valley
BEAUTY
“Spring is nature’s way of saying, ‘Let’s party!’ ” —Robin Williams
I’m delighted by our climate. I like to brag about warm weather springing into the desert long before it arrives anywhere else by snapping poolside selfies to send to snow-weary friends (a practice that endears me to no one). I can’t stop myself; it’s glorious! The conditions are beautiful, blossoms perfume the air, and our skies are endless pools of azure. Everything feels like an invitation for ease. And so I want the beauty products I use in warm weather to be easy, comfortable, and carefree, with no fuss or muss. As the weather warms, I want to feel low-maintenance even though we all know I’m far from that.
Drunk Elephant is a clean skin care line that incorporates marula oil in many of its products. When I suggest it to friends, I first end up explaining the company’s name, so let’s get that out of the way. It is in fact named for intoxicated pachyderms. Elephants, and other African animals, eat marula fruit; the seeds ferment during digestion; tipsiness ensues (I encourage you to find videos online). The products are intoxicating, too.
There are two things I look for in any moisturizer: 1) hydration (duh) and 2) a delivery method that doesn’t make me oily. During cooler months, neither of these is a problem, but as the weather warms, I need to fight oil production. Drunk Elephant’s B Hydra Intensive Hydration Gel is the perfect panacea. It gives my skin the moisture it needs, doesn’t turn me into a greasy mess, and plays beautifully under makeup.
A heavy layer of foundation can feel too formal and overdone this time of year. Instead, I turn to tinted moisturizers like Laura Mercier’s, which offers moisture, SPF, and light coverage (saksfifthavenue.com). When I need something more than a tint, I turn to IT Cosmetics’ Your Skin But Better CC+ cream with SPF 50. It offers the weightlessness of tinted moisturizer with the coverage of foundation — in fact, I have foundations that offer less coverage than this CC cream.
Kevyn Aucoin Neo Bronzer (beautylish.com) was one of my favorite makeup releases last year. It’s more than a bronzer: it’s blush, highlight, and bronzer in one compact. It’s perfect for a vacationing no-makeup-makeup look and makes for a great travel-anywhere product, as it contains so much of what your face needs in one slim and convenient package.
Unlike with other products I put on my face, I never want to feel as though I have nothing on my lips. Dior Lip Glow Color Awakening Lipbalm (nordstorm.com) lives in my handbag. It claims to be color adjusting, and I assure you what you’ll get is a heightened version of your own lip color, which makes you look natural and healthy. It’s perfect for on-the-go application and will keep your lips from chapping through tennis and golf tournaments and music festivals alike. The balm can also serve as a hydrating primer under lipsticks and glosses.
My childhood in Florida was a seemingly endless cycle of sunburns and aloe vera treatments. Not aloe vera lotion or gel, mind you, just a freshly sliced stem from the plant. The fleshy innards applied directly to skin will take the sting out of sunburns like nothing else I’ve ever encountered. In case you don’t have an aloe vera plant with you at all times, or the patience to allow sticky aloe gum to dry, Farmaesthetics has you covered with its Cool Aloe Mist Spray (farmaesthetics.com). Not only will this soothe some pretty painful sunburns, it’s a fantastic refreshing spritz that will keep your skin feeling cool long after it dries. And when you feel cool, well, you are cool.