How to get the ultimate late summer make-up look, according to a make-up artist

When we started thinking about the make-up look for our summer fashion shoot, we knew we had to keep things polished, with tonal with lips, cheeks and eyes. "Like you’ve been out all day in the sunshine,” says make-up artist, Lan Nguyen-Grealis, who focused on using bronzer to add depth, ensuring the placement was realistic. “This look is not about adding pink or orange—it is a deep bronze, as if you’ve been left on an island, sun-drenched. [It is a] lived-in look [that is] rich in colour,” she says. 

For the shoot, we let Guerlain lead the beauty line-up, and created a summer-ready look that’s easy to replicate. Here's how to master the art of molten make-up with a touch of grunge glamour… 

Step 1: Prime Time

“I started the prep [by] cleansing, toning, moisturising and [adding] SPF,” says Nguyen-Grealis. “The main thing is controlling the shine and using a mattifier on the T-zone, so I mixed a dewy, medium-coverage foundation (Guerlain’s Terracotta Le Teint Foundation in 3W Warm) with a liquid highlighter—a few pumps of the Guerlain Rejuvenating Effect Illuminator in 1 Light Golden in the palms of my hands. [Then, I] spot-concealed any blemishes with another layer of foundation.” 

Transparency, and allowing the model’s freckles to come through, was key to the look. “I used a tiny bit of press powder (Terracotta Matte Sculpting Powder in Medium) to control shine and then spritzed with a toning mist to melt the powder and fuse it all together,” adds Nguyen-Grealis.

Step 2: The Late-Night Eye

Eyes reflect both the shimmer of a sun-soaked beach and the smudged allure of after-dark adventures. “Start by creating a depth of tone by playing with matte taupe, aubergine or grey/brown hues. It’s about building layers to give skin a grunge feel and lived-in look,” says Nguyen-Grealis. Her top tip from the shoot? Base the tone [of your eyeshadow] on your natural eyelid colour, then go two shades darker. “This look is guaranteed to suit everyone,” she says. We used a blend of Ombres G Eyeshadow Quad in 258 Wild Nudes on model, Serena. 

To connect your eyeshadow (we used a bronze shade from the quad) to the overall look, focus on shaping. “It’s about looking at the sockets and building around the eye—not creating a wing but following the natural outline and blending it up to the inner corner of the brow to give the eye area definition and shadow. Then, sweep this tone underneath, too,” explains Nguyen-Grealis. To deepen the shade, build layers of colour from the lash line before blending it out. Finish with a feathery mascara like Guerlain’s Noir G 24H Intense Volume Curl Mascara in 02 Brown, ensuring every lash is coated just once to maintain a natural, summery vibe. 

Step 3: Boyfriend Brows

“To keep brows luxurious, we made sure they were symmetrical but brushed the front of the hair up to get some rough texture, and left the rest where they fell naturally, moving away from the perfect Instagram brow, explains Nguyen-Grealis. “We used The Eyebrow Pencil Densifying & Shaping in 01 Light to fill in any gaps.” 

Step 4: Desert-Island Bronzer

When it comes to bronzer, this look is about keeping the colour rich. “I used a fluffy make-up brush to apply Terracotta Flower Blossom Limited Edition The Sun-Kissed Natural Healthy-Glow Powder into eye sockets, underneath the eyes and contouring the inner sides of the nose. Then, using Terracotta Light Powder Brush, I dusted the same bronzer across the forehead, upwards and outwards along the cheekbones, and in a figure of three around the side of the face, into the hairline and underneath the jawline.” Nguyen-Grealis built a second layer where the sun hits across the face, nose and apple of the cheeks. “For more sculpted cheekbones, a darker tone should be at the hairline. I used Terracotta Matte Sculpting Powder in Medium Shade and continued the above steps until I reached the deepest, but most natural-looking tone.” 

To replicate the glow, finish with Terracotta Matte Sculpting Powder in Medium Shade, which lifts the high points of your face, including the nose, cheekbones, inner corners of your eyes, and centre of the neck and ears to give a rich, lustrous radiance. 

Step 5: Lived-In Lips

The ‘been out all day’ look is reflected in the pout, too. “We wanted to make lips look discreet, so we neutralised them—not by blocking them out with concealer, but by matching the tones to the deeper part of the lips—[in this case using] Rouge G Customisable Jewel Lipstick in 819 Cashew Brown,” says Nguyen-Grealis. Using a little powder, the colour was then blotted, which helped to create a more matte, grunge-like aesthetic, and allow the eyes to stand out.