Bye-bye sparkly bronzer and melty mascara: an MUA's top 3 products for fresh, lasting summer makeup

Warm weather is the ultimate test for your makeup routine. We all want a base that can go the distance – from our morning coffee to evening drinks – without so much as a touch-up in between.

The trouble is that makeup and heat have never been natural bedfellows. It's a familiar scene: a full face applied with care at 8 am, only for it to have all but disappeared by lunchtime. The issue is we sweat more and produce more oil when temperatures climb, while heat itself softens the waxes and oils that bind our favourite formulas, causing them to slip and slide throughout the day.

The result is a very particular set of summer dramas: mascara that migrates beneath the lower lash line, SPF that disrupts a painstakingly blended base, bronzer that veers into disco-ball territory rather than a believable sun-kissed glow. Here, professional makeup artist Caroline Barnes shares her top expert tips that will help your makeup withstand the warm weather without a midday meltdown.

Tip 1: Use a tubing mascara

If your mascara has been sliding south by lunchtime, you're not alone. “Are you struggling with mascara?” says Barnes. “Maybe it’s diluting underneath your eyes in these hot, steamy days, but then when you put your best waterproof mascara on, you don't get the same va va voom that your normal mascara gives you.”

Her fix isn't a waterproof formula at all, but rather a tubing mascara. Instead of coating the lashes in a pigment that can smudge and transfer in the heat, tubing formulas wrap each lash in a flexible little “tube” of colour that holds firm through sweat and humidity. Then at the end of the day, it slides off intact with warm water alone.

“My favourite tubing mascara is RUM, actually designed by beauty experts in the industry (Sali Hughes, Sam Jones and Jo Jones) – they know what they're talking about when it comes to mascara, and the brush is brilliant.” The formula's appeal for summer is how it comes away. “This comes off with warm water, so no oils on your skin can dilute it. It will stay put, and your lashes will look lovely until you remove them purely with water.”

Tip 2: Invest in a sunscreen spray

We've all been there: you’re out for lunch when you suddenly remember you didn't top up your SPF before you left the house. Barnes' solution is to keep a mist-on facial sunscreen in your bag for exactly this moment. “How about that drama when you're sitting having a lovely glass of rosé with your friend for lunch, and you can feel that sun beating down, and you haven't put your SPF on?” she says. “Just have a spray SPF that can literally go on over your makeup.”

Her pick is the Bondi Sands mist. “It's really, really lovely and light, so it doesn't disrupt any of the hard work you did when you put your makeup on, but it protects your skin,” she explains. Keep it in your handbag, she says, and reapplying becomes second nature rather than an afterthought. “If you just leave it in your bag, you will always have that everyday protection.”

Tip 3: Swap powder bronzer for cream

“One of my makeup bugbears, I suppose I'll call it that, is powdery, very glittery bronzers in the summer,” she says. During the warmer months, the sun sits much higher in the sky, so shimmer that looks pretty in low winter light can suddenly appear harsh and overly obvious. “These kinds of products are great in the winter when the light is low, and we need to elevate that light from our face, but not necessarily in the summer.”

Her alternative is to use your best cream bronzer with zero shimmer. “That's why I would suggest Vieve, or any cream bronzer without any kind of sparkle,” she says. “It just gives you a very natural and real sun-kissed finish to your skin without registering like makeup.”

And if you're fair-skinned and a traditional bronzer feels too deep, reach for a cream blush instead. “If you haven't got warm, tanned skin that would actually work with a bronzer, use a lovely cream blush that's got a little bit of pink in it,” Barnes advises. She's currently loving Violette's new Plume Blush in Latte Praline. “It's really beautiful against pale skin, and it will just elevate your skin, giving it that sun-kissed look in a natural way.”