Summer is the season when many of us spend as much time as possible outside. There’s sunshine, barbecues, and beach volleyball games to enjoy. Yet, our skin faces a challenge this time of year: staying fresh and flawless in heat and humidity.
You spend time making sure your foundation is perfectly blended or achieving a sharp winged-eye look. So it’s frustrating to sweat and have your makeup smear or melt. The meltdown can potentially clog your pores, too, because makeup can hinder your skin’s ability to sweat and cool down.
That doesn’t mean you have to spend summer bare-faced, however. Consider keeping your makeup application on the lighter side, and using sweat-proof makeup made with clean ingredients. You’ll reap two benefits: a look that stays put, and confidence knowing you’re using products made without harmful ingredients that can cause a negative skin reaction.
We compiled our top picks in clean sweat-proof makeup for clean beauty!
Kaia Naturals: The Takesumi Detox The Sweat Powder — Crisp Linen — $35USD
Tackle sweaty situations head-on with The Takesumi Detox The Sweat Powder. Thessalite 6 Powder Technology, inspired by the sweat-absorbing chalk elite athletes use in practice and competition, provides natural odour and moisture protection in your underarms, bikini and breast areas. Zinc oxide, apple cider vinegar and magnesium carbonate combine in this clean, mattifying formula to create a moisture-absorbing barrier on the surface of your skin to keep you dry and comfy, while reducing chafing and friction in any skin folds. The retractable kabuki brush applicator is made of ultra-soft bristles that gently and effectively dispense and apply powder, minus the mess. It’s also portable, perfect for on-the-go application and touch-ups.
Ere Perez: Avocado Waterproof Mascara — $29USD
If your eyes and skin are on the sensitive side, rejoice: You can still achieve the look of thick, black, voluminous lashes with the Avocado Waterproof Mascara. It has been formulated to be smudge-proof, with amazing 24-hour wear. Natural ingredients include avocado and mamey oils, to help stimulate growth and lash strength. Vegan, gluten-free, and fragrance-free. When you’re done making eyes at the world, you can remove this mascara with any edible oil, like olive, coconut, jojoba, or sweet almond oil.
Kosas: Air Brow Tinted Volumizing Treatment Gel — $24USD
Plump up thinning brows with a tinted mousse-gel that delivers an airy, feathery look. It’s available in 10 high-pigment shades that provide a natural-looking tint, and strong yet flexible hold. Support your brows’ growth potential with each swipe of the custom triangular spoolie that boosts and lifts each hair. Ingredients include hair care actives that condition and support brow health: panthenol pro-vitamin B5 to revive, castor oil for nourished, lush and shiny brows, and biotinoyl tripeptide-1 for healthier, fuller brows. Suitable for all skin types and eyebrows, this gel is free of fragrance, gluten, parabens, silicone, drying alcohols, mineral oil, synthetic waxes and microplastics. It’s also vegan and cruelty-free.
Babo Botanicals: Daily Sheer Tinted Mineral Sunscreen Lotion SPF 30 — $21.50USD
Give your face a daily dewy glow while protecting it from the sun’s harmful rays when you apply this sheer tinted mineral sunscreen lotion with SPF 30. Great for dry skin, it’s a nourishing formula made with mineral zinc oxide and titanium dioxide for broad-spectrum protection from UVA/UVB rays. The sheer, golden-hued lotion blends easily into your skin, leaving minimal whitening on most skin tones. It’s enriched with rosehip oil to moisturise, and hyaluronic acid to hydrate and replenish your skin. Dermatologist tested, and suitable for all ages. It’s also cruelty-free and fragrance-free, and made without soy, dairy, parabens, phthalates, silicones, mineral oil, synthetic colourants, or chemical filters.
Alima Pure: Eye Primer — $28USD
Prepare your eye area for makeup that lasts and won’t smudge with Alima Pure’s Eye Primer. It’s been formulated to make your eyeshadows stay in place and continue looking bold and blended, while the gentlest plant-based ingredients treat your delicate eye area with care. These include squalene, shea butter, olive oil, and apricot kernel oil. This vegan primer is suitable for all skin types, and it’s fragrance-free.
