Treat your bronzer like an eyeshadow to channel sun-kissed and sculpted skin as seen at Ferragamo S/S 11, says Stylist's Beauty Director Joanna McGarry.

Everyone has a friend who does bronzer brilliantly. Some women just get it. And yet, there are women like me who, for all our attempts to inject some sort of health-mimicking colour into our faces, just can’t get it right. I usually end up somewhere between Tango’d and windburned. It’s worth wrestling with though, as this season’s new method of applying bronzer has the potential to sculpt the face, with an added sweep inside the eye socket to subtly define your peepers.

It’s a look that says you’ve just been holiday’d, which is exactly what Tom Pecheux said when talking about the look he created for s/s 2011 Ferragamo’s show: “She’s a woman by the pool on holiday in Capri,” he purred. Still, go cautiously. Opt for a bronzer which mimics the colour your skin would naturally turn with a tan – avoiding glittery formulas – they’ll cheapen the look.

I went with the most trusted of bronzer brands, Guerlain, sweeping its Terracotta Bronzing Powder in No3, £33, over my cheekbones, forehead and down my nose. I used Mac’s Tapered Blending Brush 224, £21, to lightly dust the bronzer across the socket line, to bind the look together. For the first time in its SPF50 coated life, my skin can pass for sunkissed. Next stop, Capri. Or the local park.

Picture Credit: Getty Images

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