8 Better-Than-Bronzer Hybrids to Make Your Morning Beauty Routine That Much Easier
For many of my makeup-wearing years, I failed to understand all the hype surrounding bronzer. I actively fought it, even; as a very fair-skinned person, refusing to acknowledge that I could benefit from a little bit of color (or /KUL-ah/, which is what my mother, who was born and raised in Brooklyn, often tells me I need as she lunges at me with a powder brush) I felt noble, like defending my right to be pale. Like, hey, this is me, I’m does-she-live-in-a-basement pale, love it or leave it, just don’t try to change it with makeup.
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At some point, I realized that I was not being noble. I was just being stubborn and stuck in my ways, and I was only hurting myself. I mean, I wasn’t actually hurting myself, I was just spending a lot of time looking see-through and at times vaguely unwell when I didn’t have to be. Bronzer isn’t just for J. Lo, people trying to look like J. Lo, and Lindsay Lohan at a probation revocation hearing; everyone can benefit from a swipe of color across their cheekbones for definition, or a light-handed full-face approach for general improvement and appearance of good health.
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My favorite way to apply bronzer these days is to opt not for the pretty-yet-predictable powder stalwart, but for one-and-done products that brilliantly combine the stuff with highlighter, blush, or both, or sometimes even just other shades of bronzer for a multidimensional effect that’s practically transformative for all skin tones. What you’re getting here is much more than your straightforward “glow”: It’s a total facial overhaul in a single palette, compact, or twist-up stick, helping to both shorten your beauty routine and make it more impactful on the whole. Makeup, man. It’s crazy stuff.
