Tips & Tricks | All About Bronzers

When you hear the words Contour and Bronzer, a look of confusion takes over on most of our faces. Here is the first bit of information that you can share with all your friends that will make you seem like a makeup genius - All bronzers can be used to contour, but not all contour shades (the grey toned ones - true contour shades) can be used as bronzers. Give it a second to let that logic sink in...

Ah, ha! Now that we are all on the same page, let's go over how bronzers are used. If you would like to know more about contouring, I did a whole blog on it - Tips & Tricks | All About That Contour!

Bronzer Finishes

Powder Bronzer
Just like any other powder in the makeup realm, powder bronzers have multiple finishes to provide the look you want. There are matte, satin, shimmer, and disco-ball glitter (you know which ones I'm talking about). This is where that whole - bronzers can be used to contour - bit comes in. Matte bronzers can be used to contour your face. You really don't want to use any powder with a sheen, or shimmer to contour - trust me, don't do it. You only want certain areas of your face to glow as if you were kissed by the sun, not your entire face to sparkle like a vampire in Twilight. 

The MK Bronzing Powder gives a satin finish. A satin finish just means that the powder is more finely milled than what you would find in a shimmer powder bronzer. It gives off a very luminous glow that looks very natural.

Cream Bronzer
Cream bronzers can be a bit tricky and require some practice to get used to. But don't let that shy you away from using this texture bronzer. They give off the most amazing natural glow when applied properly. These bronzers are very versatile in how they can be used. You can use them for a simple glow over your moisturizer, over cream foundation, or cream contour (never apply cream products over powders).
You can apply cream bronzers:

• Around your hairline on your forehead and blend it down 
• Just above the hollows of your cheeks
• Under the jawline

Finding The Right Tone
Bronzers come in hundreds of different tones. You have warm, cool, pink, warm-pink, orange, and everything else you can think of. It's a bit overwhelming at first, but that's why most beauty stores let you test the product before you buy. Swatch every shade that you like, walk around the store for a bit (very important), and see how it reacts on your skin tone. If you are fair, stay away from really warm toned bronzers because they will make you look orange. Darker skin tones should avoid cool toned bronzers. For medium skin tones, you basically can work anything, so test them all to see what you like best.

How To Apply
You don't want to bronze your entire face. Think of where the sun hits your face to guide you on where to apply your bronzer. The most common places are your hairline, tops of the cheek bones, a little on your chin, and under your jawline. You can even put a little on the bridge of your nose, but keep it really light.

When using bronzers, apply your product with a very light hand and remember to blend well. It's a lot easier to build the color gradually than to slap on a ton of product at once hoping it will blend out. What are your thoughts on bronzers and how to use them? Share with the UnitWise Heroes what your favorite bronzers are on our Facebook and Twitter.