LIFESTYLE | Beauty Junkie
e k a M Me h s u l B BY JULIE JORGENSEN
Have y’all managed to catch your breath yet? I swear, between Mother’s Day, Steeplechase, the end of the school year and Memorial Day, the spring went by in an absolute flash. But, with the close of a busy springtime comes the warm welcome of summer: Weekends by the pool, evenings on the patio, and hopefully a trip or two down to the beach. Back before we knew any better (don’t make me tell you again to put on your sunscreen), all this going and doing in the gorgeous Tennessee sunshine would leave us freckled, bronzed and/or pinkcheeked. Alas, we now know full-well that pretty youthful flush comes with a price, and I have enough scars as it is from preliminary skin-cancer removal procedures. Thank you very much. As luck would have it, there are eleventy-hundred products at our wellmanicured fingertips to recreate that beautiful glow quickly and safely. Don’t look now, because I’m about to make you blush. Let’s first cover the important differences between blush, bronzer and highlighter. You’d have to live under a rock to not know what blush is, honey. Formulated in liquid, powder or cream (or cream-to-powder), blush will make you look ten years younger in a flash. On a different note, bronzer reproduces that weekend-in-Rosemary tan, but can 18 YOURWILLIAMSON.COM | SUMMER 2016
also be used for some pretty awesome contouring—more on that later. Finally, highlighter is usually a pale shimmer used to accent the “high” points on your face, further creating a more youthful look. Don’t get overwhelmed. We’ll walk through where you put what, and it’s not totally necessary to load up on all three on a routine basis, unless you have a fulltime glam squad (and, if you do, I’m totally jealous). If nothing else, make sure you have a go-to blush in exactly the right shade in your makeup bag. The formula depends primarily on your skin type: cream blush works great on dry skin, for example, and a pressed powder has greater staying power for normal or oily skin types. A liquid bronzer can be tricky to apply unless you’re a product-application expert, so stick to a powder or stick formula. Strangely enough, fabulous highlighters can be found in every formulation possible. Finding the right shade of all three products is key. Nothing makes you look like a cartoon character like screaming circles of rouge (as our grandmothers call it), on your cheeks or stripes of dirty-looking bronzer. As Jimmy Fallon would say, “Eew!” Choose a bronzer only a couple of shades darker than your natural skin tone, and pick a matte one if you’re going to use it for contouring. Shimmer is good for faking a tan. A cream blush will naturally be dewier than a powder. For all-day wear, I like to layer a cream formula over a powder. A blue-based pink, pale peach or sheer plum is perfect for lighter skin, while those of you lucky enough to have a neutral or olive skin tone will look fabulous in berry or rose shades. Highlighters are gold, ivory or something in the pink family. Since I’m fair, I find that a pearly pale gold adds warmth without being harsh or obvious. Where you put
what matters as well. Contouring can be a daunting notion, what with a million video tutorials on YouTube about it, but don’t sweat it. The subtlest swipe of matte bronzer with a slanted brush underneath your cheekbones, around your hairline, and under your jaw will slim your face in a flash. Highlighter takes it up a notch. I use my ring finger to pat some on my brow bones and the very top of my cheekbones. Lastly, blush goes right on the apples of your cheeks. Make sure everything is blended nicely, and voila! You’re contoured. That wasn’t that difficult, now was it? So now you may be asking yourself, what bronzer/ blush/ highlighter should I buy now that I’m all studied up on all three? Fret not, honey, the Beauty Junkie has done the homework. Y’all have heard me sing the praises of Beautycounter cosmetics before, and this is no exception. I just love the Color Pinch blush in Hibiscus, a gorgeous pink cream that comes in a foolproof chubby stick. The Color Sweep blush duos are amazing too and come in a split pressed powder compact that gives you two complimentary shades. The Color Contour matte bronzer in the lighter shade is nothing short of perfect for contouring. Another favorite is Guerlain Terracotta Light, a fabulous mosaic compact combining bronzer with the tiniest bit of shimmer that gives the perfect tawny glow. Also, I’ve always been a huge fan of Nars The Multiple, the ultimate multi-tasker that comes in matte and shimmer finishes and a myriad of shades. It’s not uncommon for me to keep three of them in my makeup bag: Riviera for blush, South Beach for bronzing, and Copacabana for highlighting. Finally, the nice people at Benefit have been churning out the cult classic High Beam highlighter for years, and I just love it. It’s the perfect pearly pink in a nail-polish-like bottle that lights up your pretty face like a dream. Now try to act innocent the next time someone asks you why you’re blushing. We’ll keep it our little secret! Love, The Beauty Junkie
BUYING GUIDE BEAUTYCOUNTER: BEAUTYCOUNTER.COM GUERLAIN: NORDSTROM, THE MALL AT GREEN HILLS NARS: SEPHORA AND MACY’S BENEFIT: ULTA