Refresh your makeup this spring with these top-rated products
— Recommendations are independently chosen by Reviewed’s editors. Purchases you make through our links may earn us a commission.
After hunkering down for the winter, spring feels like sweet relief—a time when you can get back outside, make plans for summertime fun with friends, and breathe freshness into all areas of your life. This year, amid your spring cleaning, maybe you want to purge your makeup and add back in products that’ll leave your skin glowing and your eyes looking bright. Below, find top-rated products to aid in your pursuit.
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1. For protecting your skin: Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Niacinamide Sunscreen SPF 50
Every good makeup routine begins with sunscreen to prevent burns or signs of skin aging from the sun’s UV rays. This one from Glow Recipe contains niacinamide to brighten the skin, hyaluronic acid to add hydration and aloe to soothe. The SPF 50 is a combination of chemical sunscreen ingredients as well as zinc oxide.
Shake the bottle and apply a generous amount to the face and neck prior to makeup.
Get the Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow Niacinamide Sunscreen SPF 50 from Sephora for $34
2. For lightening dark under-eyes: Tula Rose Glow & Get It Cooling & Brightening Eye Balm
Dark circles and dryness under the eyes present a challenge without the right tools. This eye balm claims to tackle the first issue by brightening with caffeine, rosehip oil and rosewater as well as hydrate using probiotic extracts and hyaluronic acid.
Apply the glossy-looking pink stick under the eyes—or anywhere you want a glowy appearance on the skin—and follow up with your favorite concealer. If you’re looking for a great one, Reviewed’s best concealer pick is the Tarte Shape Tape Concealer for its full-coverage, long-lasting finish.
Get the Tula Rose Glow & Get It Cooling & Brightening Eye Balm from QVC for $30
3. For evening out your complexion: Nars Light Reflecting Advanced Skincare Foundation
Once you’ve prepped your skin with sunscreen and a boost of glow, your next skin-smoothing step might be foundation. This newer launch from Nars is an ideal pick for spring because it boasts a natural, medium-coverage finish, meaning it’ll cover what you want without making your face look too flat or matte.
It also claims to improve redness with “biomimetic oat” and support the skin barrier with “Japanese Lilyturf” (a plant). It comes in 36 shades ranging from very light to deep with neutral, cool and warm undertones.
Get the Nars Light Reflecting Advanced Skincare Foundation from Sephora for $49
4. For adding flush to your cheeks: Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez Soft Pinch Liquid Blush
In the spring months, you may want to swap your blush from winter’s subdued mauve tones to brighter coral ones. Rare Beauty’s line of Soft Pinch Liquid Blushes has what you need with colors like “Happy” (pink), “Joy” (peach) and “Love” (terracotta). The liquid blush comes in both dewy and matte finishes and the pigmented formula only requires a dot with the doe-foot applicator, which you then blend with your fingers or a makeup sponge or brush.
Get the Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez Soft Pinch Liquid Blush from Sephora for $20
5. For warming up your tone: Anastasia Beverly Hills Cream Bronzer
No need to wait for a summer tan—or risk sun damage to get it—when you invest in a great bronzer. This cream one from Anastasia Beverly Hills comes in seven shades in both neutral and warm undertones to suit both lighter and deeper skin tones.
Use a densely bristled makeup brush to apply the cream to anywhere the sun naturally hits the face, such as on the cheekbones or temples, to define your features. You can also apply the cream with your fingers and blend it into the skin using a makeup sponge.
Get the Anastasia Beverly Hills Cream Bronzer from Sephora for $35
6. For tamping down shine: Kosas Cloud Set Setting Powder
Glowy skin is a common desire for the spring and summer seasons when makeup trends away from matte looks. But for the areas you want to keep shine at bay, such as in the T-zone, you may want a setting powder.
This sheer one from Kosas claims to absorb excess oil using bamboo stem extract while reducing the look of fine lines and wrinkles and pores with passion fruit leaf extract and Chinese peony, respectively. It’s available in 10 shades ranging from very light to deep.
Get the Kosas Cloud Set Setting Powder from Sephora for $34
7. For setting your look: Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Setting Spray
Whether you use powder or not, a settings spray can help with the longevity of your makeup while simultaneously creating a smoother finish (read: not powdery or cakey). The Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Setting Spray grew in popularity recently for its ability to hold makeup in place while hydrating it with Japanese green tea and smoothing the look of pores with aromatic resin.
After applying your makeup—though before mascara, unless it’s waterproof—shake the bottle and mist the spray 6 to 8 inches away from the face.
Get the Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Setting Spray from Sephora for $35
8. For a pop of color on the eyes: Urban Decay Wild Greens Eyeshadow Palette
Consider your eyelids to be your canvas. While you may gravitate toward smoked-out cool tones in the colder months, you may want to reach for pastel colors for your art palette this season. The 12 shades in the Urban Decay Wild Greens palette strike a good balance between everyday neutrals, like light brown and a champagne shimmer, and brighter hues, like coral and pastel green.
Mix and match any of the colors that stand out to you—and if you’re not sure where to begin, sweeping a warm-toned brown in the crease followed by a bright or shimmer shade all over the lid is always a great look.
Get the Urban Decay Wild Greens Eyeshadow Palette from Sephora for $44
9. For defining your eyebrows: PaintLab Brow SculptSoap
Keeping with the theme of lighter, airier makeup, we recommend PaintLab’s Brow SculptSoap for your eyebrow-defining needs. The pomade-like clear formula allows you to brush your brows up and out for a feathery appearance without leaving them feeling sticky or looking shiny. Reviewed’s tester supports the brand’s claims of longevity—her brows held their defined, fluffy shape all day long.
Get the PaintLab Brow SculptSoap from Free People for $20
10. For glossing up the lips: Ilia Balmy Gloss Tinted Lip Oil
Lip oils are an ideal option when you want something low maintenance that won’t dry your lips like a matte lipstick or cause stickiness like a lip gloss.
Ilia’s Balmy Gloss Tinted Lip Oil contains hyaluronic acid to hydrate, salicornia herbacea extract to smooth and meadowfoam seed oil to lock in moisture. The lippie comes in six colors from a subdued pink to a punchier orange.
Get the Ilia Balmy Gloss Tinted Lip Oil from Sephora for $26
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Prices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time.