Bronzers: To bronze or not to bronze?

It's summertime and like the song says, the living is easy! That’s not to say that there aren’t a million vitally important beauty decisions to be made – for example, to bronze or not to bronze?  For those of us who lack a decent amount of natural pigmentation, that’s an easy one, bronzer is a big YES please! Beyond that it becomes a little less clear as there is a multitude of choices out there.  Then you need to decide on colour, matte or shimmer – what’s a girl to do?!

Fret not my pretties, as one of the palest people on earth (it’s true, there is even a tour bus that drives by my house and announces that at 6pm every day), I have the dubious distinction of having tried every bronzer on the face of the earth in my search for the holy grail of bronzers and in the process have made every mistake and picked up every trick in the book and of course I am happy to share my knowledge with you!

Colour AKA: how to avoid pumpkinitis! When it comes right down to it you can buy the most expensive bronzer on earth but if the colour is wrong, it’s just going to look bad, bad, bad! Natural looking bronzer should be no more than two shades darker than your natural skin colour, should be in the same shade family as you would naturally tan and should never, never be orange! If you are testing them, don’t test on your inside wrist as you might with other products – the skin there is much lighter so you could end up buying a bronzer that just won’t show up when applied to the darker skin on your face.

Shimmer Baby (or not)! Things to keep in mind if you are going to go with a shimmery bronzer, and don’t get me wrong, I LOVE shimmer with a fiery passion, but it is an illuminator.  Is there anything on your face you don’t want to be drawing attention to? Just remember that lines, wrinkles, blemishes or scars will all be put in a spotlight with the addition of anything shiny on top of them!  For most people who lack perfect skin, a matte bronzer is a much more flattering alternative and actually has the opposite effect of shimmer by helping to conceal flaws on your face!

I actually recommend using both a matte and shimmer bronzer together, here’s how I do it:  I apply my matte bronzer with a large fluffy blush (If you want to amp up the colour, use a bronzer brush with a flat top instead) on any part of my face the sun would naturally hit: cheeks, nose chin and forehead and then I use the shimmer bronzer at the tops of my cheekbones to add highlight and if I’m wearing something strappy I’ll add a bit to my shoulders and clavicle bones – I don’t know anyone with ugly shoulders so go crazy with this one!

If you want to look healthier in seconds, bronzer is a great and necessary addition to your summer makeup routine!

Bronzing Pressed Powder - Tropical Bronze

Multi-Colour Bronzing Pressed Powder - Bronze Celebration