Category Archives: Bronzer

Best Bronzers

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Summer has gone away, but the bronzy glow can be here to stay using the right bronzer for your skin type (and budget).

Here are a few of my favs.

Best Bronzer for Deeper Skin Tones; Black Radiance Mosaic Bronzer in Bronzing Shimmer $5 Walgreens, Drugstores Nationwide

Add contrast and warmth to deeper skin tones with Black Radiance, the leading cosmetic drugstore line for African-American women. Bronzing Shimmer gives you 4 shades to create a rich sunny look with a little bit of glow.

Best Budget Mineral Bronzer; Everyday Minerals Everyday Bronzer
$8, EverydayMinerals.com

Not only is the price right, but you can try it first in a (rather large) sample size for just $2.50 to make sure the color works for you. Same goes for their wildy popular mineral foundations, cheek colors, and select eyeshadows.

Best Bronzer for Photography; CARGO blu_ray Bronzer
$30, Sephora, Sephora.com, Cargo.com

When it’s the photos that count most, you want something designed specifically for the lens where imperfections are often amplified. With light-diffusing particles that scatter and blur light, it gives a much softer appearance in a one-shade-suits-most color.

Best Bronzer for Dry Skin; Lancome Tropiques Minérale Smoothing Loose Bronzer
$38, Lancome.com, Department Stores Nationwide

Lancome’s aloe-infused mineral bronzer smoothes over fine lines instead of settling into them avoiding that dry, cakey appearance some powders can give. Give this giant jar a second job by scooping a little powder out to mix it into your body lotion for instantly bronzed arms, legs, and declote.

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CARGO Cosmetics Multi-Mix Bronzer

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I’m always mixing my own bronzer concoctions. In my kit, I have Bare Minerals Warmth so I can scoop a little of the powder into body lotion to create my own personal amount of color when the girls need it. At home, I use gel bronzer mixed into my sunscreen since it tends to be a little chalky on the skin from the zinc.

It seems now that I might not have to MacGyver my way through bronzing anymore since I can just use Multi-Mix Bronzer from CARGO Cosmetics since it’s meant to be mixed into something else. Just a little squeeze into your moisturizer can create a custom tinted moisturizer, or use it to deepen your everyday foundation to match your summer tan. I’m always a fan of mixing it with body oil to give depth, shine, and color to exposed arms and legs.

Of course you can use it solo too, and since it’s meant to be mixed with something else, it’s very light in weight and sheers out easily. It’s also paraben-free and contains vitamin e for a silky feel on the skin.

CARGO Cosmetics Multi-Mix Bronzer

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Erno Laszlo Multi-pHase Bronzer and Blusher

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Using natural light

With a flash

Bronzers and blushes are magical. With just a sweep of a brush, you can add a richness and dimension to your skin that wasn’t there minutes ago. When you find the ones that suit your skin and know how to apply them, you hold the key to skin that looks rested and youthful.

Let’s start with how to use a bronzer. I see a lot of women use bronzers as blush. Don’t use a bronzer on your cheeks the way you would a blush, instead use it on your neck if your face tends to have a little more color than your neck does (like mine), then run a flash of it along the bridge of your nose, around the edge of your face, and a little on your forehead. The idea is to make it look like the sun has hit your face naturally.

You don’t want to use the bronzer alone though, to give your face contrast and to avoid looking muddy, pop some pink toned (to contrast the warmth of the bronzer) blush on the apples of your cheeks and sweep up. It might seem like you’re adding a lot of color to your face at first, but using products low in (or free of) shimmer will look the most natural, and applying them in this way is key.

Typically, I’m not a fan of the different colors coming together in a mosaic to make one blush or bronzer. The sorted colors seem random and they often times appear different each time you use them- not to mention they usually contain a lot of shimmer.

Multi-pHase Blusher and Bronzer from Erno Laszlo really changed my mind about using multi-colored compacts since these strategically selected colors all work together to create exactly the right shade. The bronzer has a virtually undetectable amount of shimmer, just enough to keep from looking flat, so it looks natural in the sun. Their Blusher is suitable for all skin tones- something unheard of for a pink blush, but its cheerful flush is offset by a little mauve keeping the Barbie pink away, but keeping cheekbones front and center.

$38, ErnoLaszlo.com, Nordstrom, Select Department Stores Nationwide

Erno Laszlo Multi-pHase Bronzer and Blusher

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Chanel Soleil Tan De Chanel

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I use bronzer daily. You probably wouldn’t even notice that I’m wearing it because I use it on my neck, rarely on my face. Since your neck is typically shielded and sees little sun, it’s probably more fair than your face making for a shade discrepancy between the two. Just a little bronzer on the neck can deepen it to the same shade as your face for a more natural, even look.

Warn on the face, bronzer can add warmth and a healthy glow if you know where to place it. Sweep it down the bridge of the nose, along the top of the forehead, and around the frame of the face for the most natural look. Remember it’s a bronzer, not a blush- save the cheeks for a bolder flash of color, maybe a pink tone to stand out against the warmth of the bronzer.

Soleil Tan De Chanel is just the bronzer for the task since it’s both oil-free and hydrating meaning it looks good on all skin types, and the silky power glides on and blends seamlessly into the skin for a perfectly blended look. Choose from 4 shades depending on your skin tone, all of which look natural and wear well without smudging onto clothing or turing orangey throughout the day.

$50, 4 Shades, Chanel.com, Nordstrom, Macy’s, Dillard’s, Neiman Marcus, and other department stores worldwide.

Chanel Soleil Tan De Chanel

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Origins Sunny Disposition

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Origins Sunny Disposition was one of the original liquid bronzers that was so sheer and easy to apply, other lines soon followed suit.

It comes in one shade that’s best used on fair to medium skin. Just a dab on cheeks really perks up the face, or you can mix a drop with foundation for a natural looking glow.

I like to add it to body lotion and use it on legs, arms, and declote for an easy bronzed look without the help of self tanner.

Origins Sunny Disposition

Hourglass Cosmetics Self-Tanning Primer

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Toss that greasy drugstore gradual self tanner for your face, and bring onboard this multi-tasking wonder which not only delivers gradual color with each use, it also primes the face for makeup.

Free of parabens and fragrance, this non-oily formula dissolves right in leaving your skin in a balanced, neutral state ready for makeup, or nothing at all since the subtle bronzy glow it delivers lasts about a week.

Hourglass Cosmetics Self-Tanning Primer