Bronzer Basics

I hope this post will minimize at least a sliver of a percent of the misuse of bronzer.

A) Bronzer was not created to make you look like you've just come back from a 2 week Caribbean Cruise.

B) Bronzer was not made to turn your face orange whilst the rest of your body is Canadian-Winter white!

C) Bronzer was not created to make you look like George Hamilton and Donatella Versace's love child.

Please note that although these "people" are orange, it is definitely not from bronzer, but from centuries of tanning bed use.

DO:

1- MATTE. The powder takes away shine and contours your face more naturally. Shimmer bronzer should only go on your cheekbones to catch the light. If you've already planned to use highlighter in that area, then don't do both.

2- YELLOW. When you're making your next trip to the beauty counter for bronzer, choose a brown that has more of a yellow undertone. It is the closest to a natural sun-kissed look you can get.

3- CONTOUR. Use the shape of your face to your advantage and

take advantage of the shape of your face! Concentrate the bronzer on the contour of your face, under the jaw, right under your cheekbone, the bridge of your nose, the bones above your temple, your chin, and the apples of your cheeks. Every face has a different shape, play with shadows!

4- BLUSH. I know it sounds like I'm asking you to layer on the powder. Trust me, if done correctly, this will look gorgeous. After you've bronzed (subtly!!) take a peach or dusty rose cream blush and blot the apples of your cheeks. Spread it out over your cheekbones to create a natural and very flattering colour to your face. The cream blush also acts as a highlighter and will catch the light and make your skin look luscious and healthy.

DON'T: (pretty much explained above but I will reiterate)

1- SHIMMER your entire face, it doesn't look right.

2- OVER DO IT. Please don't cake it on! Your neck and face skin have to be somewhat close on the colour-scale.

3- DO IT WRONG. Using a bronzer that is too dark or too orange shows that you have not read this blog.

What I Use:

Rimmel SunShimmer in Medium Matte. It has the perfect amount of yellow and the perfect amount of Matte. In fact I'm sure I could go even lighter but I try not to use to much of it.

My Routine:

-After I've moisturized my face, I apply Yves St-Laurent Touche Eclat #2 under and in the corner of my eyes, the tip of my nose, and the peak of my upper lip. The cream creates a nice base for the rest of my makeup, and the Touche Eclat wakes up my face and catches the light in a very nice way.

-I apply the blush to a small blush brush and go over my cheekbones, forehead/temple bones, eyebrow bones, under my jaw, the apples of my cheeks, and do one slight sweep over the rest of my face and neck.

-At that point I put on mascara, let it dry for a few minutes, finish my eye makeup, then get back to my face (more on my eye routine later)-

-I don't do this every day but when I want to add a little extra glam to my face I dab Benefit High Beam on the apples of my cheeks and along my cheekbones and eyebrow bones. After I rub it in, and when the makeup is still a little wet, I rub the rest of the bronzer on my brush on my cheek bones to set in the makeup, then two dabs on each cheek with my dusty rose blush from Annabelle that I do not know the name of. It creates a beautiful sun-kissed-with-a-cherry-on-top look that exudes health and cheerfulness!

One last thing. I know you've heard this time and time again, but seriously ladies. LESS IS MORE. After you've done your makeup go into another room. Preferably one that has similar lighting to where you're going to be showing off your face. If it looks like you've put on too much, rub it in with your hands or a tissue, but not too much!