When it comes to Summer skin, nothing beats a touch of tan but with Summer fading you can still keep your sun-kissed look with the help of an organic bronzer. We asked CONTENT make-up artist, Kat, to share her top tips for applying flawless bronzer in all the right places…..
CHOOSE A SHADE – find one that is two shades darker than your own skin tone, to start with, you can always add a darker shade where contouring would normally take place, for example under the cheek bones. If you are pale skinned try and stay away from red tones as it can be too much of a jump from your own skin colour, go for more peachy tones.
- TOP TIP: Pair up with a tinted moisturiser that is one shade darker before applying the bronzer as the light layering of colour helps to achieve a more believable transition from pale to bronzed.
HOW TO APPLY – If using powder tip a small amount into the lid of the bronzer. Swirl your brush around to pick-up the product. Remember to start with a small amount first, this can help with the control of the product and avoid applying it too heavily. Using the lid as the base, massage the colour into the bristle of your brush – you can use a bronzing brush or a kabuki brush. Then start to apply the bronzer in a light circular motion over the areas you would normally catch the sun – such as your forehead, tops of ears, nose, cheeks, chin and top of eye socket. Gently apply pressure to the brush, this action allows more product to be applied to your face.
BLEND, BLEND, BLEND – Blend each wash of colour into your foundation or tinted moisturiser down the sides of your neck and onto your collar bone. It is important that there are no lines so blend out the edges – having a clean blusher/bronzer or kabuki brush can help. After you have applied some bronzer you can use the clean brush to soften any lines around the edges, this can be helpful if you’re a novice and help you build confidence and decide the amount of product you want to wear.
- TOP TIP – A blusher used over a bronzer can help make the sun-kissed look appear more natural so choose something that will make your cheeks ‘pop’ a little, and again, use this in light veils/washes as less is definitely more! Highlight using a warm tone to keep the bronzed effect more believable and natural.
THE PRODUCTS: There are many different products you can use to create a sun-kissed look, from powder mineral bronzers to organic cream stick bronzers. I have listed a few of our favourites below…
- RMS Cream Eyeshadow in ‘Myth‘ is a great reddy brown, great for eyes and cheeks – it won’t suit all skin types, but for those who don’t have pale skin it’s a great colour to play with. RMS Cream Eyeshadow in ‘Lunar’ and ‘Solar’ could double up as a highlighter, depending on your skin tone.
- ILIA Beauty Sway Bronzer & Illuminate is a brown bronze which will work lovely on darker skin tones to add a glow or to use as a bronzer depending on your skin tone.
- NVEY ECO Compact Bronzer is a red brown compact powder, its an intense pigment so be careful not to load your brush with too much. Nvey also do blushes that could double up as a highlighter on darker skins and a blush on paler skins such as ‘952’ a peachy gold or ‘956’ a pinky gold, both are not glittery but have a nice sheen to them. 950 is a matte deep orange brown.
- INIKA Mineral Powder Blush in ‘Bloomin Nude’ is a pinky bronzed colour which is quite matte and the INIKA Mineral Bronzer in “Sunkissed” is a lovely peachy bronze with shimmer.
- ILIA ‘Polka Dots and Moonbeams’ Illuminator or W3LL People Universalist #2 are both lovely highlighters when using along side a bronzer.
Still not sure which colour would suit you best? Book a Saturday makeover with Kat and she will help you find your perfect colour. Phone 020 3075 1006 to book.
VIEW RMS CREAM EYE SHADOW | VIEW ILIA BEAUTY SWAY BRONZER & ILLUMINATOR | VIEW NVEY ECO NOURISHING BRONZER | VIEW NVEY ECO POWDER BLUSH | VIEW INIKA MINERAL POWDER BLUSH | VIEW ILIA POLKA DOTS AND MOONBEAMS ILLUMINATOR
