How I Bronze & Strobe: A Tonal Makeup Tutorial (Rodarte Inspired)

Hello my gorgeous readers,

what have you been up to? Holiday season is well upon us. I just finished decorating yesterday and now I'm sitting comfortably with my lights lit up and my Christmas playlist playing. I love some vintage Christmas playlists on 8tracks at the moment. I love a good nostalgic feeling and Christmas definitely enables that. How's the Christmas shopping going so far? Were my gift recommendations of any use to you? Hopefully they can be.

Now on to this week's beauty post. These days all I see being talked about among the beauty enthusiasts, is the so-called strobing. So what strobing is basically, it's a fancy term for what essentially is highlighting. It's maximizing the glow on the skin, making it appear extra brightened and luminous. To be honest with you, I never got on the contouring bandwagon. The Kim Kardashian technique never grew on me. I favor a more natural complexion and this whole Instagram-makeup craze doesn't agree with my aesthetic. 

Another trend that's caught my attention is the tonal, bronzed 70s look, as shown in Rodarte's SS '16 show. Ethereal, neutral toned makeup with a glow from within. That look has become my go-to these days when I wanna look natural and effortless. When I'm running late or just not feeling like doing much, I skip the eyeshadow, mascara and lipstick, focusing solely on the skin. 

In this post I will share with you my favorite tips on how to achieve the ultimate, earthy tonal makeup look.

Products used: 

Dior Glow Maximizer

Kiehl's Ultra Facial Moisturizer (no spf)

Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum

Bourjois Healthy Mix Concealer

MAC Prep + Prime Highlighter pen in Radiant Rose

Sephora matifying powder

Too Faced Candlelight powder

The Body Shop Honey Bronzer in 01

MAC CCB in Shell

Makeup Geek eyeshadow in Creme Brulee

MAC False Lashes mascara

Wet n Wild megalast matte lip cover in Bare It All

You really don't need any of these products in particular, any alternatives in your own makeup kit will do. It's not a complex makeup look, so just use whatever works for you. 

Start with a cleansed, moisturized face. This makeup is all about the skin, so do whatever you need to do in order to perfect the canvas prior to any foundation. I start with a balm cleanser, then remove it with a dampened muslin cloth, pat my face dry, apply serum and then moisturizer. Allow the moisturizer to sink in before you put anything else on the face, especially if you're oily. Apply some lip balm on the lips, so they can soften while you're doing the rest.

STEP 1: PRIME

Here I am appying Dior's Glow Maximizer all over, focusing on the high points of the face. At first it looks a bit scary and you might think a unicorn threw up all over your face but don't worry, once the foundation goes on top, the shimmer particles will no longer be detectable. It will just enhance that lovely, lit-from-within effect.

STEP 2: APPLY FOUNDATION

Kiehl's Ultra Facial Moisturizer + Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Foundation 

Now here comes my tip for normal to dry skinned gals: if you want to give your foundation some extra slip, add a little bit of moisturizer to your foundation. I swear by this trick. It helps the foundation sink in so much better and you're left with a natural, glowy face. I like to use my fingers to apply this concoction, as I find the warmth of skin-to-skin application gives optimal results. I finish off by patting in the foundation with my damp Real Techniques makeup sponge. 

 STEP 3: CONCEAL

Next up is concealer. Just use your favorite concealer on your undereye area or any blemishes you might have. My advice always is: keep the skin light and conceal only where you need to. Don't build up the foundation because it is likely to cake up. With a small brush or just your finger pat some concealer where you feel you can use the extra layer of coverage. 

STEP 3: HIGHLIGHT

Here comes the fun part: Take any highlighting pen, not concealer! I repeat: not concealer. Concealer is supposed to cover, hence its more pigmented consistency. For this step you will need a product, usually in pen form, with a very light - almost translucent consistency. I use this to highlight on the inner corner of the eyes and browbone, around the nose and mouth and on the tops of the cheekbones. Make sure to blend well. This brings light and dimension to the face.

STEP 4: DO THE FAUX CONTOURING TECHNIQUE

The faux contouring technique is basically highlighting under the cheekbone so you can create shadow and enhance the natural contour of your bone structure. Just place the highlight right under the hollow of your cheek and blend. The effect is subtle but better than any brown streak caused by a contouring job gone wrong.

STEP 5: APPLY SHIMMERY HIGHLIGHT

Next, I'm applying a shimmery highlight on the cheek bones, browbone and bridge of the nose. My favorite du moment, is MAC's cream colour base in Shell. I like to use my fingers for this one too since it's a cream product. If you're using a powder highlight, apply after bronzing.

STEP 6: BRONZE

I'm applying bronzer across the cheeks and on the temples for a sunkissed effect. Since I'm not going to use any blush for this look, I go in with a slightly heavier hand than I would normally. Use a fluffy brush for a more natural, diffused look.

STEP 7: POWDER

Me and powder don't get along very well. I always find it makes me look dry and flat. However a light dusting across the t-zone helps minimize pores and texture. My trick for avoiding that flat look and preserving the glow, is mixing a bit of mattifying powder with an illuminating one. Do not opt for a powder heavy on the frost a la Becca Shimmery Skin Perfector but go for something more subtle like Guerlain's Meteorites. I chose Too Faced's Candlelight highlighting powder. This powder contains some shimmer but doesn't look frosty. Combined with the mattifying powder and applied with a fluffy brush it looks fabulous. 

And now for the rest of the look (optional):

STEP 8: EYESHADOW

For the eyes, I wanted a matte shade that would match the bronzer so I went with Makeup Geek's Creme Brulee. You could equally as well use bronzer on the eyelids, but I wanted something slightly warmer and less brown. The one thing I would recommend strongly is to not use a shimmery eyeshadow. There's already enough shimmer on your face which means it's better to go matte on the rest.

STEP 9: APPLY MASCARA

This is pretty much self-explanatory. Just put on your favorite mascara, I wanted a more natural, feathery effect so I made sure to wipe off the excess from the wand before application.

STEP 10: LIPS

I love this shade of lipstick. This is Bare It All by Wet n Wild, it's very affordable but a little drying for me at the moment, as is the case with most matte lipsticks. To make sure it doesn't suck all the moisture out of my lips, I apply a layer of lip balm beforehand and then proceed on putting on a thin layer of lipstick with a lip brush. This is actually one of the few times that lip brushes come handy to me, they help control the amount of lipstick you want to wear and also in this particular case prevent my lipstick bullet from getting smothered in lip balm.

...and done!

Is there any runway makeup look you're inspired by? Leave your ideas below and I will maybe recreate some of them!