We introduced you to strobing last year. You know, contouring’s less labor intensive cousin? Well, forget all that. A new beauty trend is here and you are going to love it for summer.

The latest beauty trend is called “stripping” and it is super hot. And not nearly as sleazy at it sounds.

Since a more natural look is on trend this year, and thank golly for that, it isn’t a surprise that the number of products it takes to achieve the look is more minimal too. You’re yearning to bust out the good ol’ bronzer right about now, aren’t you?

We all want to shake off our winter pallor and sport a healthy glow this time of year. But the old ways of bronzer are behind us. Stripping, or “sun stripping”, is a way of using bronzer that makes it look like you’ve actually spent a little quality time under the sun. Who comes in from a fun day outdoors with a uniformly bronzed face? No one. Ever. That’s why all-over face bronzing got kicked to the curb in favor of this new approach.

Best of all it’s fast, easy, and requires only one product. Here’s how.

How to Perform the Stripping Beauty Trend in 4 Easy Steps

1. Choose a bronzer. Here’s the trick with stripping. You want it to look natural, so stay away from bronzers with shimmer and select one that looks good on your skin tone. Also, powder works best for stripping. Alima Pure Bronzer comes in two color choices, light bronze and medium bronze, and is super natural looking. Another option is W3LL People Bio Bronzer, a universally flattering shade that looks like a true glow.

2. Use the right tools. You don’t want your bronzer everywhere. A semi-sturdy brush, like the Alima Pure Flat Top Brush, is perfect for applying the bronzer. You will also want a blush brush, like Alima Pure Blush Brush, for blending.

3. Apply the bronzer. After applying your foundation or tinted moisturizer as usual, apply a strip of bronzer across apples of cheeks and bridge of nose, where sun hits your face when you are outdoors. This is going to look wacky, but stay with us.

4. Blend it out. Now, using the blush brush, blend the strip of bronzer outward slightly and buff to a natural looking glow.

That’s it, peeps. Couldn’t be easier and you will love the just-been-out-in-the-sun look it gives your skin.

*Disclaimer: Help support EcoSalon! Our site is dedicated to helping people live a conscious lifestyle. We’ve provided some affiliate links above in case you wish to purchase any of these products.

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Image of girl with bronzed cheeks via Shutterstock

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If there is one makeup product that practically screams Summer!, it has to be bronzer. But this warm weather beauty staple works wonders on winter skin too. Learn how to apply bronzer to keep your glow rolling straight through the chilly season.

If you are thinking bronzer seems all wrong this time of year, think again. Used the right way, it can warm up pasty, lackluster skin in an instant. Forget the orange-y gleam. We are talking natural radiance, here. Think managed to catch some sun over lunch, not got sizzled on the skin slopes.

The best way to get your glow on is with an all natural bronzer. Conventional bronzing products use artificial colorants to achieve the desired color, some of which are made from petroleum, which has been linked to cancer. Of course, they are also made with an array of other nasty cosmetic ingredients, like synthetic preservatives and harsh emollients. Talc is often used in these products as well, which can be contaminated with carcinogenic ingredients and GMOs.

Nontoxic bronzers are free from talc, parabens, and other chemicals. These safe products get their golden hue from natural minerals, and fruit and vegetable pigments. The result is subtler color with the added bonus of a better for you and your skin product. And you have options. Natural bronzers come in powder, liquid, and cream. Or try your hand at DIY with a simple, and safe, bronzer recipe.

Now for the fun part. Adding some warmth back to that pale wintery complexion. When you think bronzer, you most likely envision using it in place of blush a la summertime beauty. Did you know that bronzer isn’t just for cheeks? This multi-tasker can do so much more.

How to Apply Bronzer for Winter + Our Product Picks

Face It // Powder bronzers are convenient, but a liquid or cream adds more realistic color in dry skin months. Try a few drops of 100% Pure All Over Glow in Lightly Sunkissed mixed into your foundation for natural looking insta-glow.

See Your Shadow // ‘Tis the season of the red lip. And nothing goes with the look better than a natural eye. Try applying cult favorite RMS Beauty Buriti Bronzer to lids for a super natch, yet totally put together, look.

