Lancome Star bronzer natural matte Sunkiss 02

The unique blend of mineral pigments and absorbent micro-spheres ensures a long-lasting smoothness and a perfect matte finish for your skin. Smooth and comfortable texture blends effortlessly and evenly into the skin. Does not go shiny or dull throughout the day. Skin feels silky soft and even toned.


Couple of summers ago Lancome revamped their bronzing line and introduced some matte shades to the permanent line. Great idea since you can't find a lot of completely matte bronzers on the market. I have picked out Sunkiss 02 as a lighter matte shade. I do not have much experience with matte bronzers since I always pick with at least some shimmer.
I wanted Sunkiss to use during winter months when I am pale as a ghost.

Finish is very nicely matte, not flat matte, and very natural looking. Color does not fade throughout the day and it does not oxidize. Texture is very soft, powder is finely milled and it blends nicely. Color is so light that it would work even on the lightest porcelain skin. You can't really overdo it. It also makes it perfect for someone who has never used bronzers before. I do not think that this would really show up on medium or dark skin tones (clearly), but for fair and light skin tones -warm, cool or neutral this would work very nicely.

As opposed to most of the Lancome products, or any French product this is fragrance free. Great if you are sensitive to fragrance in cosmetic products. Also it has SPF15 to provide at least some sun protection.  It has Vitamin E which should moisturize skin.

Packaging is absolutely beautiful  both outside and inside. I had such a hard time trying to capture the rose on the outside of the packaging, it can be seen depending on the light.
I love the embossed roses on the powder too <3  Packaging is sleek and thin, very purse friendly. It also has magnetic snap closure and pretty big mirror. I am glad they did not include useless brush.

L-R - heavy swatch, blended 

Product has 13gr and retails for 35$ which is decent price/amount of product value especially compared to other high end bronzers that are mostly 50$ and up. 

MAC Alluring aquatic extra dimension bronzing powder in Aphrodite's Shell

A liquid-powder bronzer with prismatic reflections. Highlights the face in the golden bronze shimmer of Aphrodite’s Shell . The cool, creamy near-fluid formula creates a luminous, well-defined finish. Wears ten hours. Limited-edition teal packaging, elegantly accented with crystal clear water droplets.



I have always loved  MAC summer collections especially for their limited edition bronzers and fun packaging. Alluring aquatic is probably the most beautiful special packaging MAC ever had. Idea with raised water dropplets is fantastic! I think in real it actually looks even prettier than in the photos.

I was sad to hear they will not repromote Prolongwear bronzers - I was so hoping to get my hands on Sundipped again. I have previously reviewed it here and lately I have been using it more than any other bronzer I have.

Anyway MAC decided to stick to their new and super popular Extra dimension formulas - blushes , eyeshadows and now bronzers too. So far I only purchased two ED products and reviewed them here.

I just can't get allong with this formula. Since I know that everyone is super crazy about ED stuff maybe it's just me not knowing how to use it?

Formula is dry and stiff with poor color payoff. Thinking about bronzer being light and sheer is not so terribly especially if you are fair. You can build the color without worrying you'll overdo it.

Aphrodite's shell is described as "golden bronze with a fine touch of shimmer". It has very strong pink undertones - I know hard to tell by photos but when applied on skin at least on me it pulls pinkish . I should have learned by now that bronzers who have too much pink in them do not look too good on me. I tried to apply this with couple of different MAC brushes and it always took me a while to build the color and I had to scratch scratch the surface to get any product on the brush. I plan to order special edition face brush that came out with this collection hoping it will make this application easier.

I think this would look very nice on cooler skin tones, especially very fair ones. It is in between blush and a bronzer. When it comes to staying power MAC claims it's "10 hours". I do not like these claims because it mostly depends on someones skin type - clearly this will slide off oilier skin much faster than the dry ones, depends on the type of a foundation powder primer you use etc...  Aphrodite's shell has a nice satin finish with a barely there golden shimmer visible only under direct sunlight (or flash).

