfortable for you, rub in to your face, and glow like a goddess in seconds.

Cosmetic must-have No. 3: Liquid eyeliner

During the summer, you want to keep your eyelids free of creams and powders because they can melt right off the skin, or worse yet, melt down your face. But you can still play up eyes with great staying power by using a long-lasting liquid eyeliner.

Products such as Shu Uemura's Liquid Liner ($32), Chanel's Ecriture de Chanel ($30) or MAC's Liquidlast Liner ($16.50) can really emphasize the eye (you can create a thick or thin line with any of them, and they come in all sorts of colors so you can play around and have fun), but they are formulated to stay on all day long, and will not smudge or move in the heat like a crayon liner would.

Cosmetic must-have No. 4: Mascara

In the same vain, you shouldn't ditch your mascara when summer hits because it's a GREAT way to make your eyes pop (plus, the trend this year is for big, flirty lashes — just because it's humid outside doesn't mean you have to forgo the trend).

The key is to find a smudge-proof formulation that will give you a lot of color in only one or two coats. Lancome's newest (and most amazing) mascara, called Fatale ($22), makes your lashes long and lush in just 1 coat, and it's smudge proof so it won't melt down your cheeks after walking to your car. Fresh's Supernova mascara ($25 — just written up in the Sunday Times Style Section) is also a one-coat wonder that thickens, defines and curls giving you lush, smudge-proof lashes AND conditions lashes with Panthenol.

Cosmetic must-have No. 5: Lip gloss/tint

In the dog days of summer, your everyday lipstick can turn into your worst enemy, slipping down your lips and feathering, looking more clown-like than alluring.

The solution: turn to lip glosses or tints, which are quite sticky and won't even threaten to run. Today's glosses aren't just a shiny mess — glosses are now packed with intense color as well as shine, and some even have SPF — an added benefit for summer.

There are a massive variety of shapes, sizes and forms of gloss, from Lancome's candy colored Juicy Gelees ($16.50 — the next generation of the unbelievably popular Juicy Tubes — they give lips a far more natural tint than they'd appear to in their pots), to Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush gloss tubes ($7), which pack in a punch of color and taste spectacular. If SPF is important to you, Kiehl's Tinted Lip Balms ($7.50) are packed with SPF 15 and come in gorgeous hues that add a good dose of color to lips.