Long Lasting Makeup for Summer and Special Occasions

We know the struggle of stressing for your makeup to last all day or night… especially in the warmer months! That’s why it’s so important to ensure your long lasting makeup is actually long lasting.

Do you get crusty throughout the day? Do you look like a greaseball after a night of dancing? Do your eye bags or acne start peeping through throughout the day? Ugh, we know—it’s BAD. That’s why we put together this comprehensive list of makeup products, tips & tricks for making your makeup stay all day. Keep reading if you want to find out what long lasting makeup products to buy, based on your skin type, for photographable flawlessness.

It’s all about that base

Long Lasting Makeup by Skin Type

We’re going to break things down here by skin type, because yes—there are multiple combinations of products you can try for your skin type to look photo-ready and flawless all day or all night!

Primer

A good base sets the tone for a long-lasting makeup look. If you’re ready to party, don’t leave home without priming your face! It can help smooth out texture or fill in your pores for a nice flawless application!

Dry Skin

Oily girls may envy you, but they don’t know the true struggle of having dry skin… Crusting up, flaking, cracking, creasing—it’s no joke, but we got just the things. First, we’re going to refer you to a skincare regimen that will exfoliate & prep your skin for the makeup application. Skincare is the MOST important step to creating a flawless canvas for your makeup. If your skin gets dry, the texture will be emphasized when makeup is applied—especially if you are going for a full coverage foundation and powder-based makeup.

source: sephora

source: sephora

Moisture, Moisture, Moisture—is what you need in every layer if your skin is severely dry (or even if you are going for a dewy look). For the babes who are drier than the Sahara desert, couple your super moisturizing skincare regimen with both of these primers. The Too Faced Hangover Cure Primer is very moisturizing (and smells nice), whilst the Smashbox Photo Finish Primer Oil adds dewiness and more moisture to your skin.

If your skin gets dry sometimes, but not severely flaking, try using just one of these! For a hydrated but not dewy look, just use the Too Faced primer, and for a dewier look, the Smashbox Primer Oil will be your best friend.

Pro Tip: Everyone’s skin reacts differently to products. Always do a trial run of your makeup before a big event to ensure that it’s how you want it (and that it lasts).

Oily Skin

Hey there, oily babes! Good news: natural dewy skin is in, so your oil glands can actually be a good thing for once! The bad news is, makeup might last as long throughout the day (especially in the summer or in humid climates), which means you might need to take some extra steps and precautions.

Slip n’ slides are fun but not on your face—yeessh! When we want to look flawless in hot weather or humidity, we want to make sure our face base is on point so that makeup stays on for all the hours.

source: ulta.com

source: ulta.com

These pore filling primers are designed for your glands. If your pores tend to get enlarged as the day goes on, these primers got your back. Be sure to use the proper skincare preparations to create the best canvas for your makeup! This can help a lot with minimizing your pores, mattifying and helping your makeup last throughout the day.

Pro Tip: For large pores, try swiping an ice cube all over your face in the morning after cleansing or washing with cold water instead of lukewarm or warm. The cold will shrink pores down and tighten up the skin—it can also reduce puffiness around the face. Oh, and it will also be a nice burst of coolness to wake up to!
Long Lasting Foundation

As the base of your whole makeup look, foundation is what creates an even canvas for the rest of the makeup. Needless to say, it’s one of the most important pieces to achieving flawless skin.

Dry Skin

source: sephora

source: sephora

If you want full coverage and flawless skin, you’ll get it with these foundations! They are on the higher end of the price point, but if you’ll be going to a lot of events where you need a full beat and photographable skin, they’re totally worth it!

Both foundations work great with a densely packed foundation brush or damp beauty sponge. For max coverage, we recommend using a brush to touch up any streaking areas with the sponge!

Pro Tip: Look for the words “Radiant”, “Luminous”, “Long Wearing” and such if you’re looking for other foundation options and stay away from any labeled “Matte” if you have dry skin!

Pro Tip: If you’re strapped for cash, you can use any foundation of choice and mix with your fav moisturizer to sheer out the coverage or make a more moisturizing one. The sheerer you want it, the more moisturizer you’d add! You can also use your moisturizing primer to mix with the foundation!

