Summer-ize your look: these 6 strategies will keep your skin, hair and makeup looking fresh despite the heat - Beauty in Action

Daniella Brodsky

You've ditched your winter coat, skipped the treadmill in favor of a jog in the park and started craving salad instead of soup. But don't leave your beauty routine behind in the cold. With these expert tips, you can lighten up your look by moving from winter's thick moisturizers and heavy foundations to dewy complexions and no-hassle hair and makeup.

Put your skin care on a diet "Just as you'd feel uncomfortable in heavy clothing on a humid day, you'd be uncomfortable with too much moisture from heavy cleansers and creams," says New York City dermatologist Doris J. Day, M.D. Why? Your skin's hydration level naturally increases in summer from sweat and oil production, and the humidity helps it retain more moisture than in cold weather. Comfort is one reason to reach for lightweight gels and lotions, but healthy-looking skin is another. Heavy, occlusive formulas can cause extra perspiration to sit on the skin, especially around hair follicles, which results in excess oiliness and clogged pores.

To freshen skin and keep it clear, try Stri-Dex Cooling Foaming Wash with aloe ($4.79; at drugstores) or Nivea Visage Oil Control Cleansing Gel ($6; at drugstores) and Juice Beauty Quench oil-free moisturizer ($40; juicebeauty.com). Facial mists also give skin a quick pick-me-up. Look for Jurlique Floral Waters in lavender, chamomile or lemon ($20$22; jurlique.com) or Bath & Body Works Mist Me Facial Mist with antioxidant vitamins C and E ($14; 800-395-1001). For the body, choose lightweight gel or spray moisturizers like Biotherm Aquasource Body Moisturizing SprayGel with glycerin and trace minerals like copper and zinc ($20; biotherm.com).

Give skin a break from foundation

Just as you shelve the heavy moisturizers in summer, put away foundations and instead apply a tinted moisturizer to even out skin tone, suggests New York City makeup artist Tina Turnbow. Expert picks include the sheer, smooth-textured Elizabeth Arden Sheer Lights Illuminating Tinted Moisturizer SPF 15 ($25; at department stores), which contains light-reflecting particles to give skin radiance, and Bobbi Brown SPF 15 Tinted Moisturizer ($35; bobbibrown.com), available in five shades.

Natalie Miller, a Los Angeles makeup artist, also suggests using gel bronzers since they're lightweight and absorb quickly. And they easily can be mixed with an oil-control foundation for more coverage. Try the gel-based Shu Uemura Base Control in Bronze ($26; 888-540-8181). For an oil-control foundation, opt for Rimmel London's new oil-free Double Act Shine & Moisture Control Makeup ($5; at Wal-Mart).

Trade heavy, matte lips for moist protection When it comes to warm-weather lip color, look for three things: moisture, sun protection and subtle color. Our pick for summer: Revlon Moisturous Lipcolor ($7.50; at drugstores). The gel-based formula feels weightless and gives lips a dewy shine (in one of 24 shades) - not to mention sun protection with an SPF of 17. It's also full of skin-softening aloe vera, vitamin E and botanicals.

Try a new hairstyle - with a twist If you've got long hair, keep it off your neck to stay cool. Instead of the standard ponytail this season, try something more modern, suggests Riccardo Maggiore, owner of the Riccardo Maggiore salon in New York City. Put your hair up in a ponytail toward the top of your head, but only pull half of it through, so it looks like a loose bun. "Then pull some random pieces down around your face for a romantic look," he suggests.

Top off any style with a flexible-hold multitasking product that conditions while adding shine, says Pancho Soekoro, a stylist at the Pierre Michel salon in New York. Try Phyto-Life Honey ($25; phytolife.com) with moisturizing honey extract.

Ease up on your cosmetic routine

There's no need to spend precious summer hours applying makeup. A light application of the essentials (after your tinted moisturizer or bronzer) helps you look polished in three simple steps. 1. Apply a stick- or cake-formula concealer and blend with a firm, pointed brush. "Creamy formulas can get runny," Turnbow adds. The perfect concealer for summer: Benefit It Stick ($16; benefitcosmetics.com). 2. Curl your lashes, and swipe on a mascara to open up your eyes. We like Almay Bright Eyes Mascara ($7.50; at drugstores) and L'Oreal Lash Architect 3-D Dramatic Mascara ($8; at drugstores). 3. Rub allover color on the apples of your cheeks for a healthy-looking flush and over your lids to make eyes pop. Editor's favorites: Stila Sport Color Push-Ups ($20; gloss.com) and Neutrogena Shimmer Sheers All Over Color ($9; at drugstores).

Choose refreshing fragrances Wearing fragrance the summer is all about feeling refreshed, says Parisian perfumer Frederic Malle. That's why he favors light perfumes that create a "sea-breeze effect," similar to the fresh scents you get from florals (think rose, peony, lily of the valley or lilac). Try Origins Frolic Floral fantasy mist with honeysuckle, jasmine and rose ($28.50; origins.com). Tommy Girl Summer Cologne with waterlily ($38; tommy.com) or Gucci Rush Summer with magnolia and gardenia ($50; at department stores).

Equally appropriate: cool citrus notes that go on light and smell sweet, says Malle. Get them in Malle's Bigarade Concentree ($140; 888-8-BARNEYS), Sephora L'Eau Energizing Green with grapefruit ($24; sephora.com) or Nu Skin Aroma Sign Earth Element with bergamot, lemon and lily ($28; nuskinusa.com). Or spritz on a lightly fragranced body spray like Calgon Body Mist in Turquoise Seas ($7; at drugstores) or Calvin Klein Sheer Obsession Hydrating Body Shimmer ($30; at department stores).

RELATED ARTICLE: lighten your load

These tiny palettes, compacts, pots and multiuse products are perfect for summer toting.

* Bare Escentuals i.d. Cosmetics Lip Quickies look like mini lipstick tubes, but split open to reveal two pots: one of cream and one of gloss ($22; 800-227-3990).

* Sue Devitt Mini Stars offer a spectrum of lip-color intensity in shades of neutral, red or pink ($28; suedevittstudio.com).

* Madina Milano Orient Express is a stylish, mirrored compact with a bronzer, powder, three lip colors and three eye shadows ($50; 866-MADINA-M).

* Lorac Portable Paints, thin compacts of creamy color for lips, cheeks and eyes, interlock or slide apart to carry separately ($24 for a set of two; loraccosmetics.com).

* Cover Girl CG EyeSlicks Gel EyeColor, an eye shadow and liner in one, is easy to apply and cools with cucumber and aloe extracts ($4.50; at drugstores).

don't skimp on ...

New sun-care research shows that sunbathers don't apply nearly enough protection -- so this is one area where you don't want to hold back. A good rule of thumb: "Apply a golf ball's worth of SPF 30 all over to get maximum protection," says Sheldon Pinnell, M.D., professor emeritus of dermatology at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C. Choose a broad-spectrum sunscreen (it protects against UVA and UVB rays), and reapply every two hours and/or each time you get out of the water. The best new sunscreens: Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Sunblock SPF 45 ($9.49; at drugstores) with a silicon-based formula that instantly absorbs extra sunscreen oils so it goes on light, and Banana Boat Suntanicals Sunscreen Lotion SPF 15 ($8.49; at drugstores), a nongreasy sunscreen that moisturizes and soothes with aloe and chamomile.

Daniella Brodsky is a freelance writer in New York City and author of The Girl's Guide to New York Nightilfe (Hangover Media, 2003).

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