Diorskin Nude Glow Healthy Glow Summer Powder in Aurora

At first glance, this summer look from Dior is all about orange. Learn a little, and you''ll find the model is wearing Diorskin Nude Glow Healthy Glow Summer Powder in Aurora ($46). Aurora (001) and its bronzer sister shade, Sunset (002), have received a lot of recent blogger press. There's a great reason for all the attention.

Here's a photo of the Aurora (#001) bronzer compact, taken in outdoor sunshine so the beautiful woven pattern in the compact sparkles. I also snapped a photo in the shade (shown below) so that you could see that the powder doesn't sparkle without that direct sunlight. The three woven shades (it's a new product so I'm not dead-sure what's below the surface) coordinate perfectly.

Aurora is a flattering bronzer. The multi-toned lightweight powder reproduces the natural summer glow of healthy and radiant sun-kissed skin. Aurora was created for blondes and fair-to-medium complexions, and Sunset for brunettes and medium-to-dark complexions. Aurora was the natural for me. With the rosy pink tones threaded through the compact, I was sure it would be perfect. This is one of the products I nagged the Neiman Marcus gals about - every day. I ended up buying two, the first one from Nordstrom and the second from Neimans. I was getting impatient.

I like it - a lot - even though the shade isn't absolutely perfect for me - darn close, but not perfect. Aurora is extremely pretty; make no mistake. It has set hearts aflame. I'm not criticizing it by saying it isn't absolutely perfect for me. With all the beautiful bronzers on the market, particularly the summer 2o11 introductions, it compares very favorably to most of them. I'm getting so jaded, I think - for me - that the new Guerlain Terra Inca Sublime Radiant Powder is better. Dior's bronzer is warmer. It's a good thing I don't have to choose! The Dior bronzer is significantly less expensive than Guerlain's. It's smaller too.

My swatch photo, taken in outdoor sunlight, shows the bronzer swiped across all the shades at the top with a sponge-tipped applicator and a very heavy application below, achieved by layering with a dense face brush. Remember, bloggers do heavy applications to get shade photos, but you would never apply a bronzer this heavily - hopefully. You don't want to cross the line between a glowing gal and a carnival attraction.

I don't see the rosiness I can see in the Aurora compact on my skin. I "get" the golden bronze, which is an extremely pretty shade and not at all muddy. On the face, when properly applied, it adds a beautiful glow and a nice contour on my fair skin. It is warm, though, and that's what separates it from the Guerlain bronzer on my face. The Terra Inca bronzer has that cool, rose-bronze tint, perfect for me. What some don't like about Guerlain's bronzer is the shimmer. It doesn't bother me, probably because I don't apply bronzer as liberally as others can.

Sabrina posted a lovely comparison of three new summer bronzers from Chanel, Guerlain, and Dior at The Beauty Look Book yesterday. You should read it!

Here is my bottom line. Diorskin Nude Glow Healthy Glow Summer Powder in Aurora is gorgeous. It's just not perfect, and this season, with so much competition, a bronzer must achieve perfection to be a single choice with such an embarrassment of riches available (Chanel's is incredibly gorgeous). Will I be wearing it? Absolutely yes! It surpasses many warm-toned bronzers in my collection. Picky, picky. Isn't it a pleasure to have so many choices?

This bronzer is available at Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Saks, and other Dior counters, I'm sure.

Photo at top courtesy of Nordstrom