Murad Absolute Bronzing Boost is an instant, oil-free liquid bronzer that can be worn alone or mixed with foundation, for a golden glow with added SPF 15 and skin conditioning treatments. When I first received this I wasn’t sure that it would work for me as the colour seemed quite strong, but a little experimentation has proved that this is a really versatile product.
It’s a proper deep bronze in tone (slightly deeper than it appears above) with a subtle golden sheen, which makes the skin glow rather than shimmer - a preferable finish in my book.
I applied it using my Real Techniques Stippling Brush for the above swatch and found that this distributed it much more finely and evenly than my fingers. 18months ago I wouldn’t have dreamed of applying a liquid product with a brush, but find that I’m choosing liquid formulas more now as they work so well in this way and look much more natural.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been favouring a much more natural look recently, so decided to try and create a very natural makeup look incorporating the Murad Absolute Bronzing Boost. These are the other products I used…
From top left: Murad Absolute Bronzing Boost, Dr Jart Water Fuse BB Cream {review}, Vichy Dermablend Ultra Corrective Foundation Cream Stick, Max Factor Mascara False Lash Effect (black/brown), Real Techniques Stippling Brush, YSL bronzer in Light 01 {review}, Balance Me Rose Otto lip salve, M&S Ltd Edition Lipgloss in Mulberry.
Step by Step…
1. Wearing only Murad Absolute Bronzing Boost SPF15 and Max Factor mascara.
For me, this would be the ideal holiday makeup. My lashes are almost invisible naturally and my face is quite pale (even in the many years I tried desperately to get it to tan, it got very little colour compared to the rest of me - could have saved myself a fortune in skincare if I hadn’t bothered!). Used alone, this product adds colour, a natural glow and lightly camouflages small imperfections.
2. With the addition of Dr Jart BB cream in Water Fuse, evening out the skintone and covering minor blemishes.
Personally I can’t bear a finished look without at least blusher. For me, blusher is what makes the face look alive… I’m always wishing I could whip out my blush & apply some to faces that pass me by, which look fine, but could look amazing with the addition of blusher!
3. Final natural makeup look, using all of the products above.
Using my Crown Brushes Deluxe Double Sided Blender I added Vichy Dermablend Ultra Corrective Foundation Cream Stick as concealer. This product is capable of extremely high coverage and is often used by makeup artists to cover tattoos. It’s also great for scarring, bruising etc, but a light layer buffed in with this (brilliant!) blending brush acts as a great concealer.
I applied the YSL bronzer with my Eco Tools Powder Brush. as it’s so pigmented I only need a teeny amount. Illamasqua Powder Blusher in Lover has a beautiful finely milled texture and is again very highly pigmented. I found it difficult to get along with this in Winter, but think its warm tones look best over a more golden skintone. I applied this with the Japonesque Professional Fan brush, which I reviewed recently {here}.
For my lips, I was going to stick with Super Balance Me Rose Otto Lip Salve (recent magazine freebie) but couldn’t resist adding my current fave nude lipgloss, Mulberry by M&S Limited Collection on top.
A final pic taken with flash, as some of you have asked me how BB creams perform with flash - this makes the whole finished look much more ‘made up’ than it does in natural light - there are patches of white out from the BB, but nothing I’d overly worry about.
I didn’t want this to look like I was using natural makeup… I wanted to look like I wasn’t actually wearing any at all! I don’t think I achieved that in this case. The next day I tried mixing the Murad with the BB Cream and have been doing this ever since as I think it gives a much more natural finish.
One final pic to illustrate this (sorry - I’m getting bored of looking at my face too!)
The only other difference here is that I used a pink Illamasqua Powder blush this time.
I feel that this kind of makeup allows my skin to breathe a little more and also saves me a lot of time… when I got ‘properly’ made up on Friday evening I felt as if I was wearing SO much makeup. I think the minimal eyes makes a big difference as well as the skin - my eyes definitely look better when a bit more defined, but for now I’m quite liking the natural look!
What do you think… are you a fan of natural looking makeup?
Murad Absolute Bronze* is £31.50 here
*press sample
