I generally save bronzer for the summer months to give myself a sun-kissed glow, but about a month ago my complexion was looking a few shades lighter than pasty (thanks to the never-ending sunless days here in the wonderful Pacific Northwest), so I decided to sweep on my newly purchased Tarte Mineral Powder Bronzer that I had bought for my March trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

I walked into work that day, and one of my favorite co-workers (Hi, Barb!) stopped me to compliment me on my glow…then she added, “are you pregnant?”.  No, no…sorry family, not pregnant, but I was very pleased that just a few sweeps of bronzer could give me that pregnancy…uh, I mean, sun-kissed glow.

There are endless reasons why I love Tarte’s Mineral Bronzer, so I’ll start listing them: 

• paraben free
• sulfate free
• free of synthetic fragrances
• free of Petro-Chemicals
• free of Phthalates
• cruelty free
• fragrance free
• talc free (talc=clogged pores)

And if all that wasn’t enough, it’s loaded with skin-loving ingredients such as:  minerals that soothe and soften, vitamin A for some antioxidant action (see ya, free radicals!), which also promotes collagen production that can aid in diminishing fine lines and wrinkles, vitamin C, which also prevents free radical damage and premature aging all while brightening skin, and it contains vitamin E, which acts as an anti-inflammatory and helps prevent free radicals.

If this all wasn’t enough, the bronzer also gives you a beautiful, sun-kissed glow, with the slightest bit of golden sheen (not to be confused with glitter).  The bronzer comes in two-shades:  Park Ave. Princess (light yellow gold) which is perfect for fair skin-to light/medium tones (this is the shade I selected), and it comes in Hotel Heiress (deep bronze), which works best for medium/olive/dark skin tones.

Park Ave Princess

Hotel Heiress

I am so happy I found this bronzer, not only does it give me a wonderful glow (which is what a bronzer should do…stay away from orange tones, people!!), but it also has good for your skin ingredients, and hello, it’s good for the environment as well.  In the beauty world, we call that a triple threat.

…joy, joy!

Congratulations go out to Jill from Washington, Cheryl from Indiana, and Michelle from New York for winning my latest giveaway!!

Jill, Cheryl, and Michelle all won a copy of the book, Can You Get Hooked on Lip Balm?, written by the scientists over at the beautybrains.com.

Ladies, I hope you enjoy the book and thank you to everyone who entered to win!

xo

I’m pretty frugal when it comes to makeup brushes.  For eyeshadow brushes, I find that drugstore lines work just fine (my fav:  Sonia Kashuk for Target).  But, I have found that there are two brushes that I don’t mind spending some extra cash on…my eyeliner brush (I use this one) and powder brush.

For the last few years I have been using Bare Escentuals Flawless Application Face Brush, which I received in a starter kit from the line.  I’ve long abandoned the BE mineral powder (not a love, seemed to be on the orangey side), but I kept using the brush to apply my setting powder (which I LOVE, Physicians Formula Correcting Powder, read my review here).  But, the last few months the bristles have been looking a little haggard, so I decided to invest in a new brush.  I had no idea what brand of brush I wanted, but I knew it needed to do double duty for applying my powder and bronzer.

What I ended up with was, Too Faced Powder Pouf Brush.  After looking at countless brushes on Sephora, and reading the reviews, The TF brush seemed to be the best all around because it got great reviews, it was a good price at $32, and it was really, really cute.  I was intrigued with the “teddy bear” hair and the fact is was supposed to be cashmere soft…not to mention, cruelty-free. 

Buying the brush seemed like a no brainer, and I’m so glad that I did, because I’ m smitten with this brush.  Aesthetically this brush is super cute.  I love the pink handle and the black little bow (not sure how long I’ll manage to keep that on).  To the touch, the bristles feel amazingly soft, and the head of the brush is the perfect size for both all-over powder application and bronzer application.  But, what really wowed me was the first time I used it on my powder compact; I couldn’t believe that there wasn’t a huge gigantic mess. 

When swiping the BE brush (or any other brush, for that matter) over my powder, powder fragments would get all over the compact, my hand/wrist, sink, and my clothes if I wasn’t careful.  I never liked this, but I just kind of accepted that it went along with the territory.  But, then I used the Too Faced brush and was shocked and amazed that it could pick up the powder without creating a mess.  What I realized was the bristles were so soft, compared to other brushes, that they didn’t cause as much friction on the powder, creating a huge mess.  So, not only are you not creating a mess, but you’re also not wasting as much powder.  Genius.

So, I feel really good about my new purchase (insert a pat, pat and a smug face).  I feel like a got a really excellent product and the price was really decent.  If you’re in the market for a new makeup brush, or if you’re reading this and realizing that your makeup brush might be a stinker like mine was, you might want to invest in this one by Too Faced.  If I wasn’t happy with the rest of my brushes, I would be more than tempted to splurge on the whole Teddy Bear Hair Brush Set.  Twist, twist (that’s my arm).