Left: heavy swatch with MAC 168 brush. I did three layers trying to get some color to show up

Right: heavy finger swatch - swiped 4 times

Chanel Soleil Tan de Chanel Bronzing makeup base

• The velvety finish of this light cream-gel bronzer leaves your skin with a beautiful sun-bathed look. Wear it on its own, or for a hint of outdoors radiance, over or under your favorite CHANEL foundation.

Soleil tan de Chanel bronzing makeup base is probably one of the cult Chanel products. I have no idea why I never bought it before. Probably because I have gazillion other bronzing products plus I am kind of iffy when it comes to cream products.  I always have this impression that cream products are hard to work with. In most cases I am wrong. I wish I tried this gorgeousness before...

It comes in a big rounded jar with a large double C on the top. It just screams luxury! I love Chanel packaging, simple and classy.  First thing that's impressive is the amount of the product-whooping 1 oz or 30gr! Woohoo this will last a looong time. Price is about the same as any other high end bronzer like Dior or Guerlain (except the 4 season ones that are 75$) , but for 50$ you get three times more of a product. I'll take that! 

It has a nice easy to remove plastic cover to protect the product.

First time I opened it and took a look at the product my first impression was "this look delicious". Is that weird? :) It looks like a yummy chocolate mousse. I've read many reviews and looked at many photos and swatches of this product and since now I tried it and took photos myself I noticed one problem - it looks so crazy orange in the photos but I swear in real it's not. It's such a nice warm brown with a hint of golden in it. Don't be turned off by this, try seeing and swatching it in person. 

Pigment is sheer but buildable. I like it's sheerness since I do not have much experience with cream products. This can't be overdone. I tried dabbing the brush and applying smaller amount of product just to see how it blends and looks. It gives nice warmth without any shimmer. Blends very easily, no streaking or messing up foundation that I applied before.  I used MAC 188 brush which is not one of my favorites. I still have to figure out what kind of a brush would work best with this product. 

Even though it's called "base" I still used it over my foundation but I can see this easily be used before or even on it's own just to give skin some sunkissed look, especially during summer when we try to keep makeup layering as light as possible. I use it as any other bronzer in 3 shape but this can be used lighty all over the face too, especially under the foundation. 

Texture is like a hard mouse but when applied it feels more like a gel. Does not feel like a thick heavy cream product, does not leave any kind of sticky residue that sometimes happens with cream blushes. It melts into the skin. This is such a universal shade and I can see it working for wide range of skin tones. Light skinned girls can benefit from this product the most - it's light enough and easy to work with and gives such a nice sunkissed look without a possibility of ending up looking muddy or orangey.

In this close up photo you can see tiny golden shimmer but when transferred on skin it's not visible.

On the left very heavy applied with MAC 130 brush. On the right lightly applied and blended with the same brush 

Soleil tan de chanel is a great investment and I highly recommend it. My only issue would be using it over powder products - probably would not work well. So if you are mostly using powder and not liquid/ cream foundation I do not think you would get best out of this product. 

MAC Strobe Liquid Lotion Golden Elixir review, photos, swatches

MAC Strobe Liquid lotion in Golden elixir is a limited edition product and part of the MAC Temperature rising collection for summer 2013. It is warm toned, bronzed liquid with a golden shimmer. I am a huge fan of original Strobe liquid lotion so you can imagine how excited I was when I saw sneak peak photo of Golden elixir. Anything bronzing I am up for it! This pale girl needs all the help she can get to achieve fake sunkissed look!

When the first swatches started coming out I was a little bit disappointed. It looked sheer and too shimmery. And I may even say too orange. I decided to skip. But since I was near MAC counter on the day of the release I decided to give it a try on my hand. By itself is nothing special honestly. But when I applied
Prolongwear bronzing powder in Sundipped over it I loved it! It enhances bronze color in it, gives it a little bit more of a shimmer.

