
The Prettiest Blushes and
Bronzers for Right Now
Our favorite time to conjure a careless, summery, just-back-from-Sardinia vibe is when the mood is decidedly…not careless and summery: A gleamy suggestion of sun is perhaps at its most appealing when we’re curling up on the couch in plush sweaters, sipping mugs of soul-warming hot drinks.
All it takes is a great shade of blush and a bit of luminizing bronzer. This is not a one-size-fits-all situation, it should be noted: Deeper skin tones benefit from deeper shades of rouge (pale pink smoothed into dark skin shows up chalky, while intense red can be too much drama on someone pale). Bronzer, too, is best when shade-matched: Warm golds—and rose golds—blend most beautifully into dark skin tones, while cooler shades of bronze light up fairer skin. That said, play around and see what color makes your own skin sing.
Start with gorgeous blush—makeup artists recommend smoothing it at the apples of the cheeks, then blending it upward at a slight angle toward the temples for a lifting effect. Once you’ve worked it into skin, blend a little bronzer over the top, anywhere the sun would naturally hit. It’s easy to control the intensity of any of these lush formulas, since each can be layered; start with less, and layer on more as needed.
Dark Skin
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Balmyard Beauty
Baby Love Balm Lip + Cheek
goop, $32Baby Love from Balmyard is pigmented enough to bestow tawny and deep skin with a gorgeous flush (and definitely lends mediumish people luster); dab it across cheeks and on the lips, too.
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Juice Beauty
Phyto-Pigments Flash Luminizer
goop, $32A few swipes of Juice Beauty Phyto-Pigments Flash Luminizer in Golden Bronze across the cheeks and Cupid’s bow is addictively glow-bestowing.
Medium skin
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ILIA
Multi-Stick
goop, $34Ilia’s Multi-Stick in At Last is a not entirely red, not entirely pink pale vermillion that’s fantastic on midrange skin tones.
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ILIA
ILLUMINATOR
goop, $34Maintain a summer glow or dewy shine year-round with these multiuse, rose-hip-oil-spiked formulas. To use, sweep on as you would a powder bronzer and remember to blend.
Fair skin
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Tata Harper
Lip and Cheek Tint
goop, $39The faint but cheery pink of Tata Harper Lip and Cheek Tint in Very Charming is super sheer and creates the perfect, natural but prettier flourish.
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RMS Beauty
LUMINIZING POWDER
MADEIRA BRONZER
goop, $38This hydrating antioxidant powder creates an ultraflattering sun-kissed glow. For allover radiance, brush it wherever the sun would hit, at the tops of cheekbones, brow bones, forehead, and chin.
Bonus: For All Skin Shades
RMS Beauty Pop Collection bronzer and blush palette has tints, bronzer, and luminizer—mix them to enliven any complexion.
Bonus: For All Skin Shades
RMS Beauty Pop Collection bronzer and blush palette has tints, bronzer, and luminizer—mix them to enliven any complexion.