The best summer foundation has a few key characteristics. It should be long-wearing, oil-free and oil-controlling and, most importantly, look natural without any heavy caking. It is summer after all and you want to look fresh and not heavily made up. Of course, you don’t have to wear foundation. Lightweight BB cream and skin tints are a great alternative. But if you’re someone who really loves the look of full-coverage, you’re not out of luck. There are some stellar options that will stay on no matter how hot the sun gets.

When you’re trying to keep your makeup from melting in heat and humidity, be sure to start with a mattifying primer. Then, apply one of these long-wearing foundations on top. Not all oil-free, oil-controlling foundations are matte, though many are. Regardless of your skin type, you’ll find matte formulas last a bit longer than hydrating ones. If you have dry skin, look for “natural-matte” or “skin-like” versions. But there are luminous finishes that will stay on through a beach day if you use a lightweight primer and setting powder.

Shop some of our favorite stay-put foundations, below.

Our mission at STYLECASTER is to bring style to the people, and we only feature products we think you’ll love as much as we do. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission of the sale and the retailer may receive certain auditable data for accounting purposes.

Image: BareMinerals.

BareMinerals BarePro Performance Wear Powder Foundation

In 35 shades, this matte foundation promises flawless wear up to 12 hours. The formula is non-comedogenic and non-acnegenic so it won’t clog your pores no matter how much you sweat.

Image: Sephora.

Laura Mercier Flawless Fusion Ultra-Longwear Foundation

This oil-free, transfer-resistant, liquid foundation lasts up to 15 hours and stays full coverage. There are 30 natural-looking shades to choose from.

Image: Lancome.

Lancôme Teint Idole Ultra Longwear Foundation Stick SPF 21

Though this foundation promises to last up to 24 hours, it doesn’t feel heavy on the skin. Use it all over the face or just as a touch-up in 30 shades.

Image: Colourpop.

Colourpop No Filter Matte Foundation

Fans will oily skin love this natural-matte foundation for the way it banishes oil and blurs imperfections in 42 shades.

Image: Estée Lauder.

Estée Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Foundation

The name says it all. In 56 shades, this full-coverage matte formula is oil-free and oil-controlling and stays put no matter what you have going on all day.

Image: Loreal Paris.

L’Oréal Paris Infallible Pro-Matte Liquid Longwear Foundation

With a demi-matte finish, this longwearing foundation covers imperfections and evens the skin tone for up to 24 hours.

Image: Maybelline New York.

Maybelline New York Super Stay Full Coverage Liquid Foundation

This natural-looking, full-coverage foundation doesn’t fade or shift. Though it’s oil-free, it still has a luninous—not greasy—finish.

Leah McSweeney’s Beige Hat in Newport, Rhode Island

Real Housewives of New York Season 12 Episode 9 Fashion

On this week’s episode of RHONY Ramona Singer tells the group that she doesn’t want to be embarrassed in Newport. And all we have to say to that is thank goodness Leah McSweeney decided to wear this beige hat instead of the black mesh one she wore in the Hamptons, because we have a feeling it definitely wouldn’t have been able to withstand the intense ride she takes on the Ramona Coaster.

Fashionably,

Faryn

Click Here to See Her Sold Out Ruslan Baginskiy Hat

Click Here to See Her Sold Out Majorelle Bodysuit

Originally posted at: Leah McSweeney’s Beige Hat

I heard an expression the other day that stopped me in my tracks. It had the ring of a famous saying, although that turned out not to be the case. But more importantly, it had some real profundity. It said, simply, “Life ends in the middle of a sentence.”

Getting Your Life in Order

Life ending in the middle of a sentence basically means that the end of life is not tidy. And, I suspect, that is absolutely right.

The issue is essentially about getting – or not getting – your life “in order.” How many times have people spoken to you about this? It is one of those phrases that people start to use once they are over a certain age.

And those of us who have reached that certain age also begin to think about it. When the end comes, as it must someday, we want to be ready.

This sense of readiness can be about your mental state­ – making peace with yourself and others – or it can be about your things and your activities. It is the latter I want to address here.

Some people, may have already met this readiness goal. They will have carefully downsized both where they live and what they own.

In the process, they will have sorted all those old papers, with many thrown away and the important ones carefully organised. Their books will have been sorted and cut down to a minimum.

More significantly, they will have handed down all the precious memory-filled items that they wanted to ensure landed in the hands of a particular daughter or son. Or, perhaps, grandchild or, indeed, friend. They will have read through their last will and made sure it is in a safe place.

In sum, all that stuff that seems to accumulate over the years will have been substantially reduced. Everything will be in its place.

The process of ‘cleaning up’ after their demise will be easy. They will have left no mess behind. Congratulations are due.

Real Life

But is it really that easy? Can most of us be quite so fully organised? We may have tidy plans and a wish to do the right thing, but I question whether we can ever have such orderly lives. And, most importantly, would we wish to do so?

The image of everything being in its rightful place suggests that we have had our lunch, tidied up, put the plates away and are sitting quietly in an armchair waiting for the Grim Reaper to knock on the door.

In truth, life is not like that. We all have projects of one kind or another. For me, it is writing; for others it may be painting or knitting a special outfit for a grandchild or planning the next holiday.

Human beings don’t often put their feet up and wait. They get restless, they mooch around, and they get themselves stuck into something that interests them.

Even if they don’t have exact plans, they may well have dreams. This came home to me very vividly when I was looking after a man who was dying of AIDS roughly 30 years ago. We were writing a book together about living with AIDS and had become good friends.

He had done comparatively well, living longer than anyone expected, but his body was beginning to let him down. As someone active in the AIDS community, he was well aware of his situation. I helped him out where I could.

