By far my favorite look in the summer time. I’m obsessed with bronzer and would bathe in it if I could. (I mean I guess I technically do since I self tan…hehe.)
Though I want to start filming the tutorials for these looks, my video set-up isn’t quite a GO yet. My lovely camera decides to over-heat about 20 minutes through any video I’m taking… so I’m working on that. I also have an office/study in my new apartment so I’m working on putting that together. It’s like just on the verge of being too small of an area for a beauty room and filming room, and echoes like a mother-fucker but we’re working on it.
Bear with me for these posts and I’ll have some video tutorials up soon!
Enough jibber-jabber. Let’s makeup ourselves look like a Bronze Goddess.
A bronzey glam look is my favorite in the summer time. I have a serious love affair with bronzers and though I feel like I have a gazillion, I always feel like I need more. Yes, I have a problem. Is there a Makeup Addicts Annonymous? I should admit myself.
This is a full coverage Bronze Goddess (and oh-so glam) tutorial. There’s really nothing lightweight about it, but it doesn’t feel heavy on the skin (despite how many products we are using). I like to wear this look on a night out with the gals downtown so I know it’s not going to budge through the dancing, sweating, heavy drinking…etc. but it still looks glam and fabulous.
We are actually going to be using a matte drugstore foundation (believe it or not) and adding the glow to the parts of the face where we want it. Now don’t be scared, this looks like A LOT of products (and it is), but the outcome is gorgeous.
FACE
PRIMER | I’m using two primers. First, the Too Faced Hangover Rx followed by the L’Oreal Magic Perfecting Base. We want our skin to be hydrated before our makeup application since we are using a matte foundation (and I have dry skin), and fill in any pores (I have larger ones around my t-zone area, so that’s where I put the second primer).
FOUNDATION | This is a new find for me and so far, I’ve been impressed. I’ll be using the Models Own Runway Foundation in “Buff”. It’s FULL-ASS COVERAGE, ya’ll. I was super surprised. It looks like a thick formula when you first see it, but once it’s on the skin, it actually doesn’t feel heavy at all. But it makes the skin look flawless. I start by dotting it all over my face with my finger, and then I pat it in with my Morphe Y7 brush, and then continue to blend/pat everything in with my Flower Beauty Sponge (which I’ve also been loving lately).
CREAM CONTOUR | For more bronzey looks, I like to use a cream contour rather than a powder contour. I also feel like it makes the skin look more sunkissed and natural (rather than packing on a full face of drying powder products). I used the NYX Mineral Stick Foundation (MSF) in #09 to carve out my cheekbones, along each side of my forehead, and under my jawline. I blended in the cream contour with the sponge with patting motions, rather than rubbing motions to not disturb the foundation underneath. I love that this product doesn’t look muddy like some cream contour products can.
CREAM HIGHLIGHT | I recently picked up the Milk Cosmetics Stick Highlighter in “Lit” (you can see my haul post here) and it’s the first time I’ve ever tried one of their products. I really liked it. I would recommend only picking it up if you have the same complexion as I do, or are a little bit more on the tan side, as it’s pretty bronze. If you’re more on the fair side, I would skip it (it’ll make you look like you have a brown strip on your face which is not cute) and opt for something like the NYX Bright Idea Stick Highlighter in “Chardonnay Shimmer” instead (and it’s cheaper!). I actually applied this in small, light circular motions to my cheekbones and patted it in with my sponge. For the other areas (cupid’s bow and nose), I applied the product directly to the sponge and patted it right into the skin.
UNDER-EYE SETTING POWDER | Taking my Morphe E48 Brush and the Models Own Grande Finale Loose Finishing Powder, I placed this only directly under my eyes, and down the sides of my nose. I also applied this powder to the areas that were NOT cream highlighted or contoured. We will be setting those areas separately.
BRONZER | The star of the show and the bread and butter of the Bronze Goddess makeup look! I use a big fluffy face brush and the coveted Hourglass Ambient Lighting Bronzer in “Luminous Bronze Light” to dust lightly all over my skin, except for the areas where we’ve highlighted. I use a little more of a precise brush to set the areas where we’ve contoured. This bronzer has a beautiful sheen to it, but it’s not sparkly. It gives the skin a gorgeous radiant glow without being too shiny. I dusted this along the top and side of my forehead, temples, and a little bit across my nose – and anywhere else that you would get a natural tan from being out in the sun.
CONTOUR | Using a Morphe M557 and Benefit’s “Hoola” Bronzer, I lightly (and when I say lightly, I mean lightly because it’s very pigmented) carve out my cheekbones, jawline and dust on each side of my forehead. I’ll be making a ‘How to Contour’ post soon, but this is just to give added dimension since I have a pretty round face.
