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 an evolution is a natural progression that happens as businesses grow, a rebrand is a total change. Lola tells xoNecole, "A total rebrand is necessary when a business’s current reputation/what it’s known for is at odds with the business’s vision or direction.
"For example, if you’ve fundamentally changed what your product is and does, it’s likely that your brand is out of alignment with the business. Or, if you find your company is developing a reputation that doesn’t serve it, it might be time to pump the brakes and figure out what needs to change.
She continues, "Sometimes you’ll see companies (especially startups) announce a name change that comes with updated messaging, visuals, etc. That usually means their vision has changed or expanded, and their previous branding was too narrow/couldn’t encompass everything they planned to do."
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The Brand Doula was born in 2019, and its focus is on putting "the experiences, goals, and needs of women of color founders first," as well as brands with "culture-shifting missions."
According to Lola, culture-shifting is "the act of influencing dominant behavior, beliefs, or experiences in a community or group (ideally, for the better)."
"At The Brand Doula, we work with companies and leaders that set out to challenge the status quo in their industries and communities. They’re here to make an impact that sends ripples across the market," she says.
"We help the problem solvers of the world — the ones who aren't satisfied with 'this is how it's always been' and instead ask 'how could this be better?' Our clients build for impact, reimagining tools, systems, and ways of living to move cultures forward."
The Brand Doula has worked with many brands, including Too Collective, to assist with their collaboration with Selena Gomez's Rare Beauty and Balanced Black Girl for a "refresh," aka rebrand. For businesses looking to rebrand, Lola shares four essential steps.
1. Do an audit of your current brand experience — what’s still relevant and what needs to change? Reflect on why you’re doing the rebrand in the first place and what success would look like after relaunching.
2. Tackle the overall strategy first — before you start redesigning logos and websites, align on a new vision for your brand. How do you want your company to be positioned moving forward? Has your audience changed at all? Will your company have a fresh personality and voice?
3. Bring your audience along the journey — there’s no need to move in secret. Inviting your current audience into the journey can actually help them feel more connected to and invested in your story, enough to stick around as changes are being made.
4. Keep business moving — one of my biggest pet peeves is when companies take down their websites as soon as they have the idea to rebrand, then have a Coming Soon page up for months! You lose a lot of momentum and interest by doing that. If you’re still in business and generating income, continue to operate while you work on your rebrand behind the scenes. You don’t want to cut existing customers off out of the blue, and you also don’t want so much downtime that folks forget your business exists or start looking for other solutions.
While determining whether the rebrand was successful may take a few months, Lola says a clear sign that it is unsuccessful is negative feedback from your target audience. "Customers are typically more vocal about what they don’t like more than what they do like," she says.
But some good signs to look out for are improvements in engagement with your marketing, positive reviews, press and increase in retention, and overall feeling aligned with the new branding.
For more information about Lola and The Brand Doula, visit her website, thebranddoula.com.
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