Well, after a wonderful vacation home in Ireland, I'm back in California, my home for the past ten years. Just in time for a heatwave! Aren't you jealous? Summer in Dublin can be on the chilly side, to put it mildly. But even if you have to wear your pashmina to shop on Grafton Street in June, you can still get out of winter makeup, lighten your look, and brighten your outlook.

The trend for a while now here in the States has been to wear very little makeup. Instead, freckles glow through a light veil of tinted moisturizer. Lips are sheer and eyelids gleam with translucent cream shadow or a little Vaseline. This has been a wonderful look for those women blessed with perfect healthy skin and naturally pink lips. It's a look that says, "I can't be bothered to apply makeup. I am too busy, too honest, and too confident to buy into that old ritual, and let's face it, I don't need makeup."

Those of us with dark circles under our eyes from one too many late nights, a stray blemish occasionally, and lips that blend into the rest of our face need to be more cunning than ever in this age of the makeunder. Foundations are available that cover well, but miraculously retain a gossamer lightness. Gone are the matte masks of the early nineties.

My favourite lip colour right now is Black Honey by Clinique. They call it "Almost Lipstick." It is a sheer ruby glaze that, according to Hollywood makeup artistes, suits every skin tone. Check it out on the cover of Madonna's CD, "Ray of Light." It's the shade chosen by the star to set off her new softer look. Then try it out for yourself at your nearest Clinique counter.

Cream eyeshadows are also a must-try for summer. And don't worry about keeping the colour understated. Go wild. Pastels like lavender and pale green. Even blue is welcomed back from exile. You no longer risk looking like a throwback to the mid eighties if you smear on sky tones. Not everyone can wear these colours though, so have a friend give you an honest opinion before you leave the house.

One thing I noticed last week on the day of the hellish 23-hour journey, which included a missed flight, a diverted flight to Los Angeles and then a wait for a flight to San Francisco, (a flight my baggage did not make it onto,) was that flight attendants are still slaves to the mask. 5:30 a.m. and they are all in full doll-like makeup. Perhaps this is a requirement of the airlines. In which case I can only urge airline bosses the world over to allow their flight attendants to get with the new look. This is sure to lighten the load and save on fuel. Probably.