Thursday, November 17, 2011

Contouring & Bronzing

I wanted to talk about ELF's blushing/bronzing duo initially, but once I started swatching & comparing it to other things. I think I detected some sort of dupe!



Elf Blushing/Bronzing Duo
This baby was $3 and it's a pretty big palette for the price! I bought it off of eyeslipsface.com and I have been using it ever since then. Like I mentioned in Oct Favs, it is highly pigmented! Remember to use a light hand and tap off your excess!



Bronzer- I am pretty fair and I feel many tones that are darker than me can pull this off, and also couple lighter than me as well- this is a pretty dark bronzer. I love this because it is matte, and not shimmery, which is perfect for contouring. Shimmer brings light to the place you apply it and I want to create more of a shadow effect when Im contouring, and not a highlighting effect. This color doesn't have an orange tint to it, as most bronzer's I have seen can have. You will notice in the swatches it a true brown, which I am likin'! Nice change compared to the others I have

Blushing- It is a pretty blush alone, but I like to use this with the bronzing side as well. With my angled face brush from Sigma, I dip in into each color 2x and then tap off the brush 4x. Hey, it works for me and im not too sure why this particular ritual does but what-ev's. I love doing this because I am so fair that it tones down the bronzer and makes it a more of an orangey tone as opposed to brown. It's really easy to mix and match to your perfect color if you wanna take this route.

When I use the duo the way I just mentioned, I like to go right above the hollow of my cheeks, and a little below where my blush would usually go. I find that this actually flatters me much better anymore for some reason, try it out with any bronzer you have- who knows, you might love it too!


efl duo: left: bronzer side right:blush side




Laura Gellar Blush n Brighten in Honey Dipped
Even though this has a shimmer in it, it works for me. This does have an orange tint to it which can be used for more than just contouring because of that- I sometimes like to dust it all over for a glowy finish.




Dupe
 Mixing Elf's blushing and bronzer duo together is extremely comparable to Laura
Gellar's Baked Blush N Brighten in Honey dipped. However there are a few difference's. As you can see, the Blush N Brighten does have some shimmer to it, and is more dimensional than the Elf duo mixed. I also think this has something to do with the baking process from cream to powder. 


left: Blush N Brighten right: Elf duo mixed together










Physician's Formula Cashmere Bronzer:
This is a much much lighter bronzer. If you are the lightest of light shade, this would be your bff - I love this bronzer because of that, in the dead of winter this is the bronzer I usually need to contour. This past fall, I have been using it over my foundation to boost up my complexion a bit. It is for the most part a matte powder with the slightest detectable shimmer to it that I never noticed until I did this blog post. If you are a darker tone, I think this would make an interesting highlight. Something I need to remember to try once I am tan again.


whats your favorite bronzer to contour it? 
what about your favorite to use all over your face to brighten it up? 
let us know in the comments! 


xoxo Erica J

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Great review, i love that elf duo even tho I haven't figured out how to contour my face perfectly yet.

Erica J said...

there are soooooo many videos on it, thats where i learned how to contour mine. i think I have watched like 20 in all on how to contour because everybody does it different - obviously makeup geek and kandee johnson are going to be your best tho, i esp. loved kandee's

Lauren ♥ said...

I've heard so many people compare this to Nars Orgasm & Laguna duo... I have Nars Orgasm but can't afford Laguna as well so might purchase this and give this whole contouring thing a shot!!

~ Lauren <3

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