It comes in a sleek long bottle with a nice twist open-close system. It's a nice touch from MAC and they should make this kind of a top on all of their foundations (currently Prolongwear and Mineralize have the same thing but they should add it to Studio fix too).

Product looks pretty dark brown in the bottle I have to admit. But when applied it goes on pretty sheer. Texture is very thin, almost watery , lightweight and absorbs quickly. So if you want to blend it you will have no problem with it. It does not leave any kind of heavy feel on the skin. Since the texture is so lightweight this could work on any skin type. When it comes to skin tones I have a feeling this would look nicer on medium and darker skin tones. It would look more natural. On lighter skin tones it might pull a little bit orange.

My plan on using it was either over blush or a bronzer for a highlight or under bronzer for an enhanced bronzed look or mixed with a liquid foundation and applied all over. This would be great used on body too mixed with a body lotion or on it's own .

I wish the bottle was smaller. 1.7oz or 50ml will never run out.  Even regular strobe liquid I've had for a while and I almost always use it all over meaning I use more product than it would be used just for a highlight and still I have a feeling it will never run out.

Chanel has a similar product that I unfortunately like more than Golden elixir :( It is just what I was hoping Golden elixir will be. It has no shimmer or barely any but it has very soft bronze color and it's more pigmented. It gives perfect summer glow to the skin. And the bummer is I discovered it after I bought golden elixir :( So how can I justify getting Chanel too?

Swatches both in daylight and with flash on MAC NC15/20 skin

Left unblended right blended

Lancome Blush Subtil Palette Framboise Flirt 359 review, photos, swatches

What it is:

An all-in-one blush palette for sculpting and enhancing your best features.

What it does:

Artistry is made easy with this palette’s three simple steps: contour, blush, and highlight. This new generation of powder boasts a silky and creamy formula for a smooth, even application that won’t settle into lines or pores and never looks powdery on the skin. Build coverage, from sheer to intense color, which lasts up to eight hours.

What else you need to know:

This product is fragrance-free, dermatologist- and allergy-tested.

I've had my eye on the Blush subtil palettes for a while.  I received Framboise flirt as a gift and as soon as I tried it I could not believe that I waited so long to add this amazing product to my collection.

First of all it is super user friendly and extremely wearable and convenient.
Having three products in one palette makes it great selling point. Bronzing shade, blush and highlighter. For the bronzing shade or called here contour there is a medium brownish shade with a satin finish. I can't say it's matte but it's not shimmery either. It can be layered ant wide range of skin tones can make this work (except dark skin tones I do not think it will show up as a contour color but maybe as a nice cheek or higlighting color, to add  some warmth).
Blush shade is slightly cooled toned bright candy pink. It has very very soft silver sheen to it, not shimmer. Crazy pigmented!
Highlighter is very light silverish pink that actually has some multicolored sheen but very hard to capture with my camera.

Packaging is signature black sleek compact with a large mirror. I like the idea of having magnetic closure.
Includes a booklet that provides nice graphic and written explanation on how to use and where to place the product. Compact looks and feels luxurious. I am glad they did not include the brush in this one, they are useless anyway.

Now the most impressing thing about this product for me is it's texture. IT'S BEYOND AMAZING!!! I have never felt powder blush like this. First time I touched it I was confused if this is really powder and not the cream product. Obviously it's not a cream BUT powder is so soft that feels creamy on the skin. Blends like a dream and has great pigmentation as I already mentioned above.

Framboise flirt looks very similar to the other palette in Rose flush, it's just slightly darker.

This is so great for quick makeup, when you do not have time to dig for three different products or even better for travel.

I can see using all three shades together, and especially highlighter that beautifully compliments the blush or just a bronzing shade for contour.

I wish all the Lancome blushes (single ones that I actually really like) have texture like Blush subtil palette. This is hands down the best powder texture I've ever tried.

And hopefully Lancome will come out with more color combos in the future.

I tried to make swatches indoors with natural light, indoors with flash and outdoors in direct sunlight. 

Lancome Buff2w, MAC NC20, Dior 021, NARS Deuville