Summer Fridays: Cloud Dew Gel Cream Moisturiser — $61CAD (standard size)
Three types of hyaluronic acid and ceramides in this ultra-lightweight gel cream moisturiser gives thirsty skin non-stop, visible plumping hydration. The hyaluronic acid complex also penetrates your skin’s surface to reduce the look of fine lines, while amino acids provide antioxidant protection and support your skin’s resilience. Pineapple enzymes smooth, soften, and brighten your skin, revealing an even tone. If you have dry, combination or normal skin, this moisturiser may be for you! Vegan, and cruelty-free, it comes in recyclable packaging.
Fitglow Beauty: Conceal + — $48.50CAD
Say buh-bye to dark under-eye circles and other skin imperfections with this full-coverage concealer. It’s a targeted skin treatment made with phyto elastin, vitamin K, licorice root, and organic green tea to diminish the look of blemishes, pigmentation, and fine lines, and leave your skin stronger and smoother. The concealer has been formulated to work in harmony with your skin to improve its condition, as well as its appearance. Available in 18 shades, it has a creamy texture that blends flawlessly into your skin to mask areas that need more coverage. Free of gluten and silicone, and certified cruelty-free.
Mad Hippie: Cheek & Lip Tint — $22USD
If you love products that pull double duty, then you’re going to love Mad Hippie’s Cheek & Lip Tint. Use just a touch for a natural glow, or layer it for a bold look on your lips and/or cheeks. Choose from the shades Poppy, Fig, and Plum, which are perfect for all skin tones and provide a matte finish. The tints have been crafted with natural ingredients, including jojoba and shea butter to keep your skin hydrated, and sea buckthorn berry and blueberry extract to provide antioxidant support. Dermatologist recommended, cruelty-free, and vegan.
Ilia: The Necessary Eyeshadow Palette — $40USD
Create endless eye looks with a selection of six flattering shades in matte, satin, and metallic finishes. They’re just right for any occasion, allowing you to go as natural or as bold as you please. The easy-to-blend and highly pigmented talc-free shadows are vegan, and conveniently tucked into a sleek mirrored compact for portability and easier application. Available in a warm colour palette, and in a cool colour palette. Natural ingredients include jojoba seed oil and honeysuckle extract.
Rejuva Minerals: Pur’ Lips Vegan and Organic Lipstick — $20.95USD
Pucker up with a lipstick rated clean in the Think Dirty app, and that has been a 2019 Choice Awards Best Lip Product nominee: Pur’ Lips Vegan and Organic Lipstick. Slick it on for sheer-medium coverage (it varies by shade), but all five shades are packed with 61.65% certified organic ingredients. Minerals and botanicals, such as crushed red rose petals, provide colour. There are no FD&C dyes, soy, GMOs, carmine, parabens, or added gluten. The shade Red, Red Wine is free of titanium dioxide, for sensitive skin types. All the lipsticks have been made with a vegan formula, and with a scent that varies by shade (some contain vanilla while others contain peppermint). Packaged in BPA and phthalate-free tubes.
Ilia: Balmy Gloss Tinted Lip Oil — $26USD
If tinted, moisturised and plumped-up lips are on your wishlist, then reach for Balmy Gloss Tinted Lip Oil. Available in six shades, it’s suitable for all skin types, including normal, dry, combination, sensitive, mature, and blemish-prone skin. This lip oil leaves your lips soft and smooth, with a natural glossy sheen in a wash of colour, without a sticky finish. Wear the lip oil alone or on top of your favourite lip colour. It’s packed with hyaluronic acid to plump lips with immediate and long-lasting hydration, salicornia herbacea extract to improve hydration for smoother and more supple-looking lips, and meadowfoam seed oil, a rich, balmy oil that supports your skin’s natural barrier to help lock in moisture. The formula is free of soy, gluten, and fragrance.
The Last Word on Clean Sweat-Proof Summer Makeup
When you use clean makeup products that are sweat-proof, you can feel good about what you’re putting on your skin, and you won’t have to worry about melting mascara and looking like a raccoon. That means you can be more focused on enjoying the summer!
If that sounds good to you, and you want to learn more about what ingredients and products to use in your skincare and beauty routine for summer, download the Think Dirty app. You can use it to scan products’ barcodes and see what ingredients are in them. We bet you’ll enhance your knowledge about which ingredients are safe for you (and the planet) in no time!
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Beat the Heat with These Clean Sweat-Proof Makeup Essentials was originally published in Think Dirty on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.