Beach days, hot weather, high UV – Summer’s approaching, with this week finally receiving 20-degree days in the UK, and this year, it’s all about glowy, sun-kissed skin, minimal makeup and natural beauty. When the Summer heat hits, less is more. 2025 is rethinking beauty with trends that evolved and elevated from previous years, with the transition to ‘glowing skin with a touch of makeup’. So, while we wait for our days to get longer and nights to get shorter, we’ve compiled five of the most popular up-and-coming makeup and beauty trends for Spring/Summer 2025.
No-Makeup Makeup Look
The aim of this look is to give the illusion of looking like your best self whilst looking like you’re not wearing any makeup at all. It involves enhancing your natural beauty through focusing on radiating skincare, products to even out your skin tone and minimal makeup to still look put together. This trend is also getting lots of love because it’s user-friendly and perfect for anyone who keeps it simple, as well as being quicker than a full face of makeup while still achieving the same stunning results.
Some key products common in putting together the ‘No-Makeup Makeup Look’ are brightening serums to act as the perfect base for the trendy ‘dewy’ look, brow gel for well-groomed feathered brows and lastly, in particular, brown mascara, which assists in achieving a softer look when complimenting more warm-toned, tanned makeup. Some also use lip tint to provide a smooth, sheer wash to the lips and to mimic your natural flush.
Skin That Looks Like Skin
Summer is all about luminous, glowing skin, and skin tints enhance your natural radiance without covering it up completely. Some use them in place of foundation during hotter, more humid weather, as a lightweight, low-effort, breathable substitute, prioritising your comfort. The idea behind these tints is to serve as ‘your skin, but better’ due to its subtle sheerness, allowing your natural glow to shine through. Moreover, they’re quick to apply (often with just your fingers) – ideal for low-effort, lazy beach days or travel.
Self-tan (A Summer Must-have)
Being bronzed and sun-kissed is a major trend this Spring/Summer. As a result, everyone’s using this beauty essential in a way that’s different from the traditional body care method, by instead applying self-tan (with a small, dense brush) to the same places you would contour/bronze, such as cheekbones, jawline, sides of the nose and the forehead. Using self-tan as bronzer helps to achieve a natural-looking tan – following TikTok’s infamous Summer ‘High maintenance to be low maintenance’ trend.
Another creative way many have utilised this product is to create faux freckles, by using a stippling brush to lightly dab the product onto the cheeks and nose to mimic ‘sun freckles’. Altogether, these two techniques create the appearance of a natural tan and sun-kissed skin – a crucial component of your summer 2025 look!
Full Face with Just One Product
Hot weather and heavy makeup don’t mix well when it starts to melt, and touch-ups become a full-time job! Your MVP? A multi-use product that works overtime – so you don’t have to! Think of one product for the whole face, i.e. lip tint or blush. Not only do multi-use products simplify your summer routine whilst looking gorgeous, but they’re also compact and super travel-friendly, saving space in your carry-on – the ultimate hack!
Lip tints such as Benefit Cosmetics’ Benetint, an all-time favourite, provide colour in a sheer, soft wash, making it buildable and easy to blend onto the lips, cheeks and eyes. Shades such as peach or coral and desired blush placement, give you a natural, flushed look as if you’ve been in the sun for hours.
Blush sticks are another flawless solution, particularly highly blendable dewy cream blushes such as the loved Rhode’s Pocket Blush. Many buff the product onto the apples of the cheeks and use any remaining product on the fingertips to tap the colour on the lips or as eyeshadow.
Don’t Skip SPF
Due to increased education and awareness of the benefits of SPF, it has rapidly grown in popularity; as a result, it is now available in stick-form, powders, sprays and whipped mousses, making it easier and more fun to wear it every day. Making it a daily habit reverses long-term damage from sun exposure – important, especially during the summer when UV is high and you spend more time outdoors. In addition, wearing SPF brands, such as Supergoop, is the key to looking younger and healthier, as it slows down the visible effects of ageing.
