FAKE IT!

With the impending cold weather around the corner I fear the inevitable is about to happen!  My luscious summer glow is gone and I have succumbed to being pale.  (Not that there is anything wrong with being pale, but I have brown hair, brown eyes, black eyebrows - so therefore I look sickly.)  I know what you are thinking - a little hop, skip and jump to the tanning salon is just what the doctor ordered.  I know those little "boxes of sunshine" can be addicting; the escape from reality for a ten minute vacation while becoming a bronzed goddess.

If this was your thought, unfortunately, you are wrong.  The use of indoor tanning increases your lifetime risk of melanoma by 75%; melanoma being the leading cause of death from skin disease.  Not to mention exposure to ultraviolet light, UVA or UVB, from sunlight accounts for 90% of the symptoms of premature skin aging.  Now I am not bashing sun worshipers, for I used to be one.  I am merely informing of a safer way...FAKING IT!!


MAC Bronzer, in Matte Bronze, is one of my favorites and will never leave my kit.  The first step in creating the faux bronze look is to get a bronzer no darker than two shades from your natural skin tone.  I have a medium olive skin tone, so I stick to the MAC Bronzer, as I said before.  I first apply my foundation (foundation is meant to even out your skin tone - not change the color of your skin) and lightly dust powder in the areas I know I am oily.  Now time for the big ta da.  I take a medium sized brush and dust the bronzer where the sun naturally would hit.  I made a photo demonstration.

The area that is shaded in brown is where the bronzer will go.  Begin dusting lightly, less is more and it can always be built upon.  It is harder to start over if you start with too much.  Then, the area shaded in white is where a highlight goes to give a little bit of sheen.  I like products that do not have too much shimmer because I like a more natural look.  To finish off your faux glow throw a pop of color with your favorite blush and VOILA! You're rocking June in November.