Category Archives: Bronzer

ELF St. Lucia Contouring Blush & Bronzing Cream Review & Swatches

ELF St. Lucia Cream Blush / Bronzer

I recently placed an ELF order, which consisted of several brushes and one makeup item – the new Contouring Blush & Bronzing Cream, which comes in one color, St. Lucia. ELF’s original Contouring Blush & Bronzing Powder is also named St. Lucia – so this is probably meant to be a cream version of that, though in the powder version both the blush & bronzer are shimmery, and neither of the cream products have any shimmer.

The blush and bronzer are housed in ELF’s standard black compact; I quite like ELF’s packaging, as it’s sturdy, sleek, and functional. You can see some beads of moisture on both the blush and bronzer, which is completely normal – almost all cream products have this when purchased.

The texture of these creams is nice – they’re quite pigmented, but no so pigmented that they’re hard to work with. They’re very blendable if your skin is moisturized, but tricky to blend on dry skin. They dry down quite slowly – you don’t need to worry about taking your time blending. I powdered over, and ended up with a natural finish – powdering over worked well, no caking or problems. I’m happy with the texture.

St. Lucia Cream blush – one swipe / blended

St. Lucia cream bronzer – one swipe / blended

The blush is really great shade – it’s a very natural, easy-to-wear dusty pink – I think it would look good on fair to medium skintones. The bronzer, however, is a difficult shade; it leans sort of yellow/orange, and it’s hard to image it working well on just about anyone as a bronzer (and definitely wouldn’t work on anyone as a contour shade). Then, I tried layering them, with this result:

blush, bronzer, both layered

I love the layered shade – it has just the right amount of pink and brown, and is very wearable and neutral. So, even though I can’t see myself wearing the bronzer alone, I still have two great shades in this duo – the blush alone, and the two shades mixed.

Here’s a full face photo; I’m wearing both shades in this, applied quite lightly – no eye makeup at all because I’m on the way to the eye doctor. The blush is subtle, but it’s definitely there.

Wear time is around four hours, which is typical for me for cream blushes – they just don’t last well on me, especially since I tend to apply so lightly. I’m sure I could get longer wear with a heavier application.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this duo for anyone with fair to medium skin – it’s a fantastic value, and one of the best products I have tried from ELF.

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ELF Turks & Caicos Contouring Blush & Bronzer Review & Swatches

ELF Turks & Caicos Contouring Blush & Bronzer – with flash

During ELF’s most recent 50% off Studio sale, I bought several of their new items to try out. ELF has had one Contouring Blush & Bronzer duo for a while – I have a swatch of the bronzer side here – but recently added two new shades to the lineup. Today, I have a review of the shade Turks & Caicos for you. (The other new shade is Antigua – you can see swatches of it, as well as swatches of Turks & Caicos on a darker skintone, on Glam Morena here).

Turks & Caicos Blush / Bronzer duo is packed in a nice, sturdy case with a mirror. The pans are very easy to depot (if you wish), and the case can then be reused – I’ll show you how in a separate post. The only downside of the packaging is that the name of the duo isn’t printed on it – there’s just a tiny sticker that falls off easily.

The blush and bronzer themselves are very smooth and pigmented; the texture is really nice. Both are shimmery.

ELF Turks & Caicos Blush and Bronzer swatches

Natural light

With flash

I really love the blush shade – it fits in well with all the muted neutral blushes I’ve been loving lately, and the pigmentation and texture are just wonderful. The only downside for me is the shimmer/sparkle, but it’s not too noticeable when applied.

The bronzer side isn’t a good shade for me – it’s too dark to use as a bronzer, and too warm to use as a contour shade – but I can imagine it working really well on someone with a darker, warm skintone. Because of this, I may depot the blush, toss the bronzer, and use the compact as a travel eyeshadow compact (see my tutorial for how to do that here).

Overall, this is a nice little duo for $3, or $1.50 on sale. I’m quite impressed with the quality!

Revlon Bronzed & Chic Photoready Bronzer Review, Swatches, Photos

Revlon Bronzed & Chic Photoready Bronzer

A few weeks ago, I bought Revlon’s new Photoready bronzer in the shade 100 Bronzed & Chic. This was part of Revlon’s Summer 2012 Escapism collection, which included several new and several limited edition products. It seems that this bronzer is now part of the permanent Revlon line – I’ve seen it on the Revlon wall in several drugstores.

First – the packaging for this bronzer is annoying. The compact is functional, but twice as large as it needs to be, just to include a sub-par brush. I would have much preferred a small, round compact with no brush. And in fact, after taking the photos for this post, I depotted mine, and put it in a small round compact (it was a bit difficult to depot because there was a lot of glue holding it in, and I damaged it a little bit, unfortunately).

The bronzer itself is really lovely – part of why I bought it, actually. It has a very pretty design on it – possibly coral, possibly a stylized tree. The texture is very smooth, and it’s easy to apply just a little or build up for more intensity.

Here are swatches of all four shades. I’ve swatched it from lightest to darkest, which is clockwise starting with the top left (lightest shade),

As you can see, the colors are fairly sheer – but that’s what I want from a bronzer, as I don’t want to look dirty!

I also swatched the bronzer over foundation, because it shows the colors better.

Revlon Bronzed & Chic Photoready Bronzer - swatched

Swatched over foundation

Note that the lightest shade is yellow-toned, the second is neutral brown toned. The second-to-darkest is reddish, and the darkest is neutral deeper brown toned.

