Hello there,
Thanks for stopping by. Recently I’ve been accumulating a bunch of Guerlain Terracotta items, so I decided to write a post about them. I’m referring to the:
- Terracotta Sahara Jewel (Sun light duo bronzing powder)
- Terracotta Route des Îles (Tan enhancing bronzer)
- Terracotta Summer Glow (Golden Glow Powder)
I’ll try to keep this post to the point, and just tell you straight up that every one of these products is beautiful – both in terms of packaging and application. 🙂
In the following pictures I’ve also included last year’s Terracotta Chic Tropic Bronzer (previously reviewed here) for reference. Below you can see the Terracotta Sahara Jewel (left) beside the Chic Tropic (right). Both came with a layer of gold overspray, which I’ve removed on just one side of the pans:
I picked up the Sahara Jewel after some deliberation, and what got me was the fact that when I go for a bronzed look, I always pick a coral or peach-toned blusher to match it. Somehow, I feel like pink doesn’t work quite as well, relatively speaking. However in this case, I was intrigued and wanted to see what shade of pink Guerlain paired up with their famous 03 bronzer shade. Maybe, just maybe, I’d be proven wrong and expand my options.
I haven’t used the Sahara Jewel on my cheeks yet (soon though…), but based on swatches alone, I am very excited and hopeful. This pink has a lovely warmth to it – definitely part of the same ‘family’ as the bronzer. I’ll let you judge that yourself based on the upcoming swatches.
By the way, Guerlain’s bronzers tend to be pigmented, but they are pressed quite hard. So you’re in no danger of ending up with brown cheeks after one brush swipe – you can easily build up the intensity to the level you want. But… the texture is different between the blusher in the central ‘diamond’ area, compared to the rest of the bronzer: the pink blush is pressed far less hard, so be careful to not dig your brush into it too much from the start.
Now on to the other two products: the Terracotta Route des Îles (housed in a luxurious & weighty wooden compact), and the Terracotta Summer Glow – see below:
The Terracotta Route des Îles is certainly the star of the show in terms of packaging. It too comes with a layer of gold overspray across the compass pattern – and with a ‘core’ of peach-toned blusher. Excellent quality as per usual – so no point me dwelling on that too much. I will say, if you have the previous year’s Chic Tropic (reviewed here), you can probably skip this one as the shades are almost indistinguishable – swatches at the end of this post. …Well, unless you’re a bit of a hoarder like me, and simply couldn’t resist the stunning packaging. 🙂
As for the Terracotta Summer Glow, this is pretty much sunshine in a box, which gives off a luxurious yellow-gold glow. ❤ It’s meant to be a highlighter (but definitely not a blingy one). But you don’t have to use it as such. It envelops your skin in a golden, radiant veil, so it can work as an inner corner highlight, or as a blush / bronzer-topper. You can basically customise any other face colour with this dusted on top, and it will either switch things from matte to radiant, or from cool-toned, to warm (or both). Pretty nifty, huh? I’d definitely recommend this for that reason. Plus, layering powder pigments is a lot of fun.
Finally, here are some swatches for all the products mentioned above: side by side, you’ll see the Chic Tropic and the Route des Îles bronzers, which are almost indistinguishable on the skin. Although perhaps the new Route des Îles is slightly more matte.
Next to these you can have a look at the Summer Glow & the Sahara Jewel: I think both look stunning, and the pink blusher is expertly suited to the bronzer shade – so, I stand corrected. 🙂 This will definitely be a frequent colour combination for me, and I’m actually delighted to have snatched up the Sahara Jewel.
Did you grab any of these products yourself? If so, would love to know your thoughts!
Until next time,
Lex
The Cat's Eye 
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