Summer Beauty Essentials

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The official first day of Summer was what? Like a week ago? Well, over her in the PNW (surprisingly) Summer is in full throttle and it's been in the high 70's to low 90's for the past week and let me just tell you - I am dying. I love the sunshine but holy hell do I hate the heat. Summer means two things for me, the first being less clothing. Nice breezy, lightweight, free flowing clothing. The second thing that Summer means is a whoooooole different makeup and skincare regime. Come Summertime I always go for far less coverage and makeup that I can apply quickly and easily (also, waterproof everything if I can swing it). I guess really in the summer I try to go for more natural beauty looks. So, today I'd like to share with you a little project that I partnered with #WalgreensBeauty on about my Summer Beauty Essentials. For those of you who are international, I know that a lot of people aren't familiar with Walgreens but from what I understand they actually have now merged with Boots (correct me if I'm wrong) so it's kind of like a one stop shop for high street products (beauty, skincare, haircare, body, grocery, everything really). If you'd like to hear more about my Summer Beauty Essentials then keep reading and enjoy!

L'Oreal Paris Absolute Platinum Lightening System - Obviously this isn't something that's going to be on everyone's Summer Essentials list but for those of you with blonde or ombre hair, this is a MUST. I use this after the long Winter/Spring (our Winter and Spring kind of merge together up here. We really only have three seasons) to banish those awful brassy tones that seem to creep up on you and bring my ombre back to it's original color. After lightening my locks I find that I don't really have the need for a toning shampoo or treatment during the Summer because generally the natural light of the sun keeps them pretty light.

Moroccan Sea Salt Spray - A leave in sea salt spray that adds volume and moisture to your hair. I can rarely be bothered to do my hair in the colder months so when the warmer months roll around the last thing I want to be doing is my hair, blasting it with heat products and so on. So, I use this spray in the morning when my hair is mostly dry and just scrunch and tousle my hair until it kind of has that beach wave look. Just enough product to make it look like I really tried.

Rimmel Scandaleyes Mascara and NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Yogurt - These are really nice simple go to's if you're looking for a more natural look. I discovered this mascara a few months ago when doing a Spring Makeup Look post and fell in love. Now it's the mascara I always have in my makeup bag, purse, etc. It adds fullness and length without clumping. They also make a waterproof version that would be great for Summer. The NYX pencil in Yogurt is a really subtle shimmery nude (the right hand swatch above) that I just line my upper and lower lash line with, blend slightly to sheer it out a little and voila. It's super simple but still something I could wear out.

Essie In The Cab-Ana - Anyone else pick nail polishes based primarily on what they're named? I can't be alone in this. I love this bright teal color, for some reason it just reminds me of all of the eclectic doors that I saw when I was in Sayulita, Mexico a few years ago. It's one of those polishes that I constantly find myself staring at my nails and admiring it... Am I alone in that too? It's also great because it's a one coat polish and dries super quick, which is ideal since odds are 90% of the time I'm going to smear my nail polish within 20 minutes of doing them.

And lastly the Revlon Colorstay Moisture Stains - This is a new laugh from Revlon that I purchased on the first day it was available because I just love the color options. I'm not normally one for anything that resembles a lip gloss, but the word "stain" kind of pulled me in. And I'm glad it did. I picked the shades Milan Moment and Cannes Crush and I am extremely happy with both of them. Milan Moment is a more orange toned stain that I'm wearing on the left hand picture above (bottom swatch) and Cannes Crush is a very almost watermelon pink that I'm wearing in the (very awkward) right hand photo above (top swatch). I love how smoothly this apply and the applicator is curved in a way that makes it super easy to apply without whipping out my makeup brushes. It's not sticky and even after you blot it out it lasts nearly the entire day without needing a touch up. If you're a lip product girl - you HAVE to try these.

That about sums up my Summer Beauty Essentials. Are there any must haves that you find yourself reaching for when the warmer months come around? If you would like to give any of these items a go, Walgreens is having an awesome sale right now (if you can't tell from the above photo) and from now until August 30th are offering a coupon to get a free travel sized makeup brush set when you spend $20 or more on beauty and personal care items (not including baby care). Happy Humpday and I hope you all have a great 4th of July weekend!