Overall, I’m very happy with this bronzer. It’s soft, smooth, and has a nice level of pigmentation for a bronzer. All four of the shades included are flattering, and it’s easy mix them to create a custom shade. It’s on the pricey side for a drugstore item – $12.99 on Drugstore.com – but I got mine during a 40% off sale. Recommended!

Sonia Kashuk Quick Swatches

You may have noticed that new posts coming have been going up a little less frequently lately around here; the reason is that I’m studying for the (California) Bar Exam, which is an 18 hour test that will take place in late July. It’s fairly overwhelming and doesn’t leave me with a lot of free time!

Because I’ve been posting less, I have bit of a backlog of photos / reviews. Instead of pressuring myself to write full reviews, I’m going to post some mini-reviews that are heavy on the photos, and light on the text.

Two bronzers that I swatched in-store:

Sonia Kashuk Illuminating Bronzer

Sonia Kashuk Bare Minimum Bronzer

The Illuminating Bronzer is new for Spring/Summer 2012 (I’m fairly sure), and is buttery, smooth, and fantastic. If you’re looking for a shimmery golden bronzer, I would absolutely recommend it. The Bare Minimum Bronzer has been out for a couple years, and seemed a little yellow to me.

Sonia Kasuk Illuminating Bronzer, Bare Minimum Bronzer

I was also intrigued by the Super Sheer Liquid Tints, a liquid blush that comes in a HUGE bottle – .57 oz. By contrast, MUFE HD blush comes in a .02 oz bottle.

Sonia Kashuk Liquid Tint – Peony, Rose, Poppy

I was intrigued, and bought one – Poppy. They are REALLY sheer – I can see now why the bottle is so big; you need quite a lot to come up with a reasonable amount of color. These would be perfect for someone who like a sheer, natural flush, someone who is pale, or someone who wants a foolproof liquid blush.

Sonia Kashuk Poppy

Here are the arm swatches – I built up the blended swatch as heavily as I could; this product is designed to be sheer, and it’s not really possible to make a deep color out of it.

Sonia Kasuk Liquid Blush in Poppy – Unblended / Blended

Sonia Kashuk is one of the better drugstore brands, and I wish it was more widely available (not just a Target exclusive!). Are there any SK products you love and would recommend I check out?

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Wet n Wild Shell-A-Brate Good Times LE Color Icon Bronzer Review, Swatches, Photos

Wet n Wild Shell-A-Brate Good Times

I was recently at CVS and spotted the limited edition (for summer 2012) Wet n Wild Color Icon Beach Bombshell Collection. The collection consists of three bronzers: Me Shell My Belle (brown background, pink shell), Don’t Be Shellfish (brown background, pale pink shell), and Shell-A-Brate Good Times (pale tan background, brown shell). Although all three were in stock, I only picked up one – Shell-A-Brate Good Times. Each is $4.

Shell-A-Brate Good Times

The packaging for Shell-A-Brate Good times is somewhat unfortunate – it’s a huge bronzer, with a domed lid. I really dislike the dome because it takes up so much space in my makeup drawer. It also feels very flimsy.

However, the product is quite cute, and seems to be of surprisingly nice quality. It was hard for me to tell how pigmented the light tan is, because the shade is quite close to my skintone. The dark brown (the shell part) is quite pigmented, and applies very smoothly. It’s possible to mix both for a totally customizable shade.

The bronzer has a slightly shimmery finish – it’s very fine shimmer, and just on the shimmer side of satin/shimmer. Depending on your skintone, you might be able to use the lighter portion as a subtle highlighter. The darker portion could also make a nice eyeshadow; it’s definitely pigmented enough to work.

Below, I’ve swatched the lighter part, the darker part, then both blended – note that it’s possible to custom-blend the two into any shade in between the two shades as given.

WnW Shell-A-Brate Good Times swatches

Overall, I’m happy with this purchase. The bronzer is super cute, and of quite nice quality, especially for the price. I’ve worn it as a bronzer once, and I plan to wear it as an eyeshadow as well. I do wish that it had a flat lid instead of a domed lid though!

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Bronzer Comparisons, Swatches, Photos

It’s been a while since I did a Project Swatch post, but I have a couple coming up! Today, I have swatches of all my bronzers for you. I rarely wear bronzers, but when cleaning out my makeup, I rediscovered my ELF Blush / Bronzing duo and my NYC Sunny Bronzer, and since I am recently smitten with my Burberry Sheer Summer Glow compact (which works as a bronzer or a highlighter), I decided to re-swatch them. And, I decided that I like them both!

The swatches:

The bronzer half of the ELF Blush and Bronzer duo is quite nice (although I find the blush half too powdery to use). It has a nice level of pigmentation and is quite smooth. Although it has some shimmer, it’s at a reasonable, wearable level. This is a great choice for the price.

The Burberry Sheer Summer Glow compact, previously reviewed, is fantastic – though expensive. It is not matte, but has more of a glowing, illuminating finish than something I would call a shimmer. In the picture, I swatched just the left side of the compact (the two darker squares); that’s how I use it as a bronzer. It’s very adjustable as to the shade, which is nice.

Third, the NYC Sunny compact is surprisingly high quality for something so inexpensive. It is a matte bronzer, and a nice color. It is not as silky I would like, which is perhaps not surprising for the price, but it is definitely an acceptable texture. The packaging, however, is quite annoying – very cheap and flimsy.

I use all three of these as bronzers – on my face to create a summery bronzy look – I never use any of these to contour. I prefer a contour product with more grey in it, to create a more realistic shadow. Here, I’ve swatched MAC Sculpting powder in Sculpt next to the three bronzer so you can see the difference in using a dedicated contouring product instead of a bronzer for contouring.

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