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