The Beauty Products That Will Get You Ready for Summer 2021

From the season’s must-have nail shade (trust us) to genius new hair removal products.

In case the humidity and 30 degree weather didn’t give it away, we’re happy to inform you that summertime is officially upon us (or around the corner, at least — the first day of summer is officially June 20). One of our favourite parts of prepping for the best season of the year is stocking up on cool new beauty products that promise to make our summer beauty routines a little brighter, glowier and best of all, more streamlined. Because who wants to sit around indulging in a dozen-step regimen when there’s patio drinks to be had? Below, we’ve rounded up eight new and innovative beauty products that will get you ready for summer 2021 — and beyond.

Essie Nail Lacquer in “Tangerine Tease”

Okay, so maybe innovative isn’t exactly the right word for a bright nail polish but we’re calling it now: Essie’s “Tangerine Tease” is about to be the shade of the summer. The star of the brand’s summer 2021 collection is a feel-good orange hue that the brand’s Global Lead Educator Rita Remark calls “the most delicious summer popsicle shade ever” — and we’d have to agree. Perhaps manicures were one of the first self-care rituals to slip off your list of priorities once lockdown began to drag on (and on and on and on…) but now that the sun is out and things are opening back up, this happy shade is just the thing to brighten up your fingertips for the season.

Elaluz Overnight Glow

OG influencer Camila Coelho launched her beauty brand Elaluz last year and counts the Overnight Facial Glow as one of the brand’s most innovative launches. “It’s one of our best sellers right now,” says Coelho. “I love tanning my body but I try to protect my face from the sun, so I never tan it. In the summertime I’ll be dark from the neck down but my face stays super white, so I wanted a product that would tan my face without having all the bad stuff in it. I also didn’t want it to smell like self-tanner. So we created Overnight Facial Glow, which is a moisturizer that hydrates your skin but that will tan your skin gradually.”

Graydon Skincare Face Food Mineral Mist

Is there any beauty product that’s as much of an instant lifesaver in the summer as a hydrating facial mist? Graydon Skincare’s Face Food Mineral Mist is a hot weather must-have thanks to its dual action. First, it forms a protective shield against environmental stressors like pollution and particulate matter, then it hydrates your skin while making your skincare products even more effective thanks to a formula that’s full of precious and semi-precious ingredients like malachite, copper and zinc.

Attitude Living Plastic-Free Mineral Sunscreen Stick SPF 30

Mineral sunscreens in stick form have a reputation for being, well, underwhelming. They sound great — convenient, safe, portable — but they often go on chalky and clumpy. And don’t get us started on that white cast. But hear us out — Attitude Living’s new Mineral Sunscreen Sticks are in a league of their own. Available in three scents (unscented, tropical and orange blossom) plus one that’s made for kids, they glide on smooth (thanks to coconut oil and shea butter in the formulations), blend in easily and don’t leave behind any sort of residue. It gets better. The brand is Canadian, each sunscreen stick comes in at under $20, and is sold in plastic-free biodegradable (!) packaging. Trust us — you need one in every bag this summer.

Gillette Venus Pubic Hair & Skin Razor & 2-in-1 Cleanser & Shave Gel

Earlier this year, Gillette Venus launched an innovative new line of products made specifically for pubic hair and skin. The range includes a Daily Smoothing Serum, 2-in-1 Cleanser + Shave Gel, Skin Smoothing Exfoliant and a razor that’s been designed to give you the best shave ever, no matter how much or how little you like to remove when it comes to pubic hair grooming. In a study conducted by the brand, they found that 96 percent of Canadian women choose to groom their pubic area in some way, so the brand set out to make the experience, well, all-around better. We’re especially into the razor, which was carefully designed to provide the best shave for pubic hair and pubic area — because not all the hair on our bodies is the same, of course.

“The outer layer of skin in our pubic area is less than half the thickness of, for instance, the skin on our legs,” explains Elizabeth Compo, senior scientist at Gillette Venus. “And I think most people would agree that pubic hair is curlier, it’s denser — up to two times as thick as other hair on our body — and there’s just more of it. It can grow in all different directions, so when you take a razor to it, it’s not as easy as just shaving in one direction,” she adds. “The other interesting thing we considered is the topography of the pubic area,” says Kristin Monaco, senior products research engineer at Gillette Venus. “So if you think of our legs’ topography, it’s like a wide open road with multiple lanes; it’s very easy to drive on. But in the pubic area, we think of it as a winding mountain path. The skin is also looser in the pubic area so it’s more difficult to manage.” Because of these unique characteristics of the pubic area, the brand realized it was time to create a pubic hair-specific razor to solve common issues like nicks and cuts, ingrown hairs and razor bumps. “A traditional multi-bladed razor yanks the hair out of the follicle as the other blades cut the hair,” says Monaco. “And that’s great for [less sensitive areas] but for the pubic area, we needed something that doesn’t allow for that yanking.” The new Gillette Venus Razor For Pubic Hair & Skin, on the other hand, is specifically designed to help protect pubic skin from shaving irritation via its patented Irritation Defense Bar, which allows its two blades to remove the hair while barely touching the skin, for an overall more gentle experience while still giving you a close shave.

TopGlow Self-Tanning Serum

Toronto-based beauty brand TopGlow has just launched a serum that gives you the ability to transform your favourite moisturizer into a custom self-tanner. The serum is enriched with Vitamin E and C, rosehip, cucumber and beetroot extract, plus natural DHA tan actives for a gradual glow that you can build. “Our number one goal was to simplify your self-care routine,” says co-founder Besarta Bytyq. “It gives you a customizable glow — the more drops you add, the deeper the glow. And you don’t need to change your normal routine to use it.” Better yet, you can use it all over your body, and because it’s a serum, its thin consistency makes it easier to apply over any area — shaven or unshaven — than a traditional cream or mousse. “Unlike a thick tanning mousse, our serum doesn’t attach to your body hair, but instead penetrates into your skin, giving you a moisturized, glowing, streak-free tan.”

Nair Wax-Ready Strips

If body hair removal is on the menu for you, Nair’s Wax-Ready Strips have recently been reformulated to include 97 percent natural ingredients and are available in different formulas for different body parts: legs and body, underarms and bikini, and face and bikini. There’s no rubbing or warming up required, and they’ll even adhere to short hair, so you can skip the dreaded growing out period traditionally associated with waxing.

First Aid Beauty KP Smoothing Body Lotion

Keratosis pilaris — also known as strawberry skin (cute!) or chicken skin (ew) — may be one of the most common skin conditions but that doesn’t make it any less annoying. Want to get rid of those pesky bumps on the backs of your arms and legs? Look no further than First Aid Beauty’s new KP Smoothing Body Lotion, formulated with 10 percent lactic acid to gently but effectively buff away keratosis pilaris bumps, plus colloidal oatmeal and ceramides to nourish and hydrate skin after all that sloughing away.