Go Towards the Light with the Radiance-Boosting MAC Cosmetics Strobe Liquid Lotion in Golden Elixir

Save for some folks with legitimate forms of albinism, I may just be the palest Puerto Rican girl ever — and I get teased rather relentlessly for it (during a recent visit to PR, my father actually compared my skin tone to the color of a white styrofoam cooler). Sure, I’m pretty fair-skinned naturally but my pallor has only intensified over the years since, given the breakneck pace of New York City life, I rarely get time to escape the concrete jungle and frolic in a beach locale. Truth be told, I spend most of the year anticipating the arrival of summer, when I can finally unfurl the scarves wrapped around my neck and stow away the heavy knits, wool coats, and leather motorcycle jackets, and finally show off some bare skin in flowing dresses, halter tops, and playful rompers. I daydream of afternoons at the beach with a good book, of splashing in a kidney-shaped pool with silly inflatable floating devices, but then Murphy’s Law strikes: deadlines pile up, kids catch colds, thunderstorms magically appear in a once clear forecast, and so forth. Before I know what hit me, Labor Day weekend is here and I’ve yet to feel sand in between my toes. This, of course, has been particularly true this year.

Now, I can’t do much about my lack of beachside fun this year (well, beyond plan a vacation to a tropical destination!), but I can at least give my skin the sun-kissed glow I’ve been coveting.  The latest luminizer from MAC Cosmetics, the MAC Cosmetics Strobe Liquid Lotion ($32 at maccosmetics.com), helps me accomplish this feat in a way that’s subtle and believable. And it’s not a product I can only use in the summer — because it’s a luminizer (as opposed to say a faux tanner) — it can be used all year long, either on bare skin or mixed with a tinted moisturizer or foundation. It can even be used atop your foundation to highlight cheekbones, accentuate brow arches, contour the jawline, and so forth.

A descendant of the MAC Strobe Cream (which I also love and use on a regular basis), the MAC Cosmetics Strobe Liquid Lotion ($32 at maccosmetics.com) has a lighter, more fluid consistency. It also doesn’t have the ethereal, iridescent, blue-toned pink undertones that the Strobe Cream has. Instead, the MAC Cosmetics Strobe Liquid Lotion, currently available in Golden Elixir, has this sophisticated champagne gold tonality and it’s infused with light-reflecting micro pearls that create a lit-from-within radiance. In fact, the formula combines soft-focus diffusers with iridescent pigments so as to create a flattering optical illusion that reduces the appearance of skin imperfections (blemishes, redness, dark spots, dark under eye circles, and so forth) while also making skin look healthy and glowing.

I personally love mixing the MAC Cosmetics Strobe Liquid Lotion in Golden Elixir with my tinted moisturizer (2-3 pumps should more than suffice since, while fluid, the formula is rather saturated with pigments). I then apply the product all over my face so that I can get the type of coverage I desire while also making my skin look golden and luminous. Since the Strobe Liquid Lotion has such a fluid texture, it dries really quickly on skin and it feels absolutely weightless, allowing your skin to breathe.

Now, when you first dispense the product from its formula, you might be taken aback by the depth of the bronze-tinged etruscan gold color, as you can see in the photos below:

But don’t let that initial impression dissuade you. When you blend the product in, the effect is considerably more subtle. Here’s a look at what the Strobe Liquid Lotion looks like when blended in:

Gorgeous, right?

Now, clearly, there are a lot of light-diffusing particles in this formula so you can soften the effect a bit by mixing the product with foundation or tinted moisturizer (as I tend to do). If you want a full-fledged glow though, you can always apply right atop your skin (after moisturizing).