Flaunt It // Covering discoloration close to lash line with concealer can look very unnatural. Try smudging W3LL People Bio Bronzer along upper and lower lash lines. This reflects light, replacing darkness with intensity.

Lip Off // Don your favorite colorless gloss or balm, then add a swipe of Vapour Organic Beauty Solar Translucent Bronzer on top for a nude lip only better. We promise you will love.

Natural Flush // Of course, bronzer works in its old standby role as blusher too. Top with a peachy cream blush, like Vapour Organic Beauty Aura Multi Use Blush in Spark, for just-came-in-from-the-cold perfection.

Stop lamenting your skin’s wintertime slump. Pull that bronzer back out and put it to work. You won’t believe how it breathes life back into a pale complexion.

Related on EcoSalon

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Image: Paval Hadzinski at Flickr.com

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6 best products for a healthy self tan.

Many of us want a bronzed look, but achieving a safe summer glow can be tricky. We want to look gently kissed by the sun, not smacked in the face by a metallic tangerine. So check out our favorite products this season for sun-less (and safer) color.

Eco SPF 30+ FACE
Just because you’re not directly baking in the sun, doesn’t mean you should forgo a daily SPF. Eco FACE receives a #1 ranking from the Skin Deep database for safety. With a non-greasy application, this product moisturizers and protects with a non-whitening zinc oxide. It is also completely free of nanoparticles.

Natural Self Tanner by True Natural Cosmetics ($17.99)
For some, applying a self-tanner can seem like a walk through a department store makeup area – there’s lots of chemicals and fragrance flying around. This brand-new self tanner from True Naturals brings us back to nature with a light, citrus scent plied with a smooth, quick-to-absorb application. Meant for face and body, this vegan product is the first USDA 100% Certified, Biobased self tanner on the market. Using naturally-occurring sugars, the product reacts with amino acids on the skin to create a naturally-tanned look.

Deep Dry Skin Leg Oil by This Works ($60.00)
The first line of defense against dull skin is a good moisturizer – so what better to give your gams a richer hue than a product made from nine different cold-pressed essential oils? Deep Dry Skin Leg Oil, via Futurenatural, combines rose, patchouli, sandalwood, tuberose, macadamia and coconut oils with Jojoba and olive oils. This product brings a deep hydration to your skin. High in vitamins and fatty acids, you can transform your skin from scaly to silky smooth.

Bronzer by Alima Pure ($17.00)
The general rule of thumb for picking a shade for bronzer is to go two shades darker than your natural skin tone. Creating a soft glow, this product enhances your natural skin tone with a subtle sun-kissed application. Available in several different swatches, it is BDIH certified. Alima Pure was the second United States company to gain this prestigious natural certification.

Bronzer and Blush Combo by Miessence ($31.90 and $21.15)
For the ultimate in color, consider separately applying both a bronzer and blush. Some products are meant for blending, as are this bronzer and blush combo from Miessence via Organic Glow. The experts at Organic Glow recommend using a powder brush to dust the bronzer and blush to the desired color intensity. Apply the bronzer in a C formation and the blush to the apples of your cheeks. Organic Glow offers several shades of blush by Miessence – lighter skin tones should start with Apricot Dew while the darkest should consider Desert Rose Satin. These products are both BFA certified (Biological Farmers of Australia).

Living Luminizer by RMS Beauty ($38.00)
Liquid bronzers can be streaky, so for many its best to stick with a powder duster. But for those looking to sparkle, the Living Luminizer from RMS Beauty will add light and life to your face. For darker skin tones, this can be an excellent way to add a bit of shimmer to your bronzer. For all users of all shades, this is a great choice for daytime, as a good shimmer reflects daylight. This product is formulated with raw, food grade organic ingredients in their natural state.

Image: 28045310@N08

FTC Compliance

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ColumnThis summer, get carried away with warm ocean breezes, and add a blue hue around the eyes.

