Why you should go makeup-free for the summer

All throughout my teenage years, I was very smugly blessed with blemish-free skin. The turmoil of puberty acne passed me by and I headed into adulthood without so much as a blackhead to my name. But of course, no one tells you that you can still get spots past age 18 and as I entered my twenties, my skin started to rebel. While I still am able to enjoy relatively clear skin, dullness, oiliness and red under-the-skin bumps plague me more now than they ever did as a teenager.

When our skin looks a bit worse for wear, our initial reaction is often to disguise it with makeup. We layer on foundation and powders to blur our imperfections but this can be doing more harm than good. For many people, drastic changes in the weather can also trigger similar disturbance in their skin. The very hot weather we’ve been enjoying lately, although stunning, does make us sweat more which can upset our skin’s oil balance. And when you start to pack on makeup over that, the result is…less than desirable.

I am very guilty of the pack-and-sweat method of makeup application in the summer. However, as the panda eyes and increasing spot count was getting to be a bit much, I packed away the cover-ups in a fit of frustration and went makeup-free to work every day, saving it for evening and weekend events. And, as my newly glowing skin can testify, binning the slap for the summer is the best thing you can do for your skin. It’s clearer, brighter, more hydrated and feels so much softer. Plus, there’s the added bonus of shocking yourself with how good you look when you finally apply eyeliner on a Saturday night.

More reasons to go makeup-free for the summer include…

No more melting

We all know waterproof mascara is a LIE. The mornings spent perfectly applying a smokey eye to have it end up somewhere around your jawline by mid-afternoon will be a distant memory once you go makeup-free.

No more transferring

How many times have you worn that perfect new cream top for it to end up with orange smears all over the neck? Melting makeup always finds its way onto your clothes.

Let your sunburn breathe

Now, with all our talk of SPF and sun protection, there really is no excuse for you to be getting burnt. But, if you somehow (through no fault of your own, of course) do, layering makeup on top is not doing your irritated skin any favours. Slather on the aloe vera and nothing else.

Save time and money

We’re far too busy rushing out the door to enjoy the sunshine in the mornings these days to worry about applying a full face before work. As well as the time-saving, your purse will thank you for not replenishing your summer makeup every couple of days.