Ellen von Unwerth for Vanity Fair 2010

It's a cruel, cruel summer, and staying pretty in the heat can challenge even savvy girls. If your makeup is smearing, your hair frizzing, and your favorite perfume seems stifling, lighten up. Looking (and smelling) effortless means streamlining your routine to work with, not against, the weather, and when it's 90 degrees in the shade, these are the products that help us get the looks we love: tousled hair, sun-kissed skin, and a pop of color, all paired with fragrances that are steamy, not sweaty.

Barely There

Unless you live in the south of France, you may give people the wrong idea if you bare all, even in summertime, but Brooke Shields’ look from the 1979 movie Blue Lagoon shows just how appealing the illusion can be.  If you are not blessed with a perfect bone structure, a little makeup can help suspend disbelief. Try Urban Decay’s Naked 2 eyeshadow palette, which features eyeshadows in natural skin tones with a tiny bit of shimmer to lift the look.

Your go to scent should be a “my-skin-but-better” fragrance.  One of our favorites is Sarah Horowitz Parfums’ Perfect Veil, a warm, clean, subtly sexy musk featuring notes of lemon, bergamot, musk, vanilla and sandalwood.  It wafts like you took a refreshing shower and then went to lie out on the beach in a skimpy suit.

Beach Waves (left photo Allure.com 2011)

Beachy waves are a sexy hair solution at the shore or in the city, but it’s a fine line between carefree and careless, especially if you don’t travel with your own hair stylist. A conditioning styling product like Leonor Greyl’s Eclat Naturel can help you create that stylish tousled look while healing your hair and preventing frizz, making it look like you just spent a fortune at a swanky salon.

We like The Different Company’s Sel de Vetiver, which replicates the salt spray that is supposed to create this look to begin with.  With notes of grapefruit, cardamom, vetiver, geranium, ylang ylang, iris, vetiver, and patchouli, you’ll feel like you’re lying on a grass mat in Antibes with a cool ocean breeze and a refreshing cocktail in your hand.

 

Bronze Goddess

Coco Chanel may have introduced the idea, but ever since Ursula Andress as Honey Rider donned that white bikini in  the James Bond Film Dr. No, women everywhere have strived for the perfect tan.  Unfortunately, these days we know  that there is no such thing as a safe tan and prolonged sun exposure increases your chances of premature aging and worse, melanoma.  The solution is to "go faux" with Kate Somerville 360 Degree Tanning Towels. One lemon scented towelette is enough for your whole body and face, super easy to apply and works with your personal chemistry to achieve a tan that  looks natural, not orange or streaky.

Once you’re golden, spritz Keiko Mecheri Taormine.  From La Collection Hesperides, this fresh but feminine fragrance features Sicilian petitgrain, Calabrian bergamot, Italian citron, bitter almond, aromatic notes, floral notes, and leather, transporting you straight to the Italian Riviera, even if you are only going as far as Jones Beach.

 The New Coral (middle photo: Akris Spring 2013)

Makeup artists have long advocated the idea that coral is a great color for most skin tones. Today’s coral shades are nothing like your grandmother’s thick, waxy matte lipstick that crept into the fine lines around her mouth.  The truth is that the makeup artists are right– nothing makes a face light up like coral, as long as you try a sheer formula and pick the right shade for your skin’s undertones.  If you like the idea but aren’t ready to jump into the deep end, try Tarte’s Awakening cheek stain in Tipsy, which goes on much more "naturally" than it looks (for the unitiated all Tarte beauty products are 100 percent natural).  Michelyn notes, “ Tipsy is a staple in most every makeup artists' train case because the peachy pink color works on everyone to achieve that coveted healthy flush without looking obvious. Not only does it  flatter all skintones, but this water based cheek (and lip) color smells like ripe apricots and has a celebrity cult following". Pop your pout with Chanel Rouge Double Intensite in Mandarin Coral, which glides over the lips with a subtle but incandescent coral tint.

TokyoMilk Sea and Sky fits right in, with its notes of crushed citrus, mineral salt, watercress, and real coral.  One sniff and you’ll shed years, take your shoes off, and squeeze the sand between your toes like you were five again. And for under  30 bucks its a scented steal.

 The Wet Look (middle photo from She12.com)

If all else fails, get wet.  Water droplets on skin distract from a myriad of beauty woes.  But if you can’t swim, replicate the look with  colors that glimmer and shimmer. We have a heir and a spare of Chanel’s Le Vernis Nail Colour  531 Azure  and  667 Bel Argus   which are limited editions from the  2013 L'Ete Papillon de Chanel collection.   These perfect mani/pedi colors instantly transform the most earthbound of us into mermaids.  Then spray on Bruno Acampora’s Blu, inspired by the sea surrounding the isle of Capri.  With notes of tuberose, orange, sandalwood, and ylang-ylang, this deceptively simple scent gives you the calm of the deep and will leave those around you thirsty for more.

 Pack your bags with this handful of beauty basics and easy-going summer scents and you’ll be ready for everything the beach or city has to offer, from raking the sand for sea glass in the morning to chic parties on rooftops under the stars.

–  Guest Contributor Nancy Knows, Editor-In-Chief Make Perfume Not War  (with contributions from Michelyn Camen, Editor in Chief)

Art Direction: Tama Blough, Senior Editor

Some products discussed in this piece were provided to us for editorial consideration, while the remainder were from Nancy’s and Michelyn's personal collections.

Ellen von Unwerth Balloons

We know this is a perfume blog, but a girl's gotta gloss. To help you  look and smell your best this summer, four readers will each receive one of the four full-size prizes graciously provided by Sarah Horowitz Parfums (50 ml Perfect Veil edp),  Leonor Greyl Eclat Naturel Daytime Nourishing and Styling Cream,  Kate Sommerville An Eight Pack of 360 Degree Tanning Towels or from our friends at Tarte All Natural Beauty Tarte Awakening Cheek Stain in Tipsy. This draw is open to CONUS readers only. To enter, please leave a comment  with your favorite look  from the above for summer and which prizes you would like to win. Draw ends August 1, 2013.

We announce the winners only on site and on our Facebook page, so like Cafleurebon and use our RSS option…or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume

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