It’s easy to incorporate a vibrant color because you still get to use the usual palettes of neutrals for the rest of the face to keep it “safe.” (Don’t worry, I wasn’t going to take the neutral security blanket away from you entirely.) Let’s start by saying the look we are going for isn’t reminiscent of the frosty blue eyeshadow that punctuated the late 70’s.  This is a modern take on a color that can enhance any eye without looking overdone, out-of-date, or tacky.

First in our makeup application we need a golden base to set the stage for softly vibrant blue tones. The goal is to look sun-kissed, but that’s not to say you should forgo sun protection. In fact, there’s lots of way to get that sun-kissed look without ever putting your face in the sun’s eye with fake tan moisturizers and makeup that gives you an immediate tan or builds up over use.

How to create a realistic looking bronze glow:

1. Choose a foundation shade slightly darker than the one you’d pick for the winter or add in a bronzing liquid like Jane Iredale Dream Tint in Warm Bronze.

2. Go for a bronzer to sculpt your face and give it depth. To keep a tropically moist look to the skin, try Revolution Organics Freedom Glow Beauty Balm in Bronzed.  With your (clean) finger, place three dots of color into the hollow of your cheekbones and spread them out using two fingers in an oblong motion from the apples of the cheeks out to the hairline near the ear.

Pro tip: Add more realism to your faux bronze by putting a little dab of bronzer on the bridge of the nose (not the tip), along the forehead hairline and just above the temples of the face.

3. Create even more dimension and glow by highlighting the tops of your cheekbones with a few dots of a creamy highlighter like RMS Beauty’s Living Luminzer.

Now, those tropical eyes: A strong, yet natural, brow is very important to add a frame for the eye that doesn’t read as a lot of color and adds definition to the face. Add color using a powder or pencil to thicken your natural shape. Keep brow hairs swept upward to achieve an island goddess vibe.  Check out this video tutorial on exactly how to achieve this look that I made it while working in the Caribbean.

Pro tip: Fill in your brows with a color that is not quite as dark as your hair color. One to two shades lighter is the general rule.

Creating the blue line. Get yourself a blue hue with a touch of sparkle that inspires you like Alima Pure eyeshadow in Aegean.  In this case, I prefer the control of a powder used with a short, thin angled brush. Dampening the brush before you dip into the shadow will give it extra impact, or you can leave it dry for a softer effect. Use the brush to create a tight line along the upper and lower lashes, from corner to corner. Don’t start getting overly creative; just keep the blue tight into the lash line. If you feel like adding a bit of extra definition, take a black pencil and line inside the water line of both the upper and lower lashes.

Pro tip: Hold a folded tissue under your eye to avoid getting shadow all over your face.

Let’s move onto giving contour to the eyes because you don’t want to have them bare with just a blue line (that would be tacky). Use a medium brown eyeshadow in the crease of your eyelid. If your skin is dark toned, you will need to use a darker brown to get the same affect. This wash of color should be blended perfectly with no obvious start and stop points. Using a big, fluffy eyeshadow brush will help with that process.

Finally curl your lashes, swipe on one or two coats of your favorite mascara and pop on a beige-gold lip color.

Now your gorgeous-tropical-self can go takeover the island!

I’m not a “Do as I say, not as I do” kind of makeup artist so this Memorial weekend, I felt it was my patriotic and fashionable duty to honor the sailors flooding the island of New York with a makeup homage to the red, white and blue, specifically the blue.  My version was a bit softer and only went on the upper lid. The best thing about makeup is that you can always wipe it off. So get inspired and have fun!

Editor’s note: Got a celebrity look you’d like to copy or a trend you’d like to see incorporating healthy, non-toxic makeup? Send your questions to High Definition columnist Kristen Arnett at beauty@ecosalon.com

New York City based Kristen Arnett is an internationally renowned makeup artist and founder of the Green Beauty Team, styling high profile celebrities and runway models as well as a sought after beauty expert, educator and teacher for other makeup artists.

Image: Allure Magazine June 2011, photo by Michael Thompson

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ColumnTaking natural makeup to dizzying heights.

This is Kristen Arnett’s first column in her new weekly foray into detoxing our makeup bags and giving us healthier cosmetic options. Expect to be wooed by everything from runway makeup trends to celebrity makeovers.  Arnett is an internationally renowned makeup artist and founder of the Green Beauty Team, styling high profile celebrities and runway models as well as being a sought after beauty expert, educator and teacher for other makeup artists.

