This year I decided to finally purchase the Estée Lauder Bronze Goddess Highlighter and Bronzer and fragrance. I’ve seen these hyped for years but just always passed on them for one reason or another. I’ve really been into summary fragrances and bronzy makeup looks lately. I’m also so happy the Modern Mercury Highlighter came back since I missed out on it the first time it came out a few years ago.
Highlighting Powder Gelee in Modern Mercury
This gelee highlighter started all the craze around this formula and was a really groundbreaking highlighter at the time it was first released. This formula has a soft and creamy and almost wet feeling formula and really gives such a wet dewy natural skin finish.
Swatch of Modern Mercury:
Swatch blended out:
This shade of highlight is a little bit dark for my skin tone right now, but when I get a little more sun in the summer it will be perfect. It has a bronze rose tone to it that I love on my skin tone. It is also gorgeous as a blush topper.
Matte and Glow 3D Bronzing Face Palette
This Bronzer has three shades in one compact that you can use separately or combine for your custom bronze shade. The texture is extremely soft and silky and balloons like a dream into the skin. I really enjoy blending all three shades together in applying where I normally would apply my bronzer. I like that I can adjust the shade each day for specific make up looks or how my skin tone looks for the day.
Swatches of the bronzer shades separately:
Bronze Goddess Azur Eau de Toilette
This fragrance is described as fresh, vibrant, and seductive solar citrus floral.
Top Notes
- Sicilian Lemon
- Italian Bergamot
- Calabrian Mandarin
Middle Notes
- Moroccan Orange Flower Absolute
- Neroli Bigarade Petals
- Fig Nectar
Base Notes
- Coconut Milk
- Musk
- Cedarwood
- Ambrox
The first thing I smell when I spray this is Neroli and citrus and then some orange flower and coconut starts coming through. On me the Neroli and citrus stay prominent throughout most of the day as the coconut and musk join in. It’s citrusy, a little sweet and creamy, and very well done.
I often have trouble wearing Neroli fragrances because they tend to make me sneeze but this one does not. It is very well blended and becomes creamy and soft as the heart notes and base notes develop. It’s definitely a lighthearted uplifting fragrance and one of the best citrus dominant fragrances I’ve ever tried on my skin. I feel like on me citrus scents tend to turn masculine but this stays sparkling, pretty, and feminine. I personally don’t have anything like this in my fragrance collection.
This fragrance makes me think of a nice summer day on the water such as being on a boat on a lake, or out at sea enjoying a full sunshiny day with the breeze in my hair, and enjoying a nice fruity cocktail. It makes me feel like in this daydream I’m laughing and having a good time with a group of friends out on the water. Even though there are no aqua notes in here, that is the image that comes to my mind when I smell this. It really does set the mood for a nice bright day full of happiness and fun.
Bronze Goddess Eau Fraiche Skinscent
This is the original bronze goddess fragrance and is described as an alluring, sexy, and velvety warm solar floral. It showcases Tiare Flower, creamy Coconut, Amber, and Vanilla.
Top Notes
- Juicy Mandarin
- Sicilian Bergamot
- Lemon
- Pulpy Orange
Heart Notes
- Tiare Flower
- Jasmine
- Magnolia Petals
- Orange Flower Buds
- Lavender
Base Notes
- Amber
- Coconut Milk
- Sandalwood
- Vanilla
- Vetiver
- Myrrh
This is probably my favorite out of these three fragrances. In this fragrance I smell the most coconut come through and it is the most summary and tropical, to me. It is reminiscent of a little bit of suntan lotion, in a good way.
I don’t really smell much citrus in this one. My nose goes right to the floral notes in the coconut from the start. It’s very well blended and soft, creamy and warm. I feel like the coconut, amber and a little vanilla, along with the tiare flower and some other florals, is the most prominent to my nose.
This fragrance brings an image to mind of a relaxing day laying on the beach. The day this scent evokes is a more quiet and relaxing day where maybe my husband and I went to the beach and then went to lunch and just had a nice day exploring a new destination while on vacation. This fragrance feels the most tropical to me without being fruity. This is my top favorite coconut scent after Tom Ford Soleil Blanc.
I have seen people compare the Bronze Goddess fragrances to Tom Ford Soleil Blanc, but on me, they are not the same at all. While they can evoke the same type of feeling and bring me to the same type of setting it in my mind, I feel like they are so different on my skin. I am really glad they are different on me because I love having the different types of coconut fragrances to switch between for the summer.
This fragrance is a little deeper and sweeter on my skin than the oroginal skin scent. It is described as I warm solar floral.
Top Notes
- Bergamot
Heart Notes
- Tiare Flower
- Creamy Coconut
Base Notes
- Warm Amber
- Vanilla
This fragrance surprises me a lot because it is much more syrupy sweet on my skin than I expected. It borders on too sweet for summer time for me. I would definitely use this one for a nighttime fragrance, like going out to dinner on date night or something. It’s not one I would see myself wearing during a day on the beach but more like after getting dressed up in the evening to go out.
It is a very creamy, sweet scent and the very first time I smelled it I immediately thought of Lancome’s La Vie Et Belle L’eclat. Something about the sweetness in both of these is very similar to my nose.
This scent does smell very sophisticated and sexy but does not feel very tropical or like summer to me. I don’t really smell the coconut much in this, it’s more vanilla and amber prominent, like a rich vanilla with a sweet floral on top.
The image that comes to mind for this fragrance feels like maybe I lived at the beach and it’s in the off-season. Maybe it is fall after most of the tourists are gone, and I’m going out to dinner at an upscale fancy steakhouse, where I will most definitely be having dessert, and then going to the theater afterwards. I feel like the day is still warm outside but later in the season.
Overall, I am very happy with what I picked up from this collection. And I’m so glad that I finally tried these fragrances and wish I had tried them sooner. I can see all of these products becoming staples in my collection all summer long.
The bronzers and highlighters tend to always be limited edition in the Bronze Goddess collections every year, and the Bronze Goddess Azur EDT is also limited edition and only comes in the 1.7 ounce bottle.
The Bronze Goddess Collection is currently available everywhere Estée Lauder is sold.