Oily Skin

Let’s make sure that the foundation stays in place. These liquid foundation recommendations rate highly in our book! They are suitable for long wear and coverage—even for acne prone skin. If you are just starting to wear makeup with acne prone skin, take a peek at our skincare for acne prone skin to help prepare your face and ensure smoothness and reduced inflammation.

source: ulta.com

source: ulta.com

These liquid foundations are also higher end—but totally worth it. We think that if you’re going to splurge on any makeup product, it should definitely be your face base products! These oil-free formulas ensure the staying power of your foundation. These give a natural finish as opposed to matte finish foundations, and personally, we prefer this anyway so that your face doesn’t look cakey.

Pro Tip: Experiment with applying your foundations with a beauty sponge or a foundation brush. There are pros and cons to both—for more coverage, you would usually want to use a foundation brush, but if you are getting brush streaks, you can always buff them out with the sponge!
Concealer

When it comes to concealer, everyone has their favorite. Going with your tried and true concealer is always best. If you get really dry under your eyes, make sure you are using a good eye cream and allowing the cream to absorb before applying under-eye concealer (about 10-15 minutes). You should also avoid baking your undereyes if they are prone to dryness; a light dusting of powder should set it in place without over drying.

source: sephora

source: ulta.com

Pro Tip: If you tend to crease under the eyes, you might be using too much product. Try to pinpoint which area creases the most and avoid caking on too much concealer. You can always use your beauty sponge to tap away the product if there’s too much.
Bronzer & Blush

When it comes to cheek products, these can be the first to disappear over hours of wear. Why? We don’t know, but they do!

Dry Skin

source: sephora

source: sephora

Using cream-based bronzers and blushes will lessen the dryness that could otherwise come from powder ones. Tap and roll with a beauty sponge to blend these into your skin. You can double up the staying power by dusting your fav powder bronzer and blush over your cream ones to set, just use a light hand and tap off any excess powder first.Pro Tip: Be sure to use a loosely packed fluffy powder brush or a stippling brush that can distribute the powder lightly so that your cheek products don’t look caked on—yikes. No one wants to look like a clown!

Oily Skin

source: sephora

source: sephora

Powders might be your best friends, but that’s not to say that you can’t experiment with cream cheek products too. You can also use the same products as the dry skin babes above—just be sure to set them with powder (you don’t have to double up on cream and powder bronzers and blushes, but be sure to dust some finishing powder at the end to set the cream).
Highlighter

Some of our fav highlighters are liquid! You can also use powder here if you’ve had enough moisture with your base products…or use both? There really isn’t too much restriction here based on skin type if your base is good.

The thing you need to worry about is if you have enlarged pores or acne, you might not want to highlight those areas because the shimmer and glow will emphasize the pores or bumps—likewise for dry skin, highlighter can emphasize texture as well, so make sure you properly exfoliated and that your skin is not already flaking under the previous products!

source: ulta

source: ulta

To get a really intense dewiness, you can mix a liquid highlighter, like this Coverfx one, with your foundation for all over glow! If you want your cheekbones and high points to just pop, apply the liquid highlighter in concentrated areas on your face, blend with a sponge, and go over the top with a light dusting of your fav powder highlighter. Keep in mind, using both is optional! Powder might be easier to use if you’re a makeup beginner, but practice makes perfect!

Pro Tip: Always apply liquid/cream products before powders!
Finishing Powder

Almost a must here, finishing powder sets all the product that’s on your face. The key here is finding a finely milled powder that effortlessly dusts all over the face.

source: sephora

source: sephora

Finishing powder can be your enemy if you’ve got dry skin. The trick is to use a light hand. Lightly dip the product onto a fluffy powder brush, tapping off any excess, and gently sweep over your face. If you have dry skin, you might want to stay away from baking your face.

For you oily skin babes out there, we want to keep oil at bay by using enough powder to absorb the oils. Pay attention to how your skin is looking so far—if it looks moist, and maybe if you’re already getting oily, try using more powder, or even baking your face. If your skin looks fine the way it is, you can try using a light dusting and see what happens while you do your eye makeup. That way, you’ve given enough time to see how to progresses! You can even concentrate your powder into places you get the oiliest—like your t-zone–and bake/powder those areas a bit more.
Setting Spray

source: ulta

source: ulta

This is probably the most crucial step to perfecting your skin base after your look is complete! A setting spray will help all the product on your face look more skin-like and natural. You can even opt for a dewy skin option or a mattifying one depending on your preference. The trick to long lasting foundation is in the formulas of your actual foundation but also from your setting spray!