How to keep sparkling at the end of summer

Every month is an opportunity to change up your beauty look. September is your chance to keep shining and having fun. The days are getting slowly shorter, and autumn is just around the corner. However, you can still harness what’s left of the warm nights to show off your summer glow and dance the night away. 

The focus of this summer was a clean, natural beauty. Despite the trend of less is more, even for evening looks, September comes with a twist ¬– a pop of something colourful or messy! These are great news for your suitcase as it means you can pack light and easily pick up your Sensational Summer must-haves at duty free. 

Here are some of our favourite tips on how to prepare your party look at the end of the season.
 

1. Prepare your skin

The base of every look starts with a strong beauty routine, which we should take care all year long. As a first step, clean our skin and exfoliate exfoliating if you haven’t done in a while. Rinse thoroughly and follow up with a moisturizer or face oil. Make sure to massage it into your skin for a healthy glow. 

If you’re going out during the day apply an SPF moisturizer to protect your skin from the sun – in September it’s still intense during the peak hours. At evening, you can go with something ultra-hydrating and maybe even consider something with a little shimmer. 
 

2. Define your face

For well-moisturized skin, you can forgo heavy foundations and concealers. A simple bronzer or blush accentuates your bone structure and creates the perfect frame for the rest of your look. 

A strong brow is one of the most important elements of a shimmering, simple and easy end of summer look. Lightly fill in your natural brow with a pencil that is the same colour as your eyebrows. Once you’ve lightly defined your brows, use the brush on the other end of the applicator to gently brush your eyebrows up and out. This will blend in the colour and create a beautiful, natural frame for your eyes.
 

3. Add stronger colours into your eyes 

 

You can either use the same bronzer or you can use a small amount of taupe eye shadow on your eyelids. Rub it in with clean fingers for a natural look. 

Ready for the fun part? It’s time to add that pop of colour to your otherwise-understated summertime look with a stronger, more vibrant shade for your lids. Or go with a smoky eye. This look will flatter you on any occasion but especially on your next soiree. If eyeliner is your thing, you can go grunge and use heavy underliner. When done right, this can be very sexy – think Taylor Swift, not Courtney Love. No matter what you do, make sure to curl your eyelashes prior to applying your mascara of choice. 

We love waterproof mascara in the summer as it has real staying power. However, in a pinch, you can also apply several layers of your favourite mascara to create a thick, chunky look, which is in style.
 

4. The last kiss of summer

Let’s talk lips. Remember, September’s look is to have one element which stands out against a beautiful natural summer glow, so if you’ve already gone wild on your eyes, keep your lips simple. Perhaps a tinted lip balm or simple lip stain will do. 

Conversely, if you kept your eyes simple, your lips are practically begging for you to kick it up a notch. There are mattes, sparkles and all kinds of bright primary colours to choose from. Pick one and pucker up!

5. Nourish your nails

Last, but certainly not least, your nails are an often-overlooked yet critical part of your beauty routine this September. Take your time. Nourish your nails, filling in where necessary and putting on a nice base coat. Top them off with a bold nail polish colour if you’ve gone neutral elsewhere. Or, keep it neutral if you’ve already pulled a punch somewhere else in your look. Sound familiar?

Now you are ready to go to out on the town and enjoy these last days of summer to the maximum. You look great and, more importantly, you feel great. 

6. Oh wait, one more thing! Clean your skin

Don’t want your sensational summer to end? Your summer skin will stay toned and glowing longer if you follow this important final tip – take care of yourself when you come home after your late summer evening out. Use a makeup remover as a first step. Then thoroughly cleanse your face with a face wash. Follow that up with a moisturizer and you’re ready to get your beauty rest and dream about what bold stoke you are going to try out tomorrow.