The Bronzers You Need Now!

By BR Kellie

Ah winter, my most unfavourite friend. Sure you give me the opportunity to strut around in boots and cute scarves and cosy jackets, but you also give me a case of the pasties. While no longer one for sitting out and sunbathing (because we all know that’s a no-no) I do enjoy the slight colour the sun blesses my skin with as I go about my daily business during the warmer months. Luckily for those of us who do like a bit of colour, we have bronzers to give us a bit of colour all year round.

Kellie Confession: Until I discovered Beauty Review I had never bronzed in my life. It’s fair to say I was terrified of taking a brown powder and applying it to my milky skin. In my mind I was going to end up looking like I’d dabbed mud about my face. And then my SuperHero trip to Benefit came along, and I saw how bronzer could be beautiful. And so an obsession began.

So what’s out there? What’s hot right now? What do you need?

First of all, if you’re planning to use bronzer as a contour make sure it’s matte. Remember you’re creating a shadow, not a disco ball, and some bronzers do have shimmer in them – swatch before buying. If you want to create a sun kissed look then a little shimmer isn’t going to hurt, in fact it can leave you looking positively luminous.

So where do you place it? For contouring using a bronzer the general idea is to create a number three shape… it’s kind of like two big c’s. One starts from the top of your forehead and goes beneath the cheekbones. The other starts from that beneath the cheekbone spot and goes along the jaw. Once done, blend blend blend. Always with the blending. This video from Lauren Curtis gives a great demonstration of this method of application.

After the sun kissed look? Apply the bronzer where the sun naturally hits – so on the forehead, top of your cheekbones, on the bridge of your nose (I also swipe a little over the top of my nose, but then I’m wild like that), and on the chin.

Probably the easiest to find bronzers would be the powder variety. They come in a huge range of shades, so it’s easier to find one to suit your skin tone (and budget!) and they’re relatively easy to apply due to their ability to be built up and blended out. The key is to go softly, don’t load up your brush and blob it on, take a little at a time so the depth of colour is right for you. Powder bronzers come in matte and shimmer, so can be used for contouring or that just touched by the sun look.

Another option is cream bronzer. Cream bronzer is great for those with dry skin, as it won’t get too flaky or patchy. It’s also got good lastability (that’s a scientific term). Much like a powder bronzer you apply it to areas you want to contour or give a ‘just spent the day poolside drinking daiquiris’ look, and blend out.

Last year I went overseas, which meant a stop in at the Benefit counter on the way through the airport. Well, imagine my joy at seeing a new member of the Hoola family – Dew the Hoola. A liquid soft-matte bronzer. Liquid bronzers! Who knew!? Not me, until then. It actually reminds me a lot of Clarins Instant Light Radiance Boosting Complexion Base in that you can use it all over to create a glow, or mix it in with foundation – but it can also be used in the spots you’d usually use to contour or colour-up your face.

Bronzer’s also come in a gel formulation, like The Body Shop’s Honey Bronze Face Gel. Not going to fib, this one scares me a little… but like every other bronzer it really is a case of taking it slowly, using a little and blending it in using fingers or a foundation brush (wee tip:  you might want to keep your usual foundation brush and your ‘bronzing’ foundation brush separate…). 

At the end of the day, the joy of makeup is that you can play and get it wrong and wipe it off and play again. There’s no real right or wrong - and I’ve even read articles where makeup artists are all for using shimmery bronzer under the cheekbone - but I’m not game, still, you do you and all that – at the end of the day it’s about trying things out, working with your face shape and finding a look that rocks your world.

So do tell… are you a fan of bronzing? Which is your favourite method and product? What are your tips and tricks? We love seeing your thoughts and opinions, you never know what you’ll learn! So get chatting!