For the past year, all eyes have been on Sabrina Carpenter and Zara Larsson, not only because of their amazing music but also for their style and makeup. Both of these fabulous artists have distinct styles: Sabrina Carpenter follows an Old Hollywood aesthetic, while Zara Larsson follows a Y2K-meets-Barbie aesthetic.
While not everyone can afford a professional stylist for their makeup, here are some tips for rocking these looks this summer. The summer heat is nothing to play around with, especially in hotter, more humid climates, no matter what skin tone or type you have. These tips will help you keep these looks long-lasting and fierce in those high temperatures.
Makeup Prep
First things first: skin prep is one of the most important routines to keep your makeup lasting all day. During the summer, skin tends to become oilier due to the heat and sweat it generates. Especially in crowded places, humidity can clog pores and cause your makeup to melt off.
Before getting into specifics, please make sure that you are speaking to a specialist or professional about any skin concerns! These tips may not work for everyone, so make sure to meet your skin’s needs by consulting a professional who can provide the best guidance.
Oily Skin
For people with oily and combination skin, summer is our WORST enemy. The most important thing is to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! Make sure to cleanse your face, apply your moisturizer, and let it sit for at least 10 minutes before you start your makeup. Go in with your primer, then let it sit for a minute or two before moving on to base makeup. This gives your skin time to absorb the hydration the product offers.
For more in-depth tips about what types of products to use for your base, watch Trevor Barrett’s TikTok about oily skin tips for prep and base:
Dry Skin
For those with dry skin, technique is your best friend to avoid your makeup from separating. According to Ale Jay, the way you apply your products makes a huge difference in how long your makeup lasts. She recommends using a damp sponge when applying liquid foundation to avoid any peeling or flakiness your skin may pick up from the product.
She also advises avoiding applying too much powder so the product doesn’t latch onto dry patches. Instead, use a fluffy brush in order to lightly powder your face without leaving too much for your dry areas to cling to.
Watch her TikTok to keep up with her recommendations:
Acne-Prone & Sensitive Skin
Last but not least, for acne-prone and sensitive skin, it’s all about what you do between cleansing and moisturizing. With acne-prone skin, it’s important to prep your skin for hydration and better absorption with a toner. Toners both cleanse your face, add a crucial layer of moisture, and unclog your pores, so your skin is ready to lock in serums and moisturizers and avoid build-ups that cause acne.
Here’s a TikTok by none other than Angelina Rivera with cruelty-free product recommendations for acne-prone and sensitive skin:
Before we move on, please, please, please apply SPF. Whether it’s mixed into your moisturizer or applied separately, include it in your everyday routine to help prevent your skin from burning. In addition to cleansing and moisturizing, this is a crucial everyday step to protect your skin.
Sabrina Carpenter
Sabrina Carpenter’s makeup is all about soft glam and an old-Hollywood aesthetic you’d see on Marilyn Monroe or Audrey Hepburn. Her makeup artist, Carolina Gonzalez, achieves this with a neutral, brown undertone and uses shimmer to tie everything together.
Aside from the “blush blindness” that stands out with her makeup, Carpenter’s looks are all about glow, most notably on her eyes, which is what makes this soft glam look so ethereal and eye-catching.
Gonzalez’s approach to making Carpenter stand out on stage and on red carpets is by making her eyes doll-like and feminine. In shifting the focus onto her eyes using white and black eyeliner and shimmer, it adds this sharp yet radiant look to nail down the look.
For this look, eyeliner is the hardest to nail the first time. Here are some recommendations to steer you in the right direction:
- Use an eyeliner pencil or black eyeshadow with a flat eyeshadow brush: While liquid eyeliner can be tempting, the best way to master eyeliner is to learn different eyeliner techniques to see what works best for you.
- Practice and trial and error are the best ways to get better at it. It may be exciting to do eyeliner for the first time, but it takes practice to get better. At first, it will be frustrating to not have a perfect wing, but something is better than giving up!
- Start with cheaper products first: Sephora and Ulta trips are best (even if you’re just browsing) for eyeliner, whether it’s eyeshadow, liquid eyeliner, or an eye pencil. Reach for cheaper products so that you’re not splurging too hard the first time. I recommend buying from Sephora Collection, Wet n Wild, or ELF, which are products I still use and are really great, even for beginners!
Influencer @slaybyjess on TikTok shows various techniques with different eyeliner types for beginners who want to get their start:
Zara Larsson
Zara Larsson is all about color, sparkle, and summer! Larsson’s makeup artist, Sophia Sinot, has made her stand out and bring the “Midnight Sun” vision to life with the pinks, blues, purples, and greens that she uses during this era of her career.
In the makeup looks, Sinot seems to infuse 2016-esque makeup with endless rhinestones, making Larsson a real shining star. To start this look, it’s all about getting the colors nailed down for your under tones. While it’s easier for paler skin tones to find the colors that suit them, it’s also important for brown and dark skin tones to get their spotlight as well.
For brown tones, influencer Monica Ravi-Conway is the queen of all things color theory. She uses her platform to call for greater inclusivity of brown skin tones and to call out brands to expand their shade ranges to include both brown and dark skin tones. One of her latest TikToks proves that the Zara Larsson makeup trend is also fit for brown skin:
Doing this makeup look takes time and patience. For beginners, it can be hard, but definitely not impossible. Remember, makeup is a process, and it’s okay not to get it right on the first try. But not to worry, here are some things I did that helped me feel more confident in doing my makeup.
- Play around with eyeshadow: For a makeup as intense as Zara Larsson’s eyeshadow is THE thing that stands out. Start by getting a colorful palette and brushes (Five Below comes in clutch, trust me), then spread any color on your eyelid. Eyeshadow is all about trusting the process, so have fun with it and watch tutorials to help you along.
- Colorful Eyeshadow: For this look, I recommend using eyeshadow and micellar water in order to DIY colorful eyeliner. Also, use gift wrap tape to get a sharp line (please be careful with this). You could even use a small brush and lipstick to achieve long-lasting color.
For a more in-depth analysis of both celebrity looks, check out Maya Alisa’s “The Glam Decode” articles on Zara Larsson and Sabrina Carpenter’s different styles!
