House of Bren: Be a Bronze Goddess at the Beach; And all Summer

If I questioned summer’s presence, I was sure enough reminded today in the most uncomfortable fashion. A 7 am flight to Miami was delayed due to weather systems somewhere up north. By the time I got to NJ, the skies opened up and the rain started coming down with a vengeance; as if it hadn’t been allowed to saturate the land for ages. The humidity was so in intense, it crept through the crevices of the plane. I landed in Miami a bit ago to even more humidity. So hello to you too, summer. And since it’s here for a little while, and if we’re going to be defeated by this kind of weather, I can’t think of anything else I’d rather be doing this very moment than being at the beach. And it just so happens I’m on my way to the Florida Keys for the week. But I had to make this stop first.

I considered the weather, my itinerary and immediately decided it only made sense to go super light on the makeup. If I could avoid it altogether, I would. But since I’m a slave to beauty products and makeup galore, I have no choice than to pick out some lush options to keep me en trend but also as clean as possible.

Clearly, the bronze effect is here to stay. It’s probably one of the most evergreen looks any woman can enjoy during the summer — and if applied right, during winter, too. After remembering Estée Lauder’s wildly successful Bronze Goddess collection from last year which I featured in this post, and truthfully falling in love with the tortouis shelled powder, I went searching for what what new this year in the way of bronze and corals (a complementary color) to keep it fresh.

I wasn’t surprised El came out with a follow up collection for this season. And it’s screaming, too! The eye palette is 10x better than the powder, tho not as practical. It’s super sexy with three shades on the right of the bar are highly pigmented with a luscious metallic finish to create some serious drama. While the 5 nude shades on the left are perfect for every day. I used it as a base to build my color. For a full beach day that may invite afternoon trysts at a spa resort for lunch, stick to the nude shades, rub a bit of Bobbi Brown‘s new pot rouge in nectar from the ‘nectar and nudes’ collection’s — which is not bronzy at all, rather quite rosy — a light layer of the bronze powder and some lip gloss. The electric coral sheer tinted lip balm by Lancome is perfect for applying over top any color stick or matted gloss. It’s creamy without being sticky so it’s quite awesome on it’s own. I had to get two it was so nice.

5 minutes and you’re so good to go.

And that’s the very look I had today while traveling. It lasted a solid 11 hours.

For a more concentrated bronze look, apply a thin but even layer of the Bobbi Brown CC SPF 35. These BB and CC creams are so key enjoying an even toned look while protecting your skin from the all the sun. This particular one ranked top 5 of all the ones I’ve tried in the last year. It’s tinted so it does the job of adding more to the bronzed look. I tried it on my hand and it feels super creamy, light and it evened out super well. It was too dark for my face so I opted out.

And of course, in order to maintain that glow all summer, even when you’re bare and a no makeup, a healthy face starts with lots of water, staying hydrated and great balancing toners and moisturizers. Intense reaping serums like Clinique’s Smart Repair serum is my new every other morning routine after washing. It’s great for those nights you don’t get restful sleep but need your face to recover from the elements, this is a good base layer to get started.

Everything else is just icing on the cake.

Go light this summer. It’s too hot to be wearing a whole lot of anything. I tan super fast so the bronze look for me looks incredibly natural but adds that glow I can’t always get unless I’m in the sun and sweating. And that’s just not cute!

I have another summer bronzy collection to review and share. In the meantime, what’s you’re go-to stash for a natural, tanned, glow-y look?

Don’t miss my segment on ABC’s ‘Positively Tampa Bay’ talking about summer fashion and beauty trends!