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Best Lightweight Makeup Products For Summer 2021

19 Lightweight Makeup Products You'll Actually Love to Wear in the Summer

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When it's hot and sunny outside, the last thing you want to wear is full face of makeup that feels like it's suffocating your skin — or, rather, like it could melt into your glass of rosé off at any given moment. And here's the thing, you don't have to, as there are so many lightweight and sweat-proof makeup options on the market these days. You can choose from cream bronzers and liquid-gel blushes, waterproof mascaras or tubing formulas that feel weightless on your lashes (and don't come off unless you use warm water to remove them), lip tints and tinted lip balms. And when it comes to your base, during the summer months we love to break out either skin tints and tinted moisturisers that offer lighter, sheerer coverage, or concealers that can simply be used in place of foundation altogether.

It's important to note that that you also shouldn't feel bad if you don't want to wear any makeup at all (just please, whatever you do, don't forget to wear sunscreen and reapply it regularly). But if you're someone who enjoys makeup and wants to discover some of our favourite weightless and waterproof options, keep reading to see our top choices.

NYX Professional Makeup Bare With Me Hydrating Jelly Primer

The NYX Professional Makeup Bare With Me Hydrating Jelly Primer (£15) has the consistency of Jell-O, which makes it fun as well as effective. Once you've scooped it out of the jar, you can apply it to your face and watch as it melts into your skin. It makes foundation stick so well, it lasts through even the hottest of days.

Image Source: cultbeauty.co.uk
NYX Professional Makeup Bare With Me Hydrating Jelly Primer
£15
from cultbeauty.co.uk
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Revlon PhotoReady Candid Natural Finish Anti-Pollution Foundation

Revlon PhotoReady Candid Natural Finish Anti-Pollution Foundation (£10) completely covers up spots (with zero concealer necessary) but still somehow has a skin-like, lightweight finish. According to the brand, it's also formulated with antioxidants to ward off environmental aggressors.

Image Source: boots.com
Revlon PhotoReady Candid Natural Finish Anti-Pollution Foundation
£10
from boots.com
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Huda Beauty GloWish Multidew Skin Tint Foundation

Embrace skinimalism with the editor favourite Huda Beauty GloWish Multidew Skin Tint Foundation (£32). It leaves your skin looking naturally dewy with light-to-medium coverage.

Image Source: cultbeauty.co.uk
Huda Beauty GloWish Multidew Skin Tint Foundation
£32
from cultbeauty.co.uk
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Bare Minerals Complexion Rescue Tinted Hydrating Gel Cream

Bare Minerals Complexion Rescue Tinted Hydrating Gel Cream (£30) feels just light a moisturiser as it's incredibly lightweight and creamy. It also plays nicely with sunscreen, which is necessary during the summer months. Although the tinted formula isn't full coverage, it's buildable, so you can apply an even layer all over and go back and add a little extra wherever you need, like the T-Zone. And while the formula is hydrating and the finish is dewy, it never makes you look shiny or greasy — just glowing and gorgeous.

Image Source: boots.com
Bare Minerals Complexion Rescue Tinted Hydrating Gel Cream
£30
from boots.com
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Fenty Beauty Eaze Drop Blurring Skin Tint

The Fenty Beauty Eaze Drop Blurring Skin Tint (£22) is the brand's lightest base product yet (in terms of how it feels on the skin), offering light-to-medium coverage and a diffused, airbrushed finish. "This is definitely one of the best super lightweight foundations", makeup artist Nikki Wolf said on her Instagram stories. The formula contains sodium hyaluronate, to keep skin feeling soft and hydrated, but that doesn't mean it will leave you feeling greasy. In fact, the formula is both non-comedogenic (meaning it won't clog pores) and, like all of RiRi's base products, it's sweat, humidity, and transfer resistant — so basically, it's the perfect product for summer (layered over your SPF of course). And since we know you were wondering, the Eaze Drop Blurring Skin Tint comes in 25 "flexible" shades that the brand covers all 50 shades of its iconic Pro Filt'r range.

