This is how Selena Gomez's makeup artist fakes a year-round bronze glow

“This is the technique I used to get that super gorgeous glow”

BEAUTYcrew Beauty Editor / June 21 2022

If you’ve been keeping tabs on Selena Gomez recently, then you’ve probably noticed the multi-hyphenate rocking an enviably bronzed glow. 

Turns out, that sun-kissed look is intentional. And it’s easy to achieve too, according to her makeup artist Melissa Murdick. 

“Y’all, I’m about to show you the way to start doing your bronzer,” Murdick shared in a recent TikTok tutorial

“If, by chance, you saw Selena Gomez on Jimmy Kimmel [Live!], this is the technique I used to get that super gorgeous glow that looks totally realistic,” she went on to say.

Image credit: Getty

Image credit: Getty

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Get your hands on some cream bronzer

“First things first, you wanna use a flat top brush and a cream bronzer,” explained Murdick. “I’m using ‘Happy Sol’ from Rare Beauty ($40 at Sephora).”

As for application? Gomez’s makeup artist doesn’t like putting product directly on the face because “it’s hard to blend and you can’t control how much product you use.”

Instead, she picked the bronzer up from the back of her hand using her brush, and blended it into her primed skin, starting with her cheeks. Then, she moved on to “the perimeters of the face and the temples.” 

Murdick also advises blending around the hairline. “Put a little bit across the bridge of your nose [and] down to your jawline, [as] this really marries all the tones together so you’re not just having a patch of bronze on your cheeks,” she instructed. “It looks like your entire face got sun.”

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Add a bit of glow

“Then, you want to top that bronzer with a really bronzey highlighter,” Murdick advised before dipping a blush brush into ‘Transcend’ from Rare Beauty ($38 at Sephora).

“Everywhere you put that bronzer, put a little bit of this glow,” she explained.

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Diffuse with foundation

“Now you’re just going to go in and put your foundation over top,” Murdick said. “This is the secret.” 

“This is what makes it look like you’re glowing from within,” she explained after applying a layer of IT COSMETICS Your Skin But Better™ CC+™ Cream SPF 50 ($65 at Sephora) over her bronzer. “It covers up any harsh lines.”

“This is the gorgeous, glowy bronze you get,” Murdick explained to the camera. But she also recommended powdering the T-zone, “so there’s not too much shine in the centre of the face… It should look glowy, not greasy.”

Once you’re done powdering, that’s it – “Boom sun-kissed summer skin.”

Check out the full tutorial below:

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Main image credit: Getty

Briar Clark got her start in the media industry in 2017, as an intern for Marie Claire and InStyle. Since then, her keen interest in fashion and beauty has landed her gigs as a Digital Content Producer and Beauty Editor with titles like Girlfriend, Refinery29, BEAUTYcrew and beautyheaven. She loves the way seemingly innocuous topics like skin care and style have the ability to put a smile on people’s faces or make them think about themselves a little differently. A big believer in self love and experimentation, Briar has made a point of becoming the Australian beauty industry’s unofficial guinea pig for unusual treatments and daring hair trends. When she’s not testing out the latest beauty launches, Briar is big on broadening her horizons, mostly in the form of food but she’s also partial to travelling to new destinations both near and far (and of course, allocating an extra bag to bring their best beauty offerings home with her).