When Jennifer Lopez arrived at the Met Gala this year, she was showing off not only a stunning Gucci dress, but a sophisticated, sexy makeup look which rightfully grabbed plenty of attention.  That night I was tucked away with a team of makeup artists in one of the many rooms at the Met working on other ladies, but had I known that upstairs J Lo, with her show-stopping face was walking the red carpet, I may have just run past the guards to get a close-up peek.  Since a photo is about as close as you and I are going to get, let’s break her red carpet look down so you can mimic at your own free will.

1. First, slick back your hair into a tight chignon.  Makeup like this must stand on its own without competition.

2. Next, to create a warm, glowing complexion, choose a foundation that isn’t overly matte in texture.  I suggest using something like Youngblood Liquid Mineral Foundation.  Be a perfectionist and cover up all the darkness and discoloration you can on your skin, because red lips accentuate red and purple tones on other areas of the face.

3. Get a bronzer and a big fluffy powder brush to give yourself some defined cheek bones. Avoid glittery bronzers; no extra sparkle is needed on the face for this look. I love the matte bronzers from Alima Pure. Their shade in Trinidad is perfect for this makeup.

Pro tip: tap your brush to remove excess powder to avoid getting an uneven streak.  Start in the hollow of the cheekbone from the side of the face and work inward towards the apple of the cheek.

4. On to the eyes. Take the same bronzer from the cheeks, but using a smaller eyeshadow brush, sweep the color into your eye socket.  Keeping the color more concentrated towards the outer two-thirds of the eye and softly diffusing towards the nose.  With a smaller brush still, drag a little bit under the lower lash line.
On the lids, use a light, shimmery eyeshadow, working from the center towards the tear ducts.

Jenny From The Block doesn’t ever leave her house without four pounds of false eyelashes on.  For those of you aren’t comfortable venturing into the realm of false lashes and glue because they’re too difficult to wrangle or you want to stay away from anything toxic, layer on lash primer and use mascara to boost what you’ve naturally got.
Concentrate your lash thickness towards the outer two-thirds of the eye. Don’t forget those lashes on the bottom. They need some love too.

5. With liner, draw a black line along the top lashes that starts very thin in the inner corner of the eye and widens out towards the far edge without giving yourself wings.

6. Fill in your brows so they have a thicker shape and a strong arch.
Pro tip: To make brows look soft, yet strong choose a color that is two shades lighter than your hair color (unless you are a blond). Pretend you are drawing on individual hairs, and finish by blending with a spooly brush.

Finally, we’re on to the most crucial part of the whole look: lips.

These head turners are no small feat and shape is crucial. Start with a deep red liner to outline the whole mouth. Use the above photo for direction, see how her mouth is very almond shaped and the peaks at the bow of the mouth are connected with a semi-circle in the middle? It’s defined, yet soft. Don’t be afraid to take the liner up over your natural line a bit.  It may feel like a bit much at first, but this level of drama and sexiness demands it.

Fill in the lips with the liner, concentrating on the outer corners of the mouth and working inward, and leaving the center area of the bottom lip almost untouched. Then with a super glossy, red lip shine just about two shades lighter, go over the lips starting at the center of the mouth to add color in and working outward.

Pro tip: apply the gloss to blend the lip color works best with a large lip brush.  Avoid getting too much gloss into the corners of the mouth or you’ll have a runny mess.

As the final touch, glisten up those arms and legs! Try Youngblood’s Mineral Illuminating Body Tint for a gorgeous, golden glow to last all night.

Editor’s note: Got a celebrity look you’d like to copy or a trend you’d like to see incorporating healthy, non-toxic makeup? Send your questions to High Definition columnist Kristen Arnett at beauty@ecosalon.com

New York City based Kristen Arnett is an internationally renowned makeup artist and founder of the Green Beauty Team, styling high profile celebrities and runway models as well as a sought after beauty expert, educator and teacher for other makeup artists.

Image: BinsideTV

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