One makeup product I don’t have any of is bronzer. I’m your typical Asian girl, preferring to be fair than tanned 🙂 So I always shied away from bronzers and bronzing. To say this is my first bronzer is not quite true. I have bronzer/blushes before this (Dior Bronze Harmonie Rose Brazilia comes to mind as do a couple more other Dior Bronze Harmonie palettes) but they were always more of a blush than bronzer.
I stopped by Chanel to take a look at the Soleil Tan de Chanel bronzers over the weekend but they too were more blush than bronzer (and after playing around a few times, I realized I didn’t quite like them very much. Soloverly has a quick review of Bronze Corail) So I ended up at the Guerlain counter, where the SA sat me down, made me over and showed me just now NOT scary having bronzer on can be. I wasn’t too tanned, nor too orange nor too anything. It looked just like me… just a bit better. Mom told me it looked natural.
And the rest as they say, is history. The Guerlain Terra Inca Sublime Radiant Powder followed me home like Mary’s little lamb 😛
The powder imprint is lovely. Like the rays of the sun and it does have a very Inca slant to the pattern. Its one of those things that look so perfect you almost do not want to use it. But that would be silly right? 😛
The packaging deserves mention. The bronzer powder comes in a wooden case that has 2 parts – cover with giant mirror and bottom with powder – held together by magnets. Very firmly held together I might add. I like the lacquered wooden case. Or if it isn’t wood, it does look and feel like faux wood.
Its sturdy and there’s no risk of fingerprints marking it or anything for that matter.
Its quite a large pan too as its a powder for the face and body. Oh yeah you read that right 🙂 You can dust this shimmery powder over your décolletage for some impact 😉
A very large pan. One I could never envisage finishing.
The powder comes in 2 shades – gold in the middle and brown-pink on the sides. The tone of the powder is quite neutral. I did not detect any orange in it, and it is also very shimmery. Used with a light hand, mixed with Dior First Light Summer Powder or the Guerlain Illuminating Pressed Powder or Meteorites pressed powder, it is subtle yet lifts up my skin… AND DOES NOT TURN ME ORANGE! The last bit in caps is very important. I’m deathly afraid of walking around like Paris Hilton after her fake tan.
Guerlain Terra Inca Sublime Radiant Powder Swatches Left: Middle Right: Outer ring
You can see from the swatches that the powder is shimmery and that it isn’t orange either way but has a nice gold tint to it. The SA used the gold in the middle around the eye area and on the high points of my cheeks and the outer ring close to my hairline and along the cheekbone to contour. She also used the gold in the center as eyeshadow, which when paired with liner and mascara, is a very pretty natural look. She did warn me that I have to use a very light hand on my skin or it’d be too much.
I’ve been working to duplicate the luminous look she achieved, and I haven’t been looking dirty or muddy or like the setting sun. Its not crazy shimmery on my skin (I don’t use a lot) and its got a sheer luminous tone to it that gives a hint of colour but does not look blotchy. I do prefer to add a pink blush (usually Bella Bamba or Guerlain Blush G) on the apples of the cheeks for a pop of colour. It does brighten up the complexion and is very pretty. I could get the hang of this bronzer yet!
Pros: Light texture, Lovely golden tone on my skin, Shimmery highlights and lifts the skin, Does not turn orange
Cons: Expensive
One thing I’m not partial about is the scent. Guerlain powder products usually have a violet scent but this one smells of jasmine and I’m not a fan of jasmine. Still, the scent is only there when I’m using the powder, but it does not transfer onto my skin so its not quite a minus point.
Will I get into bronzing though? I’d say no. This is likely to be my first and only bronzing powder I’d purchase. Hence I made it worth its while 🙂
Are you into bronzing or bronzers? Most bronzers I’ve tried tend to look muddy or too brown or too orange on me. I’m not into looking darker and I am already quite light skinned so its not been easy finding a bronzer that doesn’t do everything I don’t want it to do. This one sort of hit the spot and I’m quite glad to find it 🙂
Paris B
Guerlain Terra Inca Sublime Radiant Powder retails at RM211 at Guerlain counters and is limited edition for Summer 2011
nice!! *cringes at wallet*
*wallet cringes in return*
I have two bronzers but they don’t do much for contouring. One is the Red Earth LE one and the other came with my Tarte Jewelry Box. I like them though, because they give a kinda imperceptible glow to my face heh heh heh.
What brush did you use?
I’m alternating between the Sigma powder/blush brush and a soft face brush. The SA used a soft powder brush on me. I’m thinking of trying a bronzing brush soon or I might just replace that with a kabuki and see how it goes.
Ahhh the love for bronzers, I like how natural it looks against my skin! I haven’t tried Guerlain but I’m definitely a fan of bronzers 😀 Happy Friday PB!
