Guerlain Terracotta 4 Seasons 03 Naturel-Brunettes Review and Comparison

Last month Guerlain released a new Terracotta collection, featuring lovely matte bronzers as the collection's focal point. As it hit the stores, many bloggers reviewed their picks, here are just a few to start with:

• Cafe Make-up Shades 00,02,04
• Beauty Look Book: Shades 00,02
• Temptalia:  Shade 05
• Lipstick Boulevards: Shade 00

The lightest two shades were sold out in Germany in no time although the price point for these are very steep around $75/62€. The price made every beauty nerd a bit curious about how the performance would be. The idea behind the product is that it consists of 4 different shades to meet the lighter or darker bronzer needs for every season.

I took advantage of cosmetics sales event in April at a local department store to purchase one of these to try it out myself. After almost half an hour of applying different shades on different parts of my face (which in the end turned out to be pretty funny), me and my PA decided on Shade 03, called "Naturel-Brunettes" which I would like to present you today.

Guerlain Terracotta 4 Seasons 03 Naturel-Brunettes

I am NC 20-25 with natural undertones. I have seen/read that most of the people were going for lighter shades but during the trying process, I have noticed that the shade which had "blondes" in their names had some pink inside. Those were rather leaning cool in an undesirable way on my skin where the shades which ended with "brunettes" were blending and looking more natural. It may have to do with my undertones but I decided for the lightest brunettes shade as opposed to a medium blondes shade. Here are once more all the shades listed for reference:

• 00: Nude
• 02: Naturel-Blondes
• 03: Naturel-Brunettes
• 04: Moyen-Blondes
• 05: Moyen-Brunettes
• 08: Ebony

After coming home, I compared 03 Naturel-Brunettes with my other favorite bronzers from last summer, Soleil Tan de Chanel 907 Sable Beige and 917 Sable Rose and Diorskin Nude Tan 002 Sunlight. I have been using Soleil Tan de Chanel in Sable Rose a lot as a blusher, as it is way too pink as a bronzer for me. Sable Beige is a very natural light bronzer which I like using just to give a healthy glowing skin.

Soleil Tan de Chanel 907 Sable Beige (up left), 917 Sable Rose (up right), Diorskin Nude Tan 002 Sunlight (down left), Guerlain Terracotta 4 Seasons 03 Naturel-Brunettes (down right)

One bronzer I fell in love with but never reached for after my purchase is Diorskin Nude Tan 002. This one matches my skin tone beautifully and being not so shimmery as the Chanel bronzers, provides a natural day time look. I should definitely use this one on a more regular basis. Once all of them swatched together, it can be seen that the lightest of the two shades of Guerlain Terracotta 03 bronzer (top two shades) perform almost as dark as Diorskin 002 Sunlight, but they lean more brown then pink. Although Sable Rose is more pink than all the others, it is also visible that Terracotta 03 is more brown, less pink than any other shade, which justifies my buy, as it is something new in my collection.

Indirect light swatches of lightest shades and all shades of Guerlain Terracotta 4 Seasons 03 Naturel-Brunettes in comparison to Chanel and Dior bronzers from Summer 2012 collection

As I checked my swatches under the sun, I have seen that Chanel Soleil Tan de Chanel bronzers are significantly more shimmery than Dior Nude Tan and Guerlain Terracotta. It can also be seen that Guerlain bronzer is not flat and has a slight dimension to it although it is matte, which makes this very finely milled bronzer even more gorgeous for me.

Direct sunlight swatches of lightest shades and all shades of Guerlain Terracotta 4 Seasons 03 Naturel-Brunettes in comparison to Chanel and Dior bronzers from Summer 2012 collection

Final Thoughts: Although price point is steep, Guerlain offers four shades in one, which may justify the price for some. Shades which have blondes in their names are more pink than the shades which are called "brunettes". You have to try and find out which one is more flattering for your skin tone. I chose 03 Naturel-Brunettes and very happy with my choice as my other bronzers were already leaning more pink and they were much lighter. With my new purchase, I filled a gap in my stash with luxury.

Have you tried Guerlain new Terracotta line? Any picks so far?

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bronzer, comparison, Guerlain, swatch, Terracotta