Tom Ford Bronzer Brush Review

 Bronzers, Tom Ford  13 Responses »
Oct 222012
 

Tom Ford’s Bronzer Brush ($110) is a luxurious investment. Rather than attempting to create a brush that might mimic others, this brush is lovingly made to deliver incredible results, albeit with the price tag to match. The bristle end is soft as kitten fur, lush and thick.

 The handle is balanced without being too heavy.

Of course, the brush is designed to work with the large, luxurious pan of the Tom Ford Bronzer. Below is Gold Dust, which is a beautifully shimmered glowing-with-gold powder perfect for light, warm skin tones. It has a very large, flat pan.

In fact, the bristle head of the Tom Ford Bronzer brush is far larger than the pan of a Chanel Joues Contraste blush. Of course, most bronzers are on the larger side. Some of the Guerlain special edition pans are almost the size of European dinner plate. However, if your favorite bronzer has a small pan, the Tom Ford Bronzer Brush might actually be too large for it.

Together, the combination of the Tom Ford Bronzer Brush and Gold Dust is a wonderful experience that delivers beautiful, transformative results. Another option is to put this Tom Ford Five-Piece Brush Set from Neiman’s on your holiday list (thank you to Sabrina at The Beauty Look Book for pointing this out to me!).

 

Guerlain Terracotta Sun Blondes Bronzer

 Bronzers, Guerlain  3 Responses »
May 222012
 

Guerlain has numerous bronzers, including the permanent Blondes and Brunettes bronzers with the iconic mosaic pattern surface. As someone with a lighter skin tone, I found that Guerlain Blondes, although recommended for those in my coloring range, was too subtle for my personal taste. I gifted mine to Liz, who I suspect rarely uses it.

This summer, Guerlain’s limited edition Terracotta collection includes two new shades, Guerlain Terracotta Sun Blondes (04) and Sun Brunettes (05) ($50 each), which are stronger versions of the permanent shades.

Longtime brand fans might remember Guerlain Terracotta Blondes Hâlées released in 2o10.  I found that the 2012 Terracotta Sun Blondes and Blondes Hâlées are remarkably similar. You can see the same mosaic pattern in this comparison between my new Sun Blondes and my well-worn Blondes Hâlées:

The difference that you see in the above picture is because the Blondes Hâlées on the right is well-used.  If the products were both in the same condition, they would be quite similar.

Swatched side by side, they both shared the similar pink-bronze tones, and a very similar texture. I found that the Blondes Hâlées swatched slightly darker. The difference was so subtle that I felt some might be due to the fact that my Blondes Hâlées is quite well-used by now. The powder might simply come off more easily on the more worn product. Both applied heavily:

I’m going to call these “close enough” to be duplicates. You should note that we tried to apply Sun Blondes on Megan, but given her medium skin tone we found Sun Blondes too light. Those with skin tones roughly NC30 and higher should explore Sun Brunettes (05) instead.

I really love this more pigmented version of the Guerlain Blondes bronzer. It has enough tone, looks natural, and has a touch of textural glow that I find very flattering. The pink tones don’t substitute for a blush, but sometimes I wear the bronzer alone for a very natural glow. If I hadn’t worn down so much of my Blondes Hâlées, I might have skipped Sun Blondes. However, I do use my bronzers up all the way to the bottom pan, so I know I’ll get good use out of this years version.

 

Chanel Spring 2010: Soleil Tan de Chanel Sheer Illuminating Fluid in Sunkissed

 Bronzers, Chanel  1 Response »
Dec 242009
 

Chanel Spring 2010 includes Soleil Tan de Chanel Sheer Illuminating Fluid in Sunkissed (Fluid Enlumineur Effet Irise), a very light toned highlighting liquid that adds luminosity.  Have you ever emerged from the cold winter months, take a close look at your skin and thing, “I need . . . something?”  Many times, an illuminator will do the trick.

This liquid has a soft light-reflecting quality that adds a little glow.  Because it’s a liquid, it does not add any harsh glitter.  Here are some ways to play with the product to get the effect you want:

- Add a bit to the browbone, upper cheek, chin, and a touch above your brows to catch the light.
- Mix some with your regular liquid foundation to add some “glow” to your skin
- Apply directly to the skin, to be worn under your regular foundation.  You can do this in selected areas (upper cheek, bridge of the nose and chin).
- Try a little on your shoulders, or very sheerly on other areas that you’d like to add some glow.

Here are two swatches, below.  One is Soleil Tan de Chanel on my winter-white pale skin.  On the right is a direct flash over a dark powder bronzer.  You can see that the fluid looks very different depending on the light and skin tone.