Bronze, Bronze, Bronze

The weather this week in the UK made it feel like summer is actually here! (Rather gloomy this weekend but hey ho, let's hope it's on its way back!) and summer makes me think about bronzey, tanned, glowing skin. So here are a few of my favourite products to get that J Lo glow.

NYX Liquid Illuminator in Gleam. This works so beautifully as a primer underneath foundation. It's not as strong as MAC strobe cream but it definitely gives a lit from within look. 

NARS Bronzer in Laguna. Before MAC Give Me Sun, this was my favourite bronzer of all time and I still do use it from time to time. It's quite a warm bronzer but it has little flecks of gold in it. When applied it looks like a matte bronzer but in direct sunlight you can see a bit of radiance on the skin where the bronzer has been applied. A truly beautiful product. 

Laura Geller Baked Gelato Swirl Illuminator in Gilded Honey. My new little baby. Ever since I got this I have been using it every single day (it had replaced my Mary-Lou, something which I never thought would happen!) it's a beautiful golden highlight without being too much of a yellow gold. As the shade describes it is a beautiful honey shade, it is truly stunning and I can't wait to take this away with me! 

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Give Me Sun. This particular shade is very popular and if you know me personally, you'll know this has been the love of my life since I got it towards the end of March. It looks very daunting in the pan and I wouldn't recommend it for fair skintones as it could look very orange but my god this is beautiful. I use this as my all over bronzer and it blends out like a dream and I feel like this is my number 1 staple product for that "just stepped off the beach" bronzed glow. 

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Global Glow. Now this is a highlight which used on its own on my particular skintone would look mucky as it darker than my skintone. However, that's not what I use this for. This highlight isn't as potent as highlighters such as Mary-Lou Manizer from theBalm or the Laura Geller Gilded Honey it just adds a very light glow. So what I do with this is after I've applied my MAC Give Me Sun I take this product on a fan brush and lightly (very lightly) dust this all over the areas where I have applied my bronzer just to get super glowy skin (without it being too noticable, I obviously don't want to look like I have highlighter all over my face). I don't really favour a matte finish, although I love a full coveragw, I love to look super bronzey and glowy and for my skin to look radiant and actually like skin through my makeup and this step really helps in acheiving that. 

Those are my favourite products for that beachy, bronzey, glowy skin! Let me know what your favourite bronzers and highlighters are in the comments below! See you soon!

Rebecca x

Highlight Collection Plus Swatches

If you know me you know I'm all about the glow. I love a popping highlight bright enough to be seen from the other side of the country. I have a small bundle of highlighters, some I use everyday and some I use very rarely.

From left to right the products are (Benefit Watts Up, MAC Strobe Cream, Benefit High Beam, MAC Mineralise Skinfinish in Lightscapade, theBalm Mary-Lou Manizer and MAC Mineralise Skinfinish in Global Glow).

Benefit Watts Up. This is a cream highlighter. Whenever I want a super strong highlight after I've applied my foundation I take this on my middle finger and tap it on the areas where I would usually apply a powder highlighter (tops of the cheekbones, tip of the nose, cupids bow) and then set it with a powder highlighter. I find that this creates a more intense highlight as it is using a cream and a powder highlight. It's important not to use the cream product when you've already set your foundation as the product will not blend properly and will look cakey. 

MAC Strobe Cream. I'll not go into detail too much about this one as I did talk about it in my last post. However, I love using this under my foundation to make my skin look more radiant.

Benefit High Beam. I've never actually owned this as a full sized product I've always had samples of it or a minature and to be honest I don't think I use it enough to buy the full sized. I don't really favour pink toned highlighters however I do sometimes mix this with my foundation in the spring time just to give my foundation a bit of radiance. 

MAC Mineralise Skinfinish in Lightscapade. This was the first powder highlighter I bought and I used to use it day in day out. However, I don't tend to reach for it as much any more as I do think it is a little too light for me now. But it's perfect for paler skin tones!

theBalm Mary-Lou Manizer. My holy grail. My baby. This has been my favourite highlighter for over a year now and I've used it pretty much everyday and I'm still on my first batch. This is the most beautiful, intense, champagne, popping highlight and I have no words to say other than you need this. 

MAC Mineralise Skinfinish in Global Glow. This is a lot deeper than the rest of my highlighters but I love mixing it with the Mary-Lou Manizer just to create a more bronzed highlight. It's also great used on its own, lightly dusted on my temples on top of my bronzer on those days where I want a bronzed glow. I wouldn't recommend this to people with paler skintones as it could look quite muddy. 

That wraps up my little bundle of happiness that of course is - highlighters! Let me know what your favourite highlighting/strobing products are! See you soon!

Rebecca x