Beach Tested Day 2: My Favorite Bronzers

I have the pleasure of having a body that tans quite well and doesn't easily burn even when I use sunscreens with very low SPFs. I am aware that this is not good for my skin, and that wearing low SPF sunscreens increases my risk for skin cancer, but whatever, I like being tan: I rarely use an SPF lower than 8 so we're good. However, my face has refused to conform to this standard of bronzing and instead burns like no tomorrow unless I wear an SPF of at least 30 and reapply at least every two hours.

So why is this relevant? Well for the excellent reason that I found myself needing to make my face as tan as the rest of me. Enter bronzer, which has been my summertime companion for a number of years. Because my face doesn't tan nearly as much as my body, I choose not to invest in a darker foundation and instead invest in bronzer to make my regular foundation darker. I've tried many brands, finishes, consistencies and even different formulas but I have found my two all-time favorite bronzers, and they both come from the same brand.

The first is Too Faced's Milk Chocolate Soleil bronzer ($30). Milk Chocolate was the light-skinned ladies' answer to the classic medium-dark Chocolate Soleil, one of Too Faced's most poplar bronzers. Chocolate Soleil is a fantastic, true brown formula that has absolutely no shimmer and blends like a dream thanks to its sweet-smelling formula. Milk Chocolate is Chocolate's lighter-colored cousin, which truly looks like milk chocolate in the container, and smells like it too. I like to use a fluffy bronzer blush (the one in this set from EcoTools) to apply bronzer to the places the sun naturally hits - namely my cheekbones, the bridge of my nose, my hairline and my chin - then I apply right under my jawline so my face doesn't look too dark for my neck. I then blend it with a kabuki brush to smooth out the edges and make the color look more even.

Image via toofaced.com

The second is Too Faced's Sun Bunny bronzer ($30). This is a FANTASTIC bronzer for travel, especially during the summer, because the palette contains two colors which can be used alone or together. The formula is less silky and a little more powdery because it's lightly shimmery. This imparts beautiful, non-orange bronze color and a dewy glow that's perfect for summer vacations. At the beginning of my trips I stick to the lighter shade, then gradually blend the shades together as I build my tan. I rarely use the dark color alone, but who knows, someday a two week vacation might just get me there!

Image via toofaced.com

This is also a great palette if you like to contour with bronzer, since you get a lighter shade and a darker shade. I use the same technique as I do with Milk Chocolate Soleil but I blend a little more with the kabuki to even out the color since this formula is significantly darker than Milk Chocolate. It also applies more heavily, so don't start out with too much color on the brush and just build up to your desired coverage.

BONUS!!! Right now, ULTA is running a promotion that when you buy $25 worth of Too Faced cosmetics, you'll get a free deluxe sample of Chocolate Soleil, Too Faced's best-selling bronzer and Milk Chocolate's older cousin! Even more reason to run out and buy these babies ASAP ;)

***GEL POLISH UPDATE: My right hand is NOT doing well, but my left hand still looks pristine. Clearly, the start of chipping means the imminent ruin of that nail's polish. There are now two visible chips on my left hand and color wear on both hands. The front edges of the first two nails of my right hand have lost almost all of their polish, and my third finger had significant chipping at the front edge. My nails must be growing rapidly because the polish mo longer reaches to my cuticle.