When the weather brightens, a new foundation is generally required. Increased temperatures can have disturbingly coagulating effects on the most reliable winter foundations, making your skin look like a waxed lemon. Through spring and summer, your skin tone will usually deepen by one or two shades, so swapping your winter foundation for something new is advisable to keep your face in line with your neck and body.
As soon as the strong sunlight of spring and summer returns, heavier foundation instantly looks less forgiving and chalkier, but it tends to feel less comfortable too.
I like to swap a higher coverage base for something lighter and dewier in texture like Trish McEvoy Instant Solutions Beauty Booster Balm (€80 at Harvey Nichols Dundrum).
Concealer is designed to conceal, and is always a more natural looking option than an entire face of full coverage foundation.
Provided the shade still matches, you don’t need to completely retire your winter base in the warmer months. You can still use it as a concealer to good effect, dotting it where needed and patting it in underneath your lighter base. This way, blemishes disappear but the natural features of the skin, like freckles, show through so that skin looks like skin, and not make-up.
Huda Beauty Faux Filter Foundation (€36 at Brown Thomas) is one of the highest coverage bases you can buy. I don't love it all over the face, especially on bright days as it can look more like make-up than skin. However, as a spot concealer it is revelatory on even the reddest or darkest marks or spots, and it can even cover tattoos.
I have it on good authority that Huda Beauty has a lighter coverage base coming this year, but while fans of the brand wait for that, there are plenty of other options. “Lighter” need not mean insipid or poor coverage.
A lighter base should feel breathable and comfortable on the skin, but still offer some coverage and buildability, like Lancôme Teint Idole Ultra Wear Nude Foundation (€40 at Arnotts), which is a great new addition to Lancôme's foundation portfolio and has an inclusive shade range.
Finally, Clinique has extended its shade range to include paler and deeper skins. Even Better Hydrating Repairing Makeup (€36 at Brown Thomas) is the first Clinique foundation that I have been able to use – it has never made light enough shades before. The new foundation offers full coverage if you want it, but a little bit buffed in with a clean fluffy brush produces a plump, dewy, expensive looking finish that is maximally forgiving but offers long wear.
While Bobbi Brown Skin Longwear Weightless Foundation (€38 at Brown Thomas) is not new, it is another excellent long-wear foundation with coverage that is buildable to full if you prefer to have the option, and a more matte finish, though not flat or light-leeching. The shade range has expanded enormously to 43 shades, meaning it has something for everyone on the margins, and every possible undertone in between.
