Beauty
A glowy summer makeup look for Dubai (dewy, not sweaty)
Put the glow only on the high points of your face, keep the base sheer and set the centre lightly. Cream blush pressed in and then dusted with powder is what makes the look read dewy rather than sweaty in Dubai humidity.
A glowy summer makeup look works in Dubai when the glow is placed, not spread. Sheer base, cream blush pressed into the apples and then lightly set, highlighter on the tops of the cheekbones and nowhere near the centre of the face. The T-zone stays calm because your own skin will add shine there by lunchtime whether you like it or not. Dewy is radiance you chose. Sweaty is radiance the day chose for you. This is the recipe, including how to use a cream blush stick properly.
What is the difference between glowy and oily in Dubai humidity?
Placement. Glow sits on the high points, the tops of the cheekbones, the inner corners of the eyes, the cupid's bow, a touch on the brow bone, and it looks intentional. Oil sits on the forehead, the sides of the nose and the chin, and it looks like the day won. In a dry climate you can get away with glow everywhere. Here, by noon, your skin has already given the centre of your face all the shine it needs. So: add radiance only where you want it, and keep the middle quietly set.
How do you prep skin for a dewy look that lasts?
Glow starts under the makeup. Heavy creams slide, so keep it light.
- A hydrating serum on slightly damp skin. Hyaluronic acid pulls water in rather than sitting greasy on top.
- A gel or light lotion moisturiser. Let it sink in completely.
- SPF 50, two fingers' worth for face and neck, then a two to three minute wait before anything goes on top. Do not skimp on sunscreen to make makeup sit better. Not in this sun.
If your skin is tight, flaky or stinging, no highlighter fixes that. Sort the routine first; I wrote up the skincare routine that works in Dubai for exactly this.
What base gives a fresh finish without feeling heavy?
Not foundation, most days. A skin tint or a CC cream over your SPF, pressed in with damp fingers or a sponge rather than buffed, lets real skin show through, and real skin is what reads fresh. Then conceal only where you need it: under the eyes, around the nose, on a spot. The contrast between a little coverage and a lot of bare skin is the whole trick.
How do you use a cream blush stick on cheeks and lips?
After foundation, before any powder. Cream over powder pills and lifts your base, so the order is not negotiable.
- Smile with your lips closed. The round part that lifts is the apple of your cheek.
- Draw one short stripe on each apple, angled slightly up towards the top of your ear.
- Pat it out with warm fingers. Pat, do not rub; rubbing drags foundation around.
- Stop when the edges vanish, then decide if you want a second sheer layer. Two thin layers beat one heavy one.
- Tap whatever is left on your fingertip onto your lips as a stain. Exfoliate and put a thin balm on first, because cream colour clings to every flake.
Very oily skin: use a small domed brush instead of fingers. It deposits less and blends faster. For shade, think about the colour your face goes when you are warm. Fair, cool skin flushes pink or rose. Olive and medium skin flushes peach or warm coral. Deeper skin flushes berry, brick or plum and needs real pigment, so skip anything milky or pastel. If you can buy only one, buy the shade you would wear on your lips and use less of it on your cheeks. Swatch on your jaw in daylight, not on your hand under shop lights. And keep the stick cool; one left in a parked car in August turns to soup.
Where do you put bronzer and highlighter?
Bronzer goes where the sun would actually hit: the top edge of the forehead, under the cheekbones, a touch on the nose. Warm a cream bronzer on the back of your hand first so it goes on sheer. Highlighter goes on the high points only, tapped on with a fingertip. Cream or liquid highlighter looks more like skin than powder; powder is more stable. Outdoors in August, cream on the cheekbones only, and leave the nose and forehead alone, because that is where the day adds its own highlight for free.
How do you stop a dewy look sliding off?
Set only the places that get oily: the sides of the nose and a little under the eyes, with the smallest amount of translucent powder pressed in. Over the cream blush, a whisper of matching powder blush or translucent powder keeps it in place without killing the finish. This is the one rule that makes cream products survive here. Everything else stays bare. A light mist of setting spray from about 30 cm pulls it together. Through the day, blot rather than add powder. Reapply SPF every 2 to 3 hours outdoors: an SPF mist, or a cushion puff pressed over the makeup, tops up protection without undoing the glow. The full heat-proofing method, with the car tricks, is in how to stop makeup melting in Dubai heat.
What I used for this look
This face came out of a Dolce & Gabbana Beauty masterclass in May, led by Sarah Khennouf, and the brief was skin that looks like skin, just better. I filmed a reel straight afterwards captioned "Dolce kind of glow", and D&G's lip liner and mascara were already in my glam lineup earlier in the year. The cream blush in rotation is the Kosas multistick, which I posted about in August. The question with any multistick is whether one product really works on both cheeks and lips, and the answer is yes if the formula is creamy rather than waxy; waxy sticks sit on top of skin and go patchy on lips. For bronzer and highlighter I have been using the Dioriviera pieces from Dior's summer collection, the Forever Nude Bronze Glow bronzer and the Forever Glow Luminizer, which I posted in April and was honestly obsessed with on camera. On the lightest days the base is the Erborian CC Cream, which I first tried at its Sephora Middle East launch night; SPF 30, a soft even finish, worn over a proper SPF 50 outdoors.
Disclosure: Dolce & Gabbana Beauty, Kosas, Dior Beauty and Erborian gifted these products or invited me to their events. My opinion is my own.
What I would skip
Glitter highlighter outdoors; it reads as sweat from a metre away. Dewy setting sprays over an already dewy face. Liquid highlighter down the nose. And full-coverage foundation under all of this, which turns a fresh look into a heavy one that happens to shine.
For the fuller, longer-lasting lip to go with this, and whether plumping glosses do anything, see do lip plumpers work.
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