Quick, tell me what first pops into your head on hearing “Summer makeup”!
Bronzed face, gold and blue eyeshadow, red lips? Bingo, you’ve just predicted 95% of this year’s Summer makeup releases! Wanna know more? Have a look at the Summer 2018 makeup collections round-up!
Summer 2018 makeup collections round-up
I don’t know why there’s a decline of the limited Summer edition of old – both Giorgio Armani and Chanel don’t do them anymore. Instead, brands do combined Spring/Summer collections, release two or three re-formulated products, or, in MAC’s case, draw all the spotlight to a celebrity collection instead of a seasonal one. The Summer collections fall short – what we have here is totally interchangeable. But see for yourselves!
Dior – Cool Wave collection
Lovely to look at, this collection is in truth a rehash of things they did before. Healthy Glow Bronzers? Check (albeit great and a favourite). Lip Maximizer? Check. Lip Tattoo? Check. Quints in blue and bronze? Oh my, so imaginative! But stop: the Lip Tattoos are in new colours, you guys, and the packaging of the bronzers is new! It’s lighter! Gasp! (Swatches of the collex at Realizing Beauty here and By Aranka here.)
Oh yeah, and the Cooling Stick Cooling Effect Eyeshadows? Apparently having a renaissance after Chanel did them two years ago, Kiko duped them and now Bobbi Brown came out with them as well. Been there, done that, got the tee. (Also in this collection: nail polishes, and Addict Lipsticks. I mean, there’re no real duds in here, but yawn? Generic summer makeup, exhibit 1.) (Out now.)
YSL – Urban Escape collection
Um, yeah, super rebellious (as per PR) – a blue eyeshadow palette (in the colours of concrete), and Zoe Kravitz looking like a bored teenager in the promo pic. As in every seasonal collection, YSL releases two palettes – a powder (bronzing powder, this time, because duh?) and an eyeshadow palette. The YSL eyeshadow formula is seriously lacking for me. The bronzing powder is ok.
Three nail polishes (and the worst nailart ever! YSL, call me – I’ll teach you all about the power of clean-up) including one that could be holographic, a red Baby Doll Kiss & Blush (good formula if you like combo cream products) and two reddish Rouge Volupte Shine glossy lipsticks. Fine, I guess? (Out in April.)
Estée Lauder – Bronze Goddess 2018
You know, this is the quintessential summer collection that EL brings out every year in some iteration, and call me crazy, I can’t find any snark about this. It’s their thing. They do it unapologetically every year, include a lot of duds and maybe two great products, and call it a day. It’s the groundhog day of summer makeup.
The great products are the Illuminating Powder Gelee in Heatwave (a great highlighter for deeper skintones, although a repromote) and of course, the wonderful, eponymous Bronze Goddess Eau Fraiche Skinscent. Don’t go for the perfume. I tried it last year and didn’t like it one bit – overpowering vanilla and not much else. Skip the rest (or if you want to splurge, spring for the Bronze Goddess body products). (Out now.)
Tom Ford – Soleil 2018
If you want the EL Bronze Goddess vibe for a higher price point, go for TF. The packaging is nicer? I think? Otherwise you find a blush duo in the same ‘gelee’ formula EL does (not surprising as they’re the parent company), and a blush/highlighter/bronzer duo in said formula. Nice. Dual ended eyeliners – EL does them, MAC did them recently with Padma Lakshi, and they’re good. Same formula all across the board, again.
Two different lipstick formulas – their usal Lip Colour Sheers in bronzey tones, and the Ultra Shine Lip Colour, which always remind me of my beloved MAC Huggables (and it wouldn’t surprise me if the formula would be very similar as well). Dual-ended cheek products, and their duo cream/powder eyeshadow stacks that they come out with every once in a while (and are incredibly oberpriced). Swatches at By Giorgia Grace and Bubbly Michelle. (Out now.)
Givenchy – African Light
The only remarkable thing about Givenchy’s summer collection is the ‘bouncy’ highlighter embossed with a tribal pattern. For the formula – I mean, there IS ColourPop out there that does exactly the same, you know?
Also, another blush/bronzing powder duo, two glossy, reddish lipsticks, and a khaki eye liner (swatches at British Beauty Blogger). How… light indeed. (Out in April.)
Giorgio Armani – Neo Nude
Not much info about this at this point, but hey, I was excited about an Armani collection, so let’s see what this is about! The tagline is “Invisible Makeup. Visible Perfection”, and while I think that whole ‘Perfection’ thing is absolute garbage, this looks like a nice little collection. There’s a powder (Neo Nude Powder) that I bet will have that ‘Bonne Mine’ effect (think glowing, healthy).
Then there’re a liquid blush, a liquid highlighter, and a liquid bronzer/contour shade in Lip Maestro packaging with a doe foot applicator. And finally, three balm-like lipsticks that are called Ecstasy Balm. (Have a look at the collection in this IG vid here and on this page.) I could’ve sworn I’d have seen pics of new Eye Tints as well, but can’t find them. Nevertheless, if you don’t want to go in the Chanel direction of a ‘bonne mine’ look, Armani has you covered. I also get a very strong Asian vibe from this line, so let’s hope we don’t only see it in Asia!
Chanel – Les Beiges 2018
And here we have the brand that brought the ‘bonne mine’ look to us a few years ago. While in former years, Les Beiges was a flanker collection, it has now replaced Chanel’s great summer LEs. I’m sad about it – I can’t deal with the Les Beiges teint products, and I’m longing for their great bronzers and blushes and eye products of old. Their colour selection is still dismal (the tinted moisturizer comes in six shades – slow clap), but the Les Beiges Healthy Glow Luminus Multi-Color Powder reminds me of my beloved Soleil Tan de Chanel in Sable Rose from 2012. I still use it, and it’s a great summer product.
The Multi-Colour Powders come in three shades (same with their eyeshadow palettes in shades of purple (swatches), warm and cool brown), but look more like a bronzer or even overall powder. Also included are a cream blush stick (Healthy Glow Sheer Color Stick) and three lipbalms (that also come in light, medium and deep, like the palettes and powders). (Some swatches from the Happy Sloths and Ommorphia.) Seriously underwhelmed. Sigh. (Out now.)
Guerlain – Summer 2018
Guerlain ALSO has a new ‘bonne mine’ product coming out, namely the Terracotta Light Powders in six shades. An all-over powder to warm up your skintone, they kinda reinvent the wheel (literally – see above) every year. There’s also the accompanying gel product that’s supposed to do the same and three translucent, barely there glosses. There’s also a very pretty embossed bronzer. BUT! Wait! This is only the first part of Guerlain’s summer collection! The second one will be out in June, and will be a proper colour collection, including a cushion foundation, a beautiful bronzing powder, nailpolish and lipstick (as teasered by British Beauty Blogger here).
Yeah, fine, but what should I buy?!
You’ll be spoilt for choice if you’re in the market for a bronzing powder. Dior and Guerlain do my favourite ones. If you’re an eye product aficionado, you’re out of luck this season. Nothing stands out for me. If you’ve got a deeper skintone, look at Lauder for a great highlighting powder.
There’s also a renaissance of the duo cream blush/highlighting/bronzing/eyeshadow stick – maybe that’s your thing? If you truly want to splurge, I’d go for Tom Ford. Same with glossy lipsticks – TF’s Ultra Shine Lipcolours offer a nice range in non-boring colours – but damn, that price! And for a scent? No competition there – go for Bronze Goddess.