HIGHLIGHT | I am really loving the Essence Pure Nude Highlighter. If you haven’t picked this up, it’s only a few dollars at Ulta and seriously one of the best highlighters I’ve used. It’s GORGEOUS. You need it. I dust it all over the areas that we have cream highlighted to set it since we didn’t powder those areas; cheek bones, tip of nose, cupid’s bow, brow bone…etc. I use my favorite highlighting brush for this, my Morphe M501.
SETTING SPRAY | We want to make sure everything is locked into place for our night out on the town so we will be spraying our face with Urban Decay’s “Chill” Makeup Setting Spray. This will merge all of our makeup with our skin, making our Bronze Goddess Glam look more natural and effortless looking (though we know it was not effortless, am I right? ). It’ll also give us some much needed hydration.
EYES
EYE SHADOW | We are going really simple here because we want the attention to be out our glowy skin and full lashes. My day-to-day eyeshadows that I use are actually bronzers that I quickly run through my crease:
- I use a fluffy Morphe MB23 brush and Too Faced “Milk Chocolate Soleil” Bronzer to swirl some color throughout my entire crease, skipping the lid completely. I usually blend this all the way up until right before my brow bone.
- Next, I’ll use Benefit’s “Hoola” Bronzer on a crease blending brush (I use the Morphe M433) and pack it into my outer corner, blending up into the crease and blending into the Milk Chocolate Soleil.
- I use an angled eyeliner brush (mine happens to be an angled paint brush I’ve had for centuries) and the dark brown shadow in the dead center of my Morphe Copper Spice 25A Palette to line my outer lash line to make our lashes look more dense. Basically I just buff it into the outer corner of my upper lash line.
- For the lid, I used Colorpop’s “Wisp” Highlighter (these highlighters are amaaaazing) and applied it with my finger (it works best that way) and blended the edges into the crease colors with the same M433 brush we used before.
- For the lower lash line area, I used the same two bronzers as eyeshadow. First, the Milk Chocolate Soleil from outer corner to 3/4 the way to the inner corner, and “Hoola” in the outer corner.
- I also applied “Wisp” to the inner corner of my eye and brow bone as a highlight. It’s so beautiful and the formula is to die for. (See my review and swatches of this highlighter here.)
EYE LINER | I did want a small wing for my eyeliner, so I am using my NYX Matte Black Liquid Liner to create a small wing and thin line across the upper lash line.
I will then use the E.L.F. Kohl Liner (I honestly don’t recommend buying this. Though the product itself is good, i hate hate the packaging) to tight-line my upper lash line (the inside of your upper lash line). This will darken it and make your lashes appear more full after we apply some falsies.
LASHES + Brows
BROWS | I’ve gotten pretty good at doing my eyebrows with a pencil. Usually I’m a ‘gel’ kind of girl, but the L.A. Girl Shady Slim Brown Pencil in “Brunette” has made it really easy for me to get a precise line and make the brow look much more natural. Definitely a must have.
MASCARA | As always… (you might just want to get used to this) I’m using the Maybelline Colossal Mascara in “Classic Black”. I like to go through my lashes with mascara before applying falsies to make them blend in with my natural lashes.
FALSE LASHES | I’m using the Salon Perfect Go Glam Multi-Pack that I just picked up at Wal-Mart for a few bucks. I would say they look more natural to me than glam, but I love them for a look like this with no eyeliner. It looks so much more effortless. I apply them with my tweezers and this lash glue. I usually use a lash curler to curl and false lashes to help them mesh with my natural lashes at the very end.
LIPS
LIP LINER | I used MAC “Strip Down” lip liner which is a pretty brown-nude shade. I over-lined my lips slightly in the middle of the top and bottom, and then filled them in with the same liner.
LIPSTICK | I’ve really been enjoying the Colourpop Lippie Stix lately, so the lip color that I used for this look is “Cookie”, which is also a matte brown-nude.
LIP GLOSS | To me, a look isn’t complete without the gloss. I love shiny lips. I think it makes them look bigger and more plump and it certainly goes well with a bronzey look like we’ve done today. To finish off the tutorial, I used Colourpop’s “Fairy Floss” Ultra Glossy Lip Gloss as a lip topper, which really lightened the brown-ness (not a word, I’m aware) of the lips and made it slightly more pale. I LOVE THIS LIP GLOSS.
Phew that was a lot of steps! What are your go-to makeup looks for the summer time? Let me know in the comments below!
SHOP THE LOOK
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