Image Source: boots.com
Fenty Beauty Eaze Drop Blurring Skin Tint
£22
from boots.com
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L’Oréal Paris Skin Paradise Tinted Water Cream

As the name suggests, L'Oréal Paris Skin Paradise Tinted Water Cream (£11) is water based and contains glycerin, sodium hyaluronate, witch hazel water, and aloe vera leaf, all of which contribute to the formula's ability to keep your skin hydrated and glowy throughout the day. Couple that with the liquid's dewy finish, weightless formula, and sheer, mineral pigments, and you have a tinted moisturiser that leaves your skin looking plump and radiant — like you just slathered face cream all over it.

Image Source: superdrug.com
L'Oréal Paris Skin Paradise Tinted Water Cream
£11
from superdrug.com
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Pai The Impossible Glow Hyaluronic Acid and Sea Kelp Bronzing Drops

By adding a few drops into your serum or face cream, the Pai The Impossible Glow Bronzing Drops (£29) not only help make your complexion looking glowy and sunkissed (in a very natural way we might add), but it also provides skin with an extra hit of hydration (that would be the hyaluronic acid and sea kelp in the formula). But that's not all this multipurpose product can do; the sheer liquid bronzer can be used as a highlighter by tapping it directly onto your cheekbones.

Image Source: cultbeauty.co.uk
Pai The Impossible Glow Bronzing Drops
£29
from cultbeauty.co.uk
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Tower 28 Beauty Bronzino Illuminating Cream Bronzer

A favourite of makeup artist Katie Jane Hughes, the Tower 28 Beauty Bronzino Illuminating Cream Bronzer (£18) helps give you a glowing, sunkissed complexion. The formula is silicone free, which might be why the cream feels so weightless on your skin.

Image Source: cultbeauty.co.uk
Tower 28 Beauty Bronzino Illuminating Cream Bronzer
£18
from cultbeauty.co.uk
Buy Now

KVD Beauty ModCon Liquid-Gel Blush

The KVD Beauty ModCon Liquid-Gel Blush (£22) comes in four vibrant shades and features an incredibly unique texture and innovative hydrating formula. The liquid-gel comes out of the tube looking like a super pigmented lip gloss, except that it's not at all sticky (in fact, it's quite slippery to the touch). Squeeze out a drop on the back of your hand, then blend it in with a finger and you end up with the prettiest dewy wash of colour that can be easily be taken from a sheer, nearly imperceptible tint to a vivid flush with a few additional layers. But no matter how much you put it on, you'll still be able to see the texture of your skin underneath it, making this one of the most natural-looking blushers we've ever used.

KVD Beauty ModCon Liquid-Gel Blush
£22
from boots.com
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Saie Dew Blush Liquid Cheek Blush

The Saie Dew Blush Liquid Cheek Blush (£20) is an editor favourite that melts into your skin for a natural flush.

Image Source: cultbeauty.co.uk
Saie Dew Blush Liquid Cheek Blush
£20
from cultbeauty.co.uk
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Lisa Eldridge Elevated Glow Highlighter

Lisa Eldridge Elevated Glow Highlighter (£27) is one of makeup artist Caroline Barnes's favourite lightweight makeup products to use during the summer. Available in four shades — Crystal Nebula, Cosmic Rose, Solar Light, and Celestial Fire (shown here) — the liquid highlighter is a makeup/skin care hybrid as it contains glycerin, tamarind indica seed, oat kernel extract, and a biopolymer complex that has an instantaneous lifting and smoothing effect on the skin. Tap onto the high points of the face like a highlighter, or add a few drops before makeup as a very luminising primer — the more you layer on, the more shimmery the pearlescent pigments become.

Image Source: lisaeldridge.com
Lisa Eldridge Elevated Glow Highlighter
£27
from lisaeldridge.com
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Sculpted by Aimee Cream Luxe Blush

The Sculpted by Aimee Cream Luxe Blush (£16), shown here in Peach Pop, shown here in Peach Pop, is a lightweight formula with a semi-matte finish that's ideal for the summer when your skin is already looking dewy. We also love the pretty peach tone that helps warm up your complexion just a touch.