I’ll have to check out your tips for application Nikki! I’m still struggling with this one 😛
I got the Chanel one (i think they are already discontinued it~~), named Moisturizing Bronzing Powder. Didnt get the latest summer collection one since my previous experience with their bronzer…I’m light skinned too, the lightest shade had been out of stock then i forced to get a 2nd light shade after getting the advice from the SA. it is too orangey…omg….
Yikes! I am really scared of bronzers that make me look orange. I had one applied on me once and I looked awful! The Chanel ones this year do look really pretty. I love the rose one because its nice to have a blush built in 🙂
I have and use bronzer to contour my cheeks. I still don’t have the jawline contouring in the bag yet, hope to improve with practice 🙂
Gorgeous imprint! The packaging is so unique too, *sigh*
I tried applying to my jawline, and it looked dirty 😛 So I’m now just using this on my hairline (which the SA says can help the face look smaller ?!?!) and along the cheekbones 🙂
I really duno how to apply bronzer … and how it suppose to mk me look like….darker? …shinier ?? …hmmm
Bronzer is not essential, if you want my personal view. Its meant to help “contour” your face, to give an illusion of cheekbones or narrower nose, smaller face etc. Its not supposed to make your face shiner nor darker although in general, it does make one look a little darker. It also gives the illusion of a touch of sun, without having to go out in the sun.
I recently fell in love w/ bronzers and now it’s a staple in my makeup routine. I’ve purchased recent bronzer releases by Chanel and Dior, and I’m waiting for our local Guerlain to have the Terra Inca and Terra Mosaic. I also have the Guerlain 4 Seasons bronzer from last year. I’m also a typical Asian who prefers to be fair than tanned (because I look better being fair after a disastrous experiment of tanning my self), but using a bronzer gave dimension to my face, and I looked livelier, and blush looks much much better if I blend it w/ bronzer.
Have you tried the bronzer by Shiseido? I’m told that their bronzers are made for Asian skin, not too muddy or orange or too pink.
You’re right about the blush+bronzer combination. It really does help the blush colour pop! I still can’t get this one to work perfectly, but the upside is that its so sheer that mistakes aren’t too obvious either 😀 I haven’t tried Shiseido’s bronzers (didn’t know they had them!)
im like you! im so fair i tot i could never use bronzer! but i think i still cant =(
Go for a really really light one and challenge yourself! 😉
Go for a really light one and challenge yourself! 😉
I currently am in love with urban decay’s baked bronzer. Don’t turn me orange either but gives me a natural luminous glow.
Hmm… now that we have UD here, I will go check this out! 😀
Check out the shade “Glided”. It’s very pretty. I prefer this to Guerlain’s Terracotta Light Sheer Bronzing Powder which i used to love to bits before i found glided. It can also slowly build up as a healthy looking bronzed blush.
Much better than MAC MSF which i find mostly too frosty etc.
One warning though, be careful when you open this bronzer. It can sometimes fly out of your hand due to the curvy bottom. Other than this flaw, this is one of the near to perfect bronzer for me.
I use the MAC 134 to apply this.
Thanks for the tip! I’ll take a look at Gilded! 😀
i use bronzers too but very light only coz I don’t want to look ORANGE too! hihihi…. hope you had a photo wearing the bronzer…
Erm… I’m trying to get a picture but its really hard because I don’t want it showing up too much yet if I don’t get it to, I can’t get a photo! 😛
Awww…no pic of you wearing it? I cant believe how huge the pan is! I love bronzers!
Sorry babe. I can’t get it to show 😛 Do you have a fave bronzer?
I don’t use bronzers. Yet.
Just using the coralista blush gives me dimension on my cheeks. But I’m still open to trying!
I’m eager to see how this looks on you!
Coralista is such an awesome blush! And you’re right, it does give a nice dimension. I’m working on getting this one to show… or an approximation anyway 😛 Its actually really subtle and natural in real life… which is really a good thing!
That is one of the most beautiful bronzers I’ve ever seen! Expensive *ouch$* but it is A Work of Art 😉
I’ve got a MAC bronzing powder in Solar Riche. Sometimes use for contouring (not sure if doing it right! 🙂 Mostly use to bronze neck. My neck is lighter than face! How did that happen?? 0_o..
Goodness, how did that happen indeed! Glad you found a use for your bronzer 😀
Oh indeed I do use bronzers – they are my absolute favourite makeup item and Guerlain happens to be my Archilles heel, which does absolutely horrific things to my wallet! Personally I found that the key to application on the jawline is a very light hand and constant CONSTANT blending; also going lighter on the sweep on the cheekbone (esp if you are going to layer on blush) or else you’ll end up with entire cheekfuls of bronzer, which was what happened to me in my trial-and-error period and on mornings when I’m too hasty.
A teeny bit sad you don’t plan on more bronzers anytime soon cos that means no / less reviews!
Oh dear… haha… I just don’t look good bronzed/tanned 😛 If I do come across other bronzers that work for me, I’ll try to feature them anyway. Can’t ever say never 😉