It's Always Sunny in February

During this time of year, the dead of winter, my skin starts to look dull and pale and all I keep thinking about is how many more days are left until summer arrives. During the winter months I like to play with tan, bronzey and gold colors to warm up my face and give off the appearance that I spend my days lounging on a beach. These are a few of my favourite products to fake that summertime glow while the snow is still coming down.

My top bronzers are Benefit Hoola and NARS Casino. Hoola is a great light brown matte color that works with pretty much every skin tone. You can really build up the color depending on how pale or tan your skin gets throughout the year. It's also great for contouring your cheek bones or just used as an all-over bronzer. Casino is a much darker color, a dark chocolate, with lots of shimmer running through it. You only need a little of this stuff so apply it with a very light hand. I like to use BOTH of these colors together (I know, I'm entering Snooki territory...) but applying Casino to just your cheek bones and Hoola all over your face gives a quick, easy and surprisingly believable tan.

If you prefer a pop of color to your cheeks instead of only the bronzers, Benefit Coralista is the perfect coral blush. It's been compared to the holy grail of blushes, NARS Orgasm, but is much less sparkly and a little more matte. It's a perfect coral color to really liven up your face.

On top of the bronzers I like to dust a shimmery highlight onto my cheekbones to add a dewy glow. Dior Shimmer Powder in Amber Diamond is a great highlighting color and really adds a pretty gleam to your face. You can also dust it down the bridge of your nose and your brow bones for some extra glow.

For eyes I love to do an all over bronzed look similar to the smokey eyes that Mary-Kate Olsen and Kim Kardashian always wear. This kind of look is super easy to achieve and is wearable for daytime or nighttime.

MAC Constructivist Paint Pot is the perfect all over cream base to begin your smokey look. Paint Pots are like a primer for your eyes. They help your shadows to stay on longer and not crease and really make the colors more intense when they are applied over it. Constructivist is a warm dark brown color with a little gold shimmer. I like to layer it underneath any brown or pink shadows to really make the colors pop, or you can wear it on its own for a fast coppery eye.

For shadows I always turn to MAC Mulch, Bronze, Amber Lights and MAC Pigment in Melon. Mulch is probably my favourite and most used MAC shadow. The color is dark chocolate brown and has a silver shimmer in it. I like swiping it all over my lid up till the crease.

Bronze is a golden brown frost with golden bronze shimmer. Its perfect as an all over lid color or a crease color to darken up your eye.

Amber Lights is a golden peachy-brown frost with golden shimmer. It's perfect for a brow highlight and the inner corners to really brighten up your eyes.

Melon is a peachy pink color that I use all over the lid as well as on top of my cheek bones. MAC Pigments are just that, really pigmented. The color is bright and intense and adds a great glow to your eyes.

Instead of buying a bunch of single shadows like the one's I've suggested, a great natural and bronze palette is the Urban Decay Naked Palette. The palette comes with 12 shades that range from neutrals to golds to browns and even some darker shimmery silvers and blacks. Countless looks can be created from just this palette for both daytime and nighttime looks.

To intensify my eyes more I add a dark brown liner to my top lashes and lower waterline. MAC Powerpoint Eye Pencil in Duck is a great brown option, or a black liner will work as well.

For my lips I like to use light pink colors to add a touch of glossy sheen to the bronzed look. You can go for a more translucent pink lip like Chanel Glossimer in Mica or for an opaque nude-pink like NARS Turkish Delight. Both of these colors are really versatile and can be layered on top of any lip stick color or easily worn on their own.