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BEAUTY, STYLE AND LIFE OVER 50

Guerlain Terracotta Bronzer: Mistake-Proof Chic

BeautyLiza Herz2 Comments

Guerlain Terracotta Light Healthy Glow is the best ‘Training Bronzer’ For Bronzing Newbies

Oh, bronzer. The fastest way to look glowy and well-rested. Even well travelled. (Did you get that tan in Bali?) But one errant sweep of your fluffy brush and you might look like you were attacked by a can of Hershey’s cocoa powder or that you are an aspiring Love Island contestant.

Guerlain Terracotta, the first and still the best compact bronzing powder (it launched back in 1984) can save you from this fate. The colours are carefully considered and natural-looking and - hooray - they have brought back their best, and my favourite, multi-hued version, Terracotta Light Healthy Glow Bronzer, $66 CAN, Sephora.com. It’s pleasingly luxe in its translucent, rosin-coloured case and the mix of bronze, tan and pink pigments creates a natural, warm tan with just enough soft shimmer to keep it from looking flat. The shade ‘Light Cool 00’ is the perfect training bronzer if you are timid, or it can be your all year round go-to if you like to keep things subtle. Level up to deeper shades as desired.

Sweep it on where the sun hits your face, building up the colour slowly. Remember that you can always add more but you can’t add less. Try the classic ‘draw a number three’ sweep: temples, under the cheek and under the jaw, or follow the example of Violette Serrat, Guerlain’s Creative Director of Makeup, in this video (starting at the 1:07 minute mark.)

In her Vogue Paris video, Jeanne Damas epitomizes effortless Parisian cool.

As you can see, casually sweeping on some Terracotta scores incredibly high on the French Cool Girl Beauty Meter. Here is further proof, via model/designer Jeanne Damas in a recent Paris Vogue video. Even if you don’t have your own French clothing line, a quick swipe of Terracotta over the high points of your face and I promise that you will sport the glow of someone who spent the morning perusing endless flats of just-picked strawberries at the farmer’s market.