I haven’t talked about a bronzer for at least ten minutes, so I thought that another recommendation was well overdue. For those of you who are missing my in-depth foundation reviews: have no fear. I have about half a dozen of the things that stacked up and ready to go, I just need to do that zooming-in thing which i do on my good camera to be able to see my pores. I understand how you love to see a close-up of my pores…
But to bronzers, which seem to be my 2021 obsession. To date this year I’ve been by pointing out subtle, natural-looking bronzer; the Celestial Bronzing Veil from Kevyn Aucoin is something a bit different. You’d think from the name that it’d be a sheer wash of colour (admittedly that’s what helped me delve on in, I’m nothing otherwise a creature of habit!) but it’s not even close to that.
This is a full-on glitzy-glam bronzer, but in the chicest possible way. It’s luminous, but on a megawattage level, not a “glow from within” or “bonne mine” level. There’s no healthy flush, no touch-of-sun, no barely-there: this is maximum bronzage with a hefty dose of built-in highlight.
And what happens? I love it. I’d usually shy away from something so obvious, but every time I’ve worn this – without fail – someone has remarked how stunning it looks. Note that they compliment the makeup, not your skin, which is usually what I try to avoid because it means that my makeup is more dramatic than I’m confident with; but regardless, I’m completely sold on the way that this bronzer shapes and brightens my face.
I’ve been using Tropical Days, which is a medium-toned powder with golden highlighting pigments. I also have Tropical Nights, which is cooler in tone with silver highlights, however i prefer the warmer version on my small skin. Here are my pre and post pictures:
You can see that the powder packs quite the punch – I've found that I have to use a looser-bristled brush to first apply and then buff with something denser. Otherwise I go outside and find that I’ve sculpted my face as an eighties pop-star, razor-sharp cheekbones and all. There’s something very 3D about this bronzer, probably because of the amount of crystal pigment in it – high points on your face automatically catch the light, hollows look nicely contoured and shadowed.
The overall effect is so glamorous and it’s surprisingly simple to get right, even for somebody that usually tries to find the palest and many unobtrusive bronzer shade they can!
The highlighting pigments are noticeable throughout the whole powder (Tropical Nights shown above, Tropical Days below), but there is a slight ombré effect with more highlighter at the top of the pan, so it is possible to direct your brush towards the appropriate part rather than swishing all around, if you like to be more precise with things.
Personally I think that the beauty of the Celestial Bronzing Veil is you can swish it all about and still look wonderful. I’m well impressed. I attempted to capture the effect in natural daylight because it’s so golden and delightful – here’s a quick snap from my iPhone, filter-free:
(All my pictures are un-retouched and filter free, I’m only stressing it here because the image looks so filtered!) See how radiant it is? Just brilliant. If you don’t mind splashing out on a spot of luxury, and want a proper made-up bronzer that still looks sophisticated and polished, Celestial Veil may be right up your heavily floodlit street.
You will find Kevyn Aucoin “The Celestial Bronzing Veil” at Cult Beauty here* – it’s lb39. I personally use the Zoeva Powder Brush to use, buffing the edges with the Large Real Techniques MultiTech if I want more subtlety.
Browse more bronzers…
