Remember in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the Oompa-Loompas had fabulous orange skin and sang a warning when Violet Beauregarde and the other misbehaving children stepped out of line? Or the Jersey Shore crew who took GTL (Gym, Tan, Laundry) to the extreme? The orange skin worked for them, but that’s not the look you want after applying bronzer in the morning. Lancôme make up artist Lora Spiga gave ChickAdvisor some tips to avoid the Oompa-Loompa look, no warning song necessary. 

1. "Bronzer must be selected based on skin tone. There are levels of intensity to choose from. Typically Bronzers fall into 3 intensities: Light, Medium, Dark. Typically, you should choose a colour that is one shade darker than your skin tone, and no darker than this."

2. Use the right brush. "I like to use a Synthetic Mineral Powder brush [a large round powder brush]. The size perfectly embraces all the curves of the face and it feels absolutely heavenly on the skin."

3. Prep your skin. "Apply a natural and lightweight foundation (like Teint Miracle). Skin should look as natural as possible. A tinted moisturizer will also work well to achieve a natural look."

4. Keep it light. "Don’t over-apply—the idea is to lightly sweep the product over the skin. If you have excessively oily skin powder the face with an oil absorbing powder before applying bronzer. Sebum can cause many bronzers too look “orangey.” Powdering the face first will help keep skin more matte, longer."

5. Work in threes. "Typically, bronzers should be applied in areas of the face you would tan. This is different for everyone, but in most cases, it is a backward 3 on each side of the face. Starting on the forehead, moving down the temple, onto cheekbone and then across the jaw line."

6. Contour Contour Contour. "Use a more tapered brush for doing more precise contouring. For example if you want the face to appear more narrow, apply bronzer under cheek bone. If you want the nose to appear thinner apply bronzer with a medium sized eye shadow brush along the sides of your nose and if you want your jaw line to appear more defined apply bronzer under the jaw line, between the jaw and neck, brushing downwards."

Looking for a bronzer to try? Check out our bronzer round up for Summer 2011. And here's your chance to win a bronzer or another great beauty prize by Like-ing us on Facebook.

Got a bronzer horror story? What did you learn from it?

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