makeup

HOW TO APPLY BRONZER CORRECTLY

TUTORIAL + PHOTOGRAPHY BY AMY NADINE, GRAPHIC DESIGN BY EUNICE CHUN

It’s an honest mistake and I can see the thinking behind it, but bronzer isn’t meant to be applied all over the face! Obviously it’s meant to create an illusion that you are tanner than you actually are and to do that, you have to recreate the effects of the sun. So picture this: you are laying out or walking around in the sun without sunblock or a hat. The sun would hit the protruding parts of your face first and the most. That’s where you want to concentrate the application. Bronzing is different than contouring. When you’re contouring you’re adding depth and dimension by “pushing” features back (the hollows of your cheeks) or adding shadows to make features look smaller or slimmer (the jawline, the tip/sides of your nose maybe, your hairline). On the other hand, when you’re simply adding a healthy sunkissed glow, you focus on the features that would be hit by the sun (the cheekbones, the forehead, the bridge of your nose, the chin). Make sense? Here’s how!

TOOLS:

• Your Favorite Bronzing Powder — These are my all-time favorite matte bronzing powders: this oil-free one ($$) and this oil-free 16-hour one ($). And these are my all-time favorite shimmer bronzing powders: this ultra-fine longwear one ($$) and this mineral powder baked one ($). Matte versus shimmer is a preference thing. Matte obviously is much more realistic. Shimmer adds a glow.
• Your Favorite Bronzing Brush — This perfectly dense one (shown on Carolyn above) is my favorite but I also love this budget-friendly one!

STEPS:

1. Swirl the brush in the bronzing powder and tap it against a counter to release the excess. Then apply it directly on top of the cheekbones where the sun would hit.
2. Continue across the forehead.
3. Sweep the brush across the bridge of the nose.
4. Dust it lightly against the chin.
5. Now the neck is an area that is mostly shaded from the sun, but it’s imperative that you apply bronzer there too to match your face!

I was looking at the before shots I took of Carolyn and I had to include one in this tutorial to remind us all that pale is equally as striking and we can choose either depending on our mood that day, you know?!