Summer makeup collections usually feature golds, bronzes, bright corals or pinks — perfect colors to accompany a summertime tan. While it’s true that ladies with darker complexions (like your girl) scream a big ol’ “Woot-woot!” when companies release summery products in their preferred shades, light-skinned beauties may feel left out. Fear not, porcelain princesses, because this summer Estee Lauder’s got yo back. Their 2008 summer collection, “Bronze Goddess,” has three great products everyone can wear.
Bronze Goddess Sheer Lip Tint SPF 15 Lipstick
The limited edition Bronze Goddess Sheer Lip Tint SPF 15 lipstick ($25) looks dark in the tube, but don’t let that fool you. Applied, the color looks like a subtle watercolor bronze — just barely there at all — with a touch of shimmer. It should flatter most skin types, even if you’re on the lighter side.
I had a lunch date with El Hub today (over his lunch break) and didn’t want wear too much makeup (aka, I was too lazy to put on a full face!), so I used Bronze Goddess on my lips, a tinted moisturizer on my face and cream blush on my cheeks. Tres casual without looking too sloppy.
I like the texture of Bronze Goddess. It isn’t sticky, goopy or heavy, and on my lips it faintly smells of peach Jolly Ranchers (LOL). The gold and tortoise shell case may look too mature for some, but I think it’s classy and cute.
Blushing Goddess Pure Color Eyeshadow
The second product in the collection to really catch my eye was Blushing Goddess Pure Color Eyeshadow ($17.50). It delivers a soft peach-gold shimmer, and I can see the color looking fantastic on women of light or dark skin.
First, with a MAC 249 I applied MAC Cream Color Base in Pearl to my lids as a base before sweeping Blushing Goddess over the entire eye with a MAC 252. The result: a very subtle metallic glow.
Bronze Goddess Body Oil
Estee Lauder isn’t always viewed as a young, hip product line, but Bronze Goddess Body Oil ($29.50) is downright sexy. The frangrance contains notes of coconut, sandalwood, vanilla, mandarin, lemon and jasmine and reminds me of a secluded beach resort. Jetsetter Karen would wear this fragrance on her sexy self while sipping champagne on a yacht in Monte frickin’ Carlo. (In reality, I wore it in my apartment while sipping green tea, but hey, that’s cool too.)
I sprayed it on after my shower this morning. The oil took a lil’ bit of work to rub into my arms and legs (because it’s an oil, it doesn’t immediately evaporate), but the scent has lingered on my skin all day long, so it was well worth the effort.
If body oils aren’t your thing, you can still get the scent in either an Eau Fraiche (a light perfume), or a Luminous Body Lotion. Goddesses, get ready for summer!
The Bronze Goddess line features several other limited edition bronzers, lip glosses, nail polishes and eyeshadows ranging from $18-$49.50. Pop by your nearest Estee Lauder counter to check ’em out, or view the collection online at esteelauder.com.
Happy Friday, homie! I am feeling so very happy today. I slept in a little this morning, went for a run and then met El Hub for lunch. I was also able to catch up on some essential reality TV watching — namely, a few episodes of America’s Best Dance Crew.
In the last episode, the remaining competitors had to do a routine featuring the evolution of hip hop. It cracked me up to see dancers doing steps I did back in the eighth grade. Girl, don’t make me battle you! I can tear sh*t up with my Cabbage Patch, Wop and Kid n’ Play, LOL!
How was your Friday? Any exciting plans for the weekend? Let me know how you’ve been in the comments.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
AHA, I watch America’s Best Dance Crew, too. I missed the Michael Jackson tribute episode, so pissed.
Christine’s last blog post..DuWop – Lip Lingo Palette in Pink Review
That was SOO GOOD! I wish I could send my TiVo ep to you!
Who are you pulling for?!
Ooh Ooh. I am so getting that pretty eyeshadow! It’s so beautiful!
Hi Karen I missed you sweet,
I read that the bronze godess hase a coconut scent to it and I don’t like the coconut, the only scent I like from estee lauder is pure white linen. The lipstick has a sheer coverage I guess and the backaging is cooool as ever.
Didn’t you take a look at M.A.C heatherette collection? it looks awsome.
Hi Sandy,
It would look great with your skin tone! 🙂 Hope you’re having a good weekend so far!
Hi Carla,
I usually don’t like coconut notes either, but this doesn’t have a overwhelming coconut smell so I dig it. I’ve never smelled Pure White Linen.
I liked some things about Heatherette – the Lipglasses were cute!
Woot woot, time to get my bronze on! And that eyeshadow looks soooo darn pretty, especially on darker skin tones. I’m always on the lookout for a simple shade that you can just sweep on by itself and it still catches your eye.
These look very elegant IMO!
That eyeshadow looks perfect for a little pop of colour during the day!
Julie’s last blog post..Happy Easter, ya’ll!
the body oil sound so luxurious… the kind you slather on and sipped mimosa.. hahaha
it’s saturday night here… might be heading to a club! woot hahaha time to play make up
Hi Karen!
Congrats on getting past your deadline! Woo-hoo! 🙂
I’m finally out of bed (urg). I managed to get my sorry butt better just in time to take my kyu test last night. Good news, everybody says I rocked! Bad news, I felt like a total spaz! Oh well, I’ll do better next time, I’m 3rd kyu now! 😀
I really am looking forward to smelling that Bronze Goddess body oil, it sounds luscious! Also, for any other pale girls out there, let me give a little shout-out to my fave bronzer, Too Faced Snow Bunny bronzer! It has some pink in it so it doesn’t tend to look too orangey or intense on lighter skin, and it’s a compact with four stripes of gold-kissed color, so it doubles as a lovely, sheer eyeshadow quad!