Image Source: sculptedbyaimee.com
Sculpted by Aimee Cream Luxe Blush
£16
from sculptedbyaimee.com
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Victoria Beckham Beauty Future Lash Mascara

The Victoria Beckham Beauty Future Lash Mascara (£26) is a lightweight, flexible formula that feels like you're wearing nothing on your lashes. It contains flexible plant-based polymers that help lengthen, lift, and define lashes without flaking or smudging throughout the day. And when you're ready to wash it off, there's no makeup remover required. Warm water removes it without you having to vigorously rub your lashes. Read our full review here.

Victoria Beckham Beauty Future Lash Mascara
£26
from victoriabeckhambeauty.com
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Hourglass Cosmetics Unlocked Extension Mascara

Another tubing mascara, the Hourglass Cosmetics Unlocked Extension Mascara (£29) is not only one of our favourite formulas all year round, but it also comes recommended by Barnes as a mascara she likes to break out during the hot summer months. Our favourite thing about it? The formula's ability to give extension-like length with a single coat without making lashes crisp or clumpy. But what makes this great for summer is the fact that A) it feels weightless on your lashes, and B) the formula will only come off when you want to take it off — which you can do with a bit of warm water.

Image Source: spacenk.com
Hourglass Cosmetics Unlocked Extension Mascara
£29
from spacenk.com
Buy Now

Max Factor Divine Lashes Waterproof Mascara

If you prefer a traditional waterproof formula during the summer months, Barnes suggests the new Max Factor Divine Lashes Waterproof Mascara (£12), which features a silky, whipped formula that not only won't clump on your lashes, but more importantly won't become flaky and crumbly halfway through the day. We also appreciate it doesn't take brute strength to remove it — just a little makeup remover and reusable cotton pad.

Image Source: boots.com
Max Factor Divine Lashes Waterproof Mascara
£12
from boots.com
Buy Now

Honest Beauty Tinted Lip Balm

Available in seven shades, the Honest Beauty Tinted Lip Balm (£10) is one of our favourite lip products to wear all year round (it also comes highly recommended by Barnes). That being said, the sheer, moisturising formula is particularly great in the summer when you want a lip colour that you can just swipe on the go, no mirror required (the fact it doesn't feel like you're wearing anything cake-y or goopy on your lips is also a plus).

Image Source: cultbeauty.co.uk
Honest Beauty Tinted Lip Balm
£10
from cultbeauty.co.uk
Buy Now

Beauty Pie Wondergloss Lip Oil

Barnes named dropped the Beauty Pie Wondergloss Lip Oil (£26) as another one of her favourite summer makeup products. Made with cherry and hibiscus oils, this tinted formula is seriously hydrating, drenching lips in shine and moisture. And whilst it looks like a gloss on your lips, it's not in the least bit sticky or goopy.

Image Source: beautypie.com
Beauty Pie Wondergloss Lip Oil
£26
from beautypie.com
Buy Now

Dior Addict Lip Glow Colour Reviving Lip Balm

Available in 11 bright, juicy shades (including one clear option) Dior Addict Lip Glow Colour Reviving Lip Balm (£29.50) is not only moisturising (thanks to cherry oil and shea butter) and gives you a natural-looking tint of colour.

Image Source: dior.com
Dior Addict Lip Glow Colour Reviving Lip Balm
£29.50
from dior.com
Buy Now

Charlotte Tilbury Tinted Love Lip & Cheek Stain - Look of Love Collection

Swipe Charlotte Tilbury Tinted Love Lip & Cheek Stain - Look of Love Collection (£25) the on your lips and add a few dots to your cheeks and blend for a romantic look.

Image Source: charlottetilbury.com
Charlotte Tilbury Tinted Love Lip & Cheek Stain - Look of Love Collection
£25
from charlottetilbury.com
Buy Now

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