Among the errands, he asked of me was to post a letter, together with a coupon, to a company offering a free trip to the Caribbean to a lucky winner in several months’ time. I remember walking to the nearest post box wondering why I was doing this obviously pointless task.

But I knew that such dreams were part of what was keeping him alive. In fact, he died two weeks later.

My Own Experience

Although I would dearly love to know that my life was “in order,” I have not yet tackled this process. I keep thinking about downsizing, but like St. Augustine and chastity, I say, “Oh Lord, not yet.”

I have thrown away a lot of papers, given away many books, and made some lists that will make life easier for my children when they come to cope with my death.

But I have not yet moved from a large house, suitable for when my children were home, and still own a lot of things that should properly be moved elsewhere.

More importantly, I have numerous projects still to go. I am nearly finished with one book and am planning another. There are books I want to read.

My family photographs are in a mess and need to be sorted if those who remain behind want to know who was who. A long list of things To Be Done sits on my desk.

And there are aims for the future that will never get finished. I want to see my grandsons grow up and find out what they choose to do with their lives. If I live long enough, I will feel the same about any potential great-grandchildren. So, there is no end ever in sight.

We don’t stop until we are stopped. At that point, we will be in the middle of loads of things. There will always be a long To Do list. In short, we will be in the middle of a sentence.

And this is how it should be.

Have you started getting your life in order? Do you feel you will ever succeed? How many tasks are on your To Do list now? How many have you already tackled? Let’s have a conversation!

The outfielders dropped fly balls, pitches soared over home plate, and the shortstop hurled a throw into the dugout. As we watched our beloved Astros play baseball, my husband stomped his feet and cursed. I laughed.

“It’s lots more fun to watch a sloppy game,” I said. “Mistakes make things more interesting. Perfection is boring.” 

Did I just say that? 

Because it couldn’t be farther from my truth.

The Quest for Perfection

As exhausting as it is, I like to get everything right – the first time.

How I envy my more relaxed friends – the ones who don’t mind making mistakes. Those who appreciate the reminder call from the dentist or the hair salon or the doctor.

The women I know who check their luggage, never considering it may not arrive at its final destination. The friends who don’t replay conversations in their head, analyzing how they could have said it better – or nicer.

I’ve tried a lot of things once, some twice: needlepoint, hand lettering, windsurfing, fancy pie crust, watercolors, Zumba, pottery. And then I stop.

If my results aren’t good enough, I don’t give myself the chance to improve.

But then a global pandemic came along.

As much fun as it was to curl up on the couch and scroll baking sites, mesmerized by icing flowing out of a plastic bag onto a teacup-shaped sugar cookie, I needed to actually do something with my homebound hours. 

“Have fun, and don’t be hard on yourself. These won’t be perfect,” chirped the online cookie decorating instructor. 

“But they will be delicious. Remember, I’ve done this for years, and it takes practice. You’ll improve each time you do it,” she continued with lots of enthusiasm.

The Fear of Not Doing an Activity Well

I watched her cookie decorating tutorial, rewinding at several points, and scribbled careful notes. My tendency – with any new endeavor – is to over-prepare and over-research before I tiptoe into the actual act itself. The fear of not doing the activity well often keeps me from doing it at all. 

But this undertaking would produce an edible outcome, so I jumped in – with my customary caution, of course.

Amidst my flour-splattered kitchen, I managed to get the batter mixed, dough rolled out, and cookies baked. Some were misshapen or broken – definitely not perfect – but they still tasted great.

I smiled at my sugary trees and ornaments and stars, all lined up on a tray to cool. Yep, holiday cookies in March! They were the only cookie cutters I owned.

When the time came to prepare the frosting and decorate the cookies, I gave myself a pep talk. Relax, have fun, let go. And then I proceeded to make all the mistakes the instructor had warned me about. 

My frosting was too thin, then too stiff, before I learned to adjust with water or sugar. The Santa hats were more coral than holiday red.

And, yes, I put too much icing in some pastry bags and snipped oversized decorating holes in others. Both errors resulting in a gooey, oozing mess on my hands and treats. 

Can Mistakes Be Fun?

But can stumbling and experimenting and improving throughout an activity be a large part of the fun?

In his book, Atomic Habits, James Clear writes that visualizing a perfect needlepoint or sewing or cookie decorating project may “create an either-or conflict: either you achieve your goal and are successful or you fail and you are a disappointment.” In other words, perfection or not.

However, he continues, “When you fall in love with the process” of baking, knitting, golfing “rather than the product, you don’t have to wait to give yourself permission to be happy. You can be satisfied anytime your system is running.” You won’t need for the result to be perfect.

Give Yourself the Chance to Improve

Shall I re-examine some of those other projects I tackled once, but never again? Perhaps face masks or bibs are easier and more fun to sew than the golf skirt I knew I’d never wear because it wasn’t good enough.

What about the hand lettering? Maybe it can be relaxing to twirl orange-colored markers on a page and not worry about the end result. Does Zumba deserve another try?

With lots of time on my hands these past several weeks, baking and decorating cookies has become a favorite pastime. And I bet I will continue after safer-at-home orders are lifted. My mistakes, along with my skills and cookie cutter collection, have grown.

My cookies with cracks and runny gobs of frosting make the perfect ones – or at least the ones I think are just right – all the more special.

Just like great plays at a baseball game, my perfect cookies don’t happen all that often. Most times, they are flawed. Like a day at the ballpark, I enjoy the process – sloppiness, mistakes, and all. 

And, as I do with a home run, I cheer for that perfect cookie.

Do you have a hobby where you make lots of mistakes? Do you find it enjoyable to muddle your way through an activity? Have you discovered a new pastime during your stay-at-home period? Please share what you’ve learned about your perfection habits!