Three Bronzer Tricks You’ve Never Heard Before

The ‘3’ bronzer application trick is tried, tested, and works, but makeup artist and MAC collection creator James Kaliardos has another way to apply your bronzer for a sun-kissed finish: horizontally. 

The backstage veteran recommends using your loose powder brush to apply your bronzer horizontally across your forehead (just above your brows), your cheeks and chin, and over your nose. You can also apply some across your neck to ensure your face and body match. 

This technique actually mimics how the sun would naturally hit your face and will leave you with that subtle summer glow. Kaliardos also explains that applying your bronzer as far up as under your eyes is actually a good thing: “Bronzer neutralises the tone. I mean, don’t apply tonnes, but it actually makes you look sun-kissed and really healthy, [such as] it helps counteract any dark circles.”

In Rae Morris’s beauty bible, Makeup Masterclass, she explains that using a translucent powder before your bronzer can help avoid a patchy finish. “If you’re using a powdered bronzer, avoid patchiness by first lightly dusting your face with a translucent powder – this will help with blending,” she says in the chapter on Foundation.

If you’re using a matte bronzer to contour your cheekbones, Bobby Wang, Global Makeup Artist for Estée Lauder, recommends using upward strokes to blend in the colour. 

“Do not blend it down. Normally you’d blend it down to the jawline, which will make you look older. So if you blend it up you’ll look 10 years younger. Blend it up into the blush, you will see a difference.”

This article originally appeared on Beauty Crew.