6 beauty crimes to avoid this summer

By Sabah Karimi

Make sure your summer beauty palette isn't making you commit a serious beauty crime! Credit: sxc.hu/lusi, lusi

Ready to update your summer makeup palette? Lightening up your makeup bag to do away with heavy foundation and liquid products that will slide off in the heat is the first step towards your seasonal makeover. Elle beauty experts tell us summer's hottest beauty trends include pumped-up lip shades, and bold swipes of neon and jewel tones on the eyes. Can you pull off these runway-inspired trends like a pro? It's possible if you avoid some common beauty mistakes.
Here are six beauty crimes to avoid this summer:
#1: Wrong Brow Color
If your hair tends to lighten up naturally from all that extra sun exposure during the summer, make sure your brows are following suit. Thick and shapely brows are a hot trend for summer, but if you're going to fill them in with brow powder, make sure the powder is a perfect match! Going too light or too dark will be a dead giveaway of an artificial brow.
#2: Going Bold on Eyes AND Lips
While this is the season to turn up the color with neon hues and jewel tones, you need to do it on just one feature. Turning up the color on the eyes and lips will put you in the "overkill" category. Choose just a single feature you want to highlight for the day, and pick a color that complements your skin tone and natural eye color.
#3: Cakey and Flaky Foundation
If your skin tends to get drier during the summer months, liquid foundation has a high risk of caking and flaking on you by mid-day. If you're wearing too much foundation, your makeup may end up melting on you in the summer heat. Stick with a layer of primer, tinted moisturizer and mineral makeup for your skin type to create a flawless look this season.
#4: Lip Liner Mismatch
When you're sporting shimmering lip gloss and nude lipstick tones this season, make sure you're wearing lip liner that disappears underneath. Darker lip liner is a beauty crime in any season, but will be more apparent during the summer months when you choose more natural-looking shades.
#5: Blush Overload
Wearing blush with bronzer is a great way to warm up your look and create a flawless, sun-kissed finish -- just don't overdo it. Make sure you're choosing a powder blush that is in the right color family for your skin, and blend it thoroughly with an oversized blush brush to create the natural contours you need this summer.
#6: The Tanning Booth Routine
As much as you want to sport that just-got-back-from-the-Caribbean look before you sport a swimsuit this summer, hitting the tanning booth a few times per week will put you at an increased risk for skin cancer. It's also the fast track to getting wrinkles and sun spots. Stick with the bronzer and sunless tanners to warm up your look this season, and keep your tanning booth visits to a minimum -- skipping the tanning booth altogether is ideal.