Beauty: The how-to guide to face bronzer

Confused about bronzer? The experts at Laura Mercier at Harvey Nichols Leeds give a quick and easy make-up tutorial. Stephanie Smith watched, listened and learned.

There’s more to bronzer than bronzing, although this can lead to a little confusion when wondering precisely how and where to use it.

“A lot of people do struggle with where to place bronzer,” says Emma Sykes, make-up expert at Laura Mercier, Harvey Nichols Leeds.

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Demonstrating the Soleil Matte Veil Cream bronzer (£30), Emma used a large angled cheek contour brush (£37) to place the product on top of foundation, already set, starting at the hairline at the top and moving down to the temples.

“Take this where you would naturally catch the sun,” she says. From the temples, she arched into the cheekbones, and then brushes down the centre of the nose. There’s no need to take bronzer under the chin, she says, because that’s not where the sun rests.

“Lightly buff in the product using circular movements and you will see the skin change colour instantly,” she says. “This almost tints the skin, rather than it being a heavy texture, so you’re not going to get that dry muddiness.

“Allow the brush to do the work. You want it to be soft, circular motions. To build a contour, I always like to take the angled brush and buff up from the cheekbone, rather than pulling the product down. If you buff up from the cheekbone, whether that be with a blusher or a bronzer, you get a lovely sculpt.”

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Next, Emma used highlighter, first a cream one on the highest point of the cheekbones, on the brow bones and down the nose, to give a dewy glow and subtle highlight on the skin. “This is something that’s really really quick,” she says. “You can do this first thing on a morning, and it will only take you a couple of minutes. These products are oil-free so they are not going to move.”

For an evening look, she simply took Laura Mercier Matte Radiance Baked Powder Highlighter 01 (£28.50) and brushed it again on the cheekbones and nose, for a bright and beautiful pop of radiance.

Laura Mercier is at Beyond Beauty, ground floor, Harvey Nichols Leeds.

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