It sounds awesome! I’ll check it out. I managed to sprain one of my fingers and should not use the computer but oh well!
Man, I don’t even really have a favorite, you know? They’re all pretty good. I think maybe the Jaberwakies (however you spell it) if I had to pick…
Christine’s last blog post..Temptalia Asks You – What are your current beauty lemmings?
Hey Karen,
Both eyeshadow and lippie look great! I´m waiting for a EOTD with the eyeshadow. 🙂 I´m not into body oils, but that looks flattering on tanned skin.
Hugs! 🙂
Eru.
Eru’s last blog post..Lavshuca EOTD~~
Hi Breezy,
Me too! I love doing just a wash of a single color on my lids. Do you have any faves? Mine are Woodwinked and Rice Paper.
Hi Susanne,
I agree! I love the lipstick case, especially, with the tortoise shell-esque touch on the top. 🙂
Hi Julie,
It is. 🙂 Just do a layer all over the lid, curl your lashes and then add two coats of mascara and you’re good to go!
Hi Ping,
LOL, that’s so true. I could do with a mimosa right now, to be honest… Have fun at the club! What makeup did you wear?
Hi Glosslizard,
Thanks girlfriend. I feel like a weight’s been lifted off my shoulders — ahh!
I’m glad to hear that your test went well! Congrats! Are you feeling better? I hope so. 🙂
I like most of Estee Lauder’s fragrances, so it wasn’t hard for me to get on board with Bronze Goddess! They have an Eau Fraiche version, too, if you don’t want to use the oil.
Hi Dao,
Oh no! What the heck were you doing? I hope the sprain isn’t too bad.
Yeah, Estee’s got some cool stuff. I used to not be into it when I was a teenager but now I dig the line, especially the lipsticks. 🙂
Hope that finger feels better soon!
Hi Christine,
That’s who I think is going to win. I love their choreography and how clean they dance! I was sad to the skate group leave…
Hi Eru,
Nice to see you! LOL, okay, I will do an EOTD once I catch up on my sleep and get rid of these terrible dark circles. Hope things are well with you! What’s new?
Hi Karen!
I smelled BG yesterday, and it is really a great beachy scent! I’m not sure I love it enough to buy it, but I’d sure be down with having a sample to play with this summer! 🙂
I also tried on the Orient Sun bronzer from the new Guerlain collection and it is amazing! If I buy a bronzer this year, this will be the one! With a rosy undertone, it really gave me a believable bronze glow on my cheeks! It looked so fab with Gazelle! One more item on the shopping list…. sigh!
Hi Glosslizard,
Samples are always good. I have a few Burberry fragrance samples sitting here on my desk, hee!
Oh, thanks for the heads up — that Guerlain bronzer sounds pretty! You better work that with Gazelle this summer. 🙂
I know! Woe to my wallet!
Watch out though! They have two other colors that are more golden and would prob’ly look super-hot on you! 😉
So I’ve been MIA for a minute. I had to go to Chicago for meetings last week and then I took a couple days off to make a long weekend because I had a birthday party to plan/be involved in on Sat. So I’ve been avoiding the computer a little. So I’ve totally been crushing on Estee Lauder since the holidays (my sister wanted one of their fragrances for Christmas and they had an offer for a kit that you could buy super cheap with a fragrance purchase) – and I’m having difficulty deciding between their bronze goddess and the pearls of light collections. Both are gorgeous though. And I love how all their lip products have nice smells to them. 🙂
BTW Have you ever tried the NYX brand? I read something about it on the Craigslist Beauty boards and I picked up a couple shadows while I was at Ulta over the weekend. They’re great shadows at a drugstore price. You should check them out if you get a chance.
Hi Megan,
Girlfriend! I missed you! How did the birthday party go? I hope everything went well.
Pearls of Light is really pretty too! I hate to be your pusher but if you get something then I’ll have to vicariously live through you. Do you have any fave EL lip shades?
I have tried a few Nyx shadows. They are hard to come by up here in NorCal for some reason. I think they are great for the price and you get a ton of product. For me, though, the shades I got were a touch too shimmery. This was years ago though, so maybe they changed their formulation. What colors did you get? I’ve heard they have some nice lipsticks too, but I can’t find em up here for the life of me!
The birthday party was good…out of control with a stripper…but good.
I definitely think I am going to pick up one of them, I just need to get out to the counter and try them out I think before I decide what to buy. The High Gloss in Berry and Honey are two of my favorites. I have a couple lipsticks from them, but I don’t remember the colors offhand.
In the NYX I decided to stick to the bold eye New Years Resolution. I got two shadows with matching jumbo eye pencils…which is like a cream shadow in a big pencil. I picked up Pacific (a pretty bright blue) and Lime. I also grabbed a white for highlight. On sunday I did the lime jumbo pencil with the lime shadow and the white highlight and a darker green I already had for lining and it’s really cool. I was keeping it somewhat understated since it was easter sunday, but the boyf commented on the bright green and said it looked nice and suited me. I could definitely do some out there looks though because the cream with the shadow makes the colors really pop. They did have some really shimmery shadows, but I didn’t get that kind. I haven’t checked out their lipsticks…so I’ll have to keep that on the to do list. Too bad you don’t have an Ulta near you. That’s the only place around here that I know that carries the brand.