Long after the summer months are gone, I long for the natural sun kissed look the summer sun rays gives my face and body. For these few months of the year I am a radiant bronzed goddess and I love every moment if it. During the months where my skin doesn’t get much sun I am able to fake it with a bronzer.
Typically, when women think of bronzers (not to be confused with highlighters) they usually picture a fairer skin woman that is looking to add more "warmth" or color to her skin. Contrary to belief, bronzer can also add warmth to the skin of women of color, giving the skin a glow from within. Bronzers compared to highlighters are usually deeper in tone (more closely matched to skin tone) and have a natural shimmer that doesn't illuminate as heavily as highlighters do.
Here’s how you to can get your natural glow on
- If you plan on wearing any foundation or base, apply this to clean skin. Always start on a fresh canvas. You may also want to do any eye makeup beforehand.
- Grab an appropriate bronzer shade and form of your choice, something close to the tone of your skin or blends in effortlessly with it and a fluff brush if you are using a powder bronzer (best for normal to oily skin types). A bigger fluffy brush will help to disperse it more evenly to give the radiance that you’re looking for. If you are using a gel or cream bronzer (best for dry skin), use a synthetic stippling brush.
For my bronzer I’m using “Aglow” from Clinique with a flat kabuki brush from ELF cosmetics.
- Apply bronzer in areas of the face where sun light hits naturally such as the forehead, cheekbones and the bridge of the nose; this is similar to how you apply highlighter but the achieved look with a bronzer will be much subtler and natural looking. You can also apply bronzer to parts of the body where the sun would hit such as the shoulders and chest.
- Finish off with a face mist. This will help to lock everything in place and also boost the glow from within. My spray of choice is Mac Prep & Prime
- Strut your stuff. You are now a radiant bronze goddess ready to go for the glow.
Something so simple as adding a little youth and radiance to the skin is a great way to quickly add some life to the face.
Try out these bronzing tips and share your looks with us #xoBeauty
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While speaking to xoNecole, Eva shares that she’s a lot like the beloved 1994 character in many ways. “Lyric is so me. She's the odd flower. A flower nonetheless, but definitely not a peony,” she tells us.
“She's not the average flower you see presented, and so she reminds me of myself. I'm a sunflower, beautiful, but different. And what I loved about her character then, and even more so now, is that she was very sure of herself.
"Sure of what she wanted in life and okay to sacrifice her moments right now, to get what she knew she deserved later. And that is me. I'm not an instant gratification kind of a person. I am a long game. I'm not a sprinter, I'm a marathon.
America first fell in love with Eva when she graced our screens on cycle 3 of America’s Next Top Model in 2004, which she emerged as the winner. Since then, she's ventured into different avenues, from acting on various TV series like House of Payne to starring on Real Housewives of Atlanta.
Je-Caryous Johnson Entertainment
Eva praises her castmates and the play’s producer, Je’Caryous for her positive experience. “You know what? Je’Caryous fuels my audacity car daily, ‘cause I consider myself an extremely audacious woman, and I believe in what I know, even if no one else knows it, because God gave it to me. So I know what I know. That is who Je’Caryous is.”
But the mom of three isn’t the only one in the family who enjoys acting. Eva reveals her daughter Marley has also caught the acting bug.
“It is the most adorable thing you can ever see. She’s got a part in her school play. She's in her chorus, and she loves it,” she says. “I don't know if she loves it, because it's like, mommy does it, so maybe I should do it, but there is something about her.”
Overall, Eva hopes that her contribution to the role and the play as a whole serves as motivation for others to reach for the stars.
“I want them to walk out with hope. I want them to re-vision their dreams. Whatever they were. Whatever they are. To re-see them and then have that thing inside of them say, ‘You know what? I'm going to do that. Whatever dream you put on the back burner, go pick it up.
"Whatever dream you've accomplished, make a new dream, but continue to reach for the stars. Continue to reach for what is beyond what people say we can do, especially as [a] Black collective but especially as Black women. When it comes to us and who we are and what we accept and what we're worth, it's not about having seen it before. It's about knowing that I deserve it.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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Feature image by Leon Bennett/WireImage
