Too Faced Chocolate Soleil

I have an undying love for bronzer. I used to think that I was too tan for bronzers, but they really do add depth and warmth to even tanner skins. (I don't get as tan as I used to, but in high school, I could get brown as a berry). As such, I'm always curious about whatever bronzers are on the market. You've got to have been living under a rock to not have heard about the Chocolate Soleil bronzer by Too Faced. It comes in two shades, the regular one (don't know the shade name) and the deeper one I own, medium/deep matte bronzer. 

Nice, cute-looking, bronzey-gold packaging with the brand name embossed on the front. It's made of plastic, however, so it takes the classiness down a peg (gold plastic? A bit ostentatious, no?). The clasp is pretty average, but it holds nicely, and the mirror inside is of comparable size. There is no puff or brush included, which makes me wonder why the packaging is so bulky considering the product itself is only 10.0g, the pan filling maybe half or a third of the packaging base. Of course, I can't go further without commenting on the gorgeous chocolate powder scent. I say chocolate powder as it reminds me more of the powder you use to make hot chocolate, rather than creamy bars of chocolate itself. 

left to right, without flash: heavy swatch, single swatch, blended

With Flash

This bronzer is completely matte, there are no shimmers or hidden glitters, just a straight up matte product. I suppose you could build it up a bit, but it really doesn't go too dramatic at all: a nice, easy, everyday bronzer. But my main qualm with this is, although it looks lovely and somehow glowy when I first apply it, somehow it wears off unevenly. That is, it looks a tad patchy or blotchy. It doesn't ball up and I've tried a number of ways of applying it (although, how many ways are there really to apply a powder bronzer), the wear time isn't too fab.

This product could be so good, in fact, a lot of beauty enthusiasts love this bronzer too (but more go for the milk chocolate one, I think), and I wish I could love it too. It smells wonderful, looks great on first application. But for the time being, I just can't seem to get it to work for me and stay looking good.

Shop My Stash: Spring

It's both a good and a bad feeling when you go through your collection and see what products you previously loved or new products that you neglected. Good, because you remember how much use you got out of a certain lipgloss and it was pretty much your go-to, and bad because you realise there was this eyeliner that you bought relatively recently and have not even really used it yet. But then again, it just allows you to start using those new products you forgot about rather than going out and purchasing "oh, I'm in need of a powder, I thought I got one recently though...".

And here I present to you my findings when I was home and had time to spare. I pretty much live out of home, so I rarely get to visit my cute collection I've been building up, so this was nice to pick up products that I used to love forever, and, again, ones that have not had so much love.

left to right: matte bronze, translucent, blissful

Without Flash

With Flash

Natural Sunlight

MAC Bronzing Powder in Matte Bronze

This is actually one of the first MAC products I ever owned, and, boy, I used this every. Single. Day. It's not really shown well in the photo because of the angle, but I have made quite a dent in this powder from so much use, but just LOOK at how much there still is. I use it mainly for contouring, as it is a matte bronzer, but also a light dusting all over the face gives a nice tanned look, which is good because we're just coming out of Winter now and I have gotten pale. But, yeah, if you're new to MAC and are unsure of what to get, I really recommend this bronzer, it is matte, not too orange, weartime is amazing, and lasts a ridiculously long time too. 

Physician's Formula Happy Booster Glow and Mood Boosting Powder in Translucent

Also another first, this is the first Physician's Formula product I ever purchased and owned, I think when Priceline had 50% off this brand one day. I use it kind of like how you would use MAC's Mineralize Skin Finish powders. As a bit of topping/setting on the cheekbones and t-zone. It does apply really sheer on the face, especially if you use the brush that is included, and, while it doesn't really act as a setting powder, it adds a nice touch and very mild shimmer. A good investment for Spring coming up to look fresh and cute.

Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-hour Blush in Blissful

More firsts here, when I picked out my first both my first Tarte product and first Amazonian Clay Blush. It is a matte, medium, almost rosy pink that helps you get that baby-face, sweet girl blushing effect. I actually like applying this with a small foundation brush, and gently patting it on the cheeks to have more control on placement with this pigmented blush. Again, another good choice for the arrival of Spring.

left to right: midnight sky, belladonna

Without Flash

With Flash

Natural Sunlight

Face of Australia Budge Proof Eyeshadow in Midnight Sky
This just swatches beautifully, is a little tricky applying on the eyes though, but nothing a blending brush can't help. Just a really nice deep blue shade with a hint of sparkle in it and I love the dryer texture of this cream eyeshadow. The one thing I will say though, is that it is really not "budge proof" as the name claims, and you will need a primer underneath, but it's a surprisingly easy colour to wear. Adds a nice bit of colour to your face while still being work appropriate. 

Illamasqua Intense Lipgloss in Belladonna
I hauled this lipgloss pretty recently in this post, but damn, how the hell did it escape my memory? Super pigmented, more of a lacquer than a gloss, so it is a tad bit sticky, but the brush applicator is a great help. Quite a thin tube, so you can easily pop it in your bag or purse and it smells good too. It's a darker colour than what I would usually wear during the day, but this colour would be nice for an evening out with the upcoming season.

So what good finds I have in my collection, god, it feels so good to go through your collection and find things that you want to wear again. Just feels nifty and the pocket appreciates it too. I love using up my products too, so I should definitely shop my stash more frequently.

Tantalizing glow

I absolutely love bronzer. It might actually surprise some people that know me that I am actually a lot paler than what I appear to be; I just happen to wear bronzer everyday. I have quite sallow skin in my opinion, and I always need a tinted moisturizer or a bronzing product in order to perk my face up and maybe not look so ghostly. Despite already owning a number of beloved bronzers, I decided I that the Lorac TANtalizer® Baked Bronzer would be a wise addition, which I attained with purchasing the Lorac TANtalizer® To Glow Go Collection.

 

In the kit, the baked bronzer is about half the full size at 0.35oz, but still a nice hefty amount. Absolutely beautiful marbling of gold shimmer, bronze (of course) and thin veins of rich brown, this applies on the face quite sheer for my NC25-30 skin. It adds just the right amount of bronze and shimmer to make your face glow. I like to apply this high up on the sides of my face, just under where I place my blush, but not quite in the contour zone, and perhaps the greatest thing about this bronzer is that you can wear this bronzer alone.

Left to right, without flash: heavily swatched, single swatch

Same, but with flash

In the swatches, it looks quite pigmented, but I feel that this could work for quite a few different skintones, even those that are exceptionally light. I usually apply this with a very fluffy blush brush rather than a big bronzer brush so I can put more of the colour concentrated on my cheeks and then spread out the left over product on my forehead and rest of my face to give a nice overall glow. This bronzer comes in a number of sizes, the full size is 0.624oz, the "medium" size from the set is 0.35oz and Lorac even offers a mini size at 0.06oz, so depending on your preferences of bronzer use you can choose the size to suit. I think this bronzer is a definite addition to those that not only like bronzer, but those that feel they want a bit of colour in their face as well as a healthy glow. It's a very wearable and easy bronzer and definitely one of my favourites.