Our city-break essentials will ensure you keep your cool
Booked a mini-break in Barcelona? Or a two-day trip to Tallinn? Wherever you're headed, ensure you're equipped with our arsenal of spritzes and make up fixes to ensure you look cool while you sight-see...
A priming potion that protects means fewer, skin-suffocating layers as temperatures begin to soar. Emma Hardie's {Protect & Prime SPF 30} lends clean skin a light-reflective, antioxidant-rich veil to blur the visibility of imperfections, minimise pores and ward against free radical attack. The inclusion of a broad spectrum sunscreen means your skin is safe from UVA and UVB rays (without a chalky film). Perfect for scorching summer days.
A lightweight, skin-perfecting base is crucial. Apply gel or liquid foundation quite sparingly, blending with your fingertips for a beautiful, lit-from-within finish - sunlight can be pretty unforgiving, so forgo heavy powders or full coverage formulas. Pixi's {Illuminating Tint & Conceal} is virtually weightless, and practically melts into skin for a soft focus effect. The concealer is contained within the lid for touch-ups on your travels.
Set everything with a refreshing (cooling) spritz. Soleil Toujours' {Organic Set + Protect Micro Mist SPF 30} enhances the longevity of your make up, and is rich in skin-soothing and protective ingredients to shield your visage from the sun and urban onslaught. Or try Verso's {Anti Pollution Mist}, which boasts a metal-binding polymer to deflect airborne particles and 'perk up' midday faces. Pop it in your handbag to create an oasis of calm when you're stuck in a tourist trap (*shudder*).
If things get er... sweaty, reach for NYX Professional Makeup's {Fresh Face Blotting Papers} - super-fine sheets which absorb oil and help prevent shine without adding a layer of powdery make up. Contained in a slim envelope, they're sufficiently streamlined to slip in the daintiest clutch bag - to ensure you look cool as a cucumber when everyone around you is a hot mess #smug.
Make up-wise, become acquainted with a long-wear, multi-tasking stain. BECCA's water-based {Beach Tints} are colour-pop pigments for lips and cheeks, which won't slide off when you're sweating. Or try NudeStix cute {Lip and Cheek Pencils} - the dual-purpose crayons come in a spectrum of shades and apply seamlessly for a subtle, believable 'flush'. They're really creamy, easy to blend and incredibly long-wearing.
And when you make it back to your hotel post-lunch-pre-dinner, reach straight for a detoxifying mask. Blithe's {Intensive Mask - Abalone} has powerful, {anti-polluaging} properties, to neutralise the damaging effects of a full day's exposure to the city's toxic fumes, while quickly calming irritation and replenishing much-needed moisture. A summer essential, these sheet masks are a godsend when you need to do a rapid turnaround - cooling and revitalising hot and bothered faces in mere moments (store yours in the mini fridge for maximum refreshment, with refreshments!).
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47.46€
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58.70€
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29.29€
6.22€
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Cult Beauty’s Content Editor and a Cult Beauty OG, Verity loves nothing more than the marriage of language and lip balm. A quintessential Libran, she’s a self-professed magpie for luxury ‘must-haves' and always pursuing the new and the niche — from the boujee-est skin care to cutting-edge tech. Balancing an urge to stop the clock with her desire to embrace the ageing process (and set a positive example for her daughter), Verity's a retinol obsessive and will gladly share her thoughts about the time-defying gadgets, masks and treatments worth the splurge...
