LOOKING GOOD: Summer's shades are not for the faint-hearted, so apply colour carefully, writes Melanie Morris
Bored with brown? This summer, cosmetics counters are groaning with colour. It's time for an adventure, and bright shades contrast well on pale, Irish skin.
The golden rules: There aren't that many, focus on either lips or eyes. Brights on eyes shouldn't involve shading; use a contrasting, neutral or highlighting colour instead. If you're 'doing' lips, choose a blusher to match (like Stila's "Molly" lipstick and "Cream" blusher - both vivid pink).
Take a powder: MAC does a range of pigments - highly coloured powders that look fantastic applied to eyes. Check out their purples and metallic gold, the latter is especially good on brunettes. Any powder can be mixed with Paula Dorf transformer (www.drugstore.com) and applied by brush for bright, waterproof colour - a good holiday tip.
Alternatively, check out Pout's liquid shadow, a cream that sets to a powder upon application. Their new, pale blue shade, "Tantrie" is superb, and even better with a dusting on top of Urban Decay's sparkly "Kiddie Pool".
Get glossy: As the temperature soars, powder can look cakey on eyes. A lighter alternative is gloss - Lancôme, PrettyPretty, Stephane Marais and Calvin Klein all offer good options. Eye gloss is also good for lips, giving a sheer slick of colour without overdoing it.
Get Into it: Shu Uemura's bright tangerine, blue, pink and yellow are staples, and their fluros in orange, pink and white come with cute powder puffs. Toning pencils underneath build the intensity.
Cautious? Then just try a coloured mascara, or a slick of liquid liner set with a shimmery shade. Or check out BeneFit's Shangri-La collection of eye and lip shades - pink, tangerine and lilac. They are more subtle.
Top-to-toe: Even if you're going au naturel on the face, paint your toes. OPI's All Roads Lead to Rome is a superb, deep, summery pink.