Putting Color in My Cheeks- Guerlain Terracotta Bronzing Powder

It's the season: We're getting pale and sallow, the cold air isn't doing us any favors and neither does the excessive heating. I'm wearing bronzers year-round, but it's this time of the year that requires something special to warm things up.

That's what sent me to the nearest Guerlain counter to look at their offering (and there are several, including some gorgeous limited edition holiday items). What I chose was the Terracotta Light Sheer Bronzing Powder. For some reason, I fell for the mosaic gimmick, despite knowing well that it doesn't really matter: You need to swipe and swirl your bronzer brush all over the compact to catch a bit of all the colors and textures, and you definitely don't want the actual pattern on your skin, right? still, it's cute and I like seeing all the different elements and shades that make the bronzer.

Naturally, I picked the Brunette one, and it's definitely the perfect color. There's a tiny bit of shimmer (only three of the mosaic pieces are shimmery), which suits me well. The rest blends into a lovely sun-kissed but not overdone glow, with no hint of peach or coral . It's pigmented enough not to require any additional blush, and it's a very good thing. As high-maintenance as I may be, there's only so much color I want to pile up on my face. The texture is light and fine, melts nicely into the skin and stays there all day long (I'm using both a primer and light foundation). Can't ask for much more.

The Terracotta bronzer has won some prizes and was voted as best in its category by both InStyle and Allure magazines. Is it really the best? Hard to tell. It's a good product, no doubt about it, but I can't say it knocked the brush off my hand. The above average price tag isn't outrageous for the bronzer's quality, but there are several excellent bronzers that cost less. It also doesn't affect my opinion that the greatest bronzer/blush of all time is Dallas from Benefit, even if sometimes I want a more glamorous look (hence the addition of this Guerlain to my alarmingly growing stash).

A word about brushes: I started using this product with a thick bronzer brush from Sephora and it worked well, but lately I'm preferring to use a softer, fluffier old brush that I've had for over a decade (I distinctly remember packing it in my makeup bag for our honeymoon). It's a French brush, a little lighter and not as dense as a regular bronzer brush, and I think it gives better results: lighter and more even with less effort. I don't know who was its maker. Everything other than the "made in France" has faded from it over the years, but the head is still in perfect condition and doesn't shed when I wash it.