Do you get yourself into a small mess when it comes to bronzer application? I believe that it can be really challenging get right – especially because there are so many different methods shown in instructional videos and beauty pages. The application pattern du jour on the internet seems to become more of a contour method than other things; a matte bronzer taken quite heavily under the cheekbone, to the sides of the nose to slim it down and in a very concentrated way around the hairline to sort of chisel the forehead. (No discuss any of this. Each to their own. Although if anyone remembers Kryton from Red Dwarf…)
My preferred way to bronze is to take a large powder brush the same shape as a big “3” on each side of my head. If I turned my face to the side to show you what I mean (nose pointing left!) then your top of the 3 would cross the temple, the middle part of the 3 would cross the cheek, and finally the bottom part of the 3 would land underneath the jawline. This “3” shape is actually quite like the way in which you’d apply a contour, but it’s nowhere near as dramatic in effect. There’s no faking of razor sharp cheekbones or extreme nose slimming, it’s just a good way of working out where to place the colour. This way does shape the face area a little, but little is the operative word. There are no precise lines, you use a bronzer that’s pretty close to the natural colour of the skin – and at any rate, the use of a warm-toned bronzer is definitely going to give a very different lead to the matte, greyish powder that you’d use for contouring. The bronzer mimics a tan, the contour powder attempts to replicate a shadow.
But to locate an even more natural and foolproof approach to bronzer application, I turned to my fount of cosmetics knowledge, makeup artist Caroline Barnes. She'd an amazing trick up her sleeve which perhaps seemed a little gimmicky at first (and it was supposed to be a little bit of visual fun!) but it created such a beautiful sunkissed effect that I was forced to eat my words.
Watch the recording below to find out how Caroline results in a very believable tan by bronzing everywhere on the face apart from the areas that would be hidden by sunglasses. You wouldn’t think that this would work, but it creates a beautiful highlight around the centre from the face where the brush doesn’t deposit a lot bronzer – it’s a great way of adding interest without making use of harsher contouring tactics.
Caroline uses matte bronzer in the video (details below the screen) however i must say that I’ve tried this method with a whole load of different powders now and shimmery ones work just as well. Matte looks more believable and subtle, but if you love that beach goddess look and want to sparkle in the sunshine then by all means choose a bronzer with more of a shimmer. Last week I raved about the Kevyn Aucoin one, however i think that this could possibly be a little OTT for all-over face bronzing; my next-in-line for any spot of glizty bronzing would be the Guerlain Ultra-Shine.
Not least since the packaging is so absolutely gorgeous; look at that tin! It’s not probably the most convenient way to present a bronzer – the lid with mirror is plucked off completely, meaning that it’s not automatically propped up, which means that you need to grow another hand to hold it with – but the retro styling more than compensates.
The Terracotta Ultra-Shine formula contains very finely milled mother-of-pearl, giving the skin a beautiful soft sheen. It’s chic and expensive looking – there’s no garish glitter at this particular bronzer party. You can find the Guerlain Terracotta Ultra-Shine Bronzing Powder at Escentual here* – it’s lb39.60 and also the compact is refillable.
