Newly beamed down from Beauty Heaven: Dior’s Diorskin Nude Tan Matte Sun Powder. A perfectly matte bronzer that (if you have a very light hand) can be swept all over the skin for quite a realistic “long weekend in Marrakech” kind of tan, or used in more targeted areas for adding contour. I think that matte bronzers are some of the handiest beauty products you can invest in; our eye tends to be drawn by the sparklier goods, but it’s often the ones that look quite dull and flat that prove to be the most useful.

For a start, it’s difficult to contour your face with a powder that reflects light – I mean, it’s do-able, because if the powder is darker than your skin then you’re obviously creating some kind of contrast and “shadow” effect; but if you have a matte powder (and dedicated contour powders nearly always are) then suddenly you’re draining the light away and forming a kind of facial sinkhole. (Nice!) Not the most attractive image, but you know what I mean – effective hollowing and shaping in one swoop of the brush. Hello cheekbones!

But the Diorskin Matte Tan isn’t marketed as a contour powder; in the same vein as many of the “healthy glow” products out there, this one promises to enhance the skin and give it a subtle glow, without the use of any shimmer. In short, it’s making the skin look fresher and healthier by giving it an outdoorsy tint. You can see from my before and after pictures below that it’s actually quite dark (I have shade 002) to be wish-washing all over your face, but I have used mine in the traditional manner, underneath cheekbones and at the temples, and it works very well, I think. Here’s my before:

And here is my “after” –  the dusty, outdoorsy touch of colour:

Definitely a skin-perker – and one that will be useful all the way into summer –  I applied this with a very light hand, and could have easily built the colour up to something more substantial. Because there’s no shimmer you can be a little freer with how and where you apply, taking it across the forehead and onto the nose and chin, and it’s great for bronzing up your neck and chest to create a believable match with your face.

The Nude Tan Matte compact comes with a little metal-handled kabuki brush, but I have to admit to not being overly enamoured with mini kabukis, so I used my Real Techniques Duo Fibre face brush. At any rate, that gave me the kind of depth of colour that I wanted – a light veil of tan, rather than anything too St Barts!

The compact comes in a little velvety pouch and has its own crane to lift it from the box (JOKE, obviously, but I do think that these compacts are quite weighty – gorgeously luxe, but weighty) and the price at Escentual.com is £29.75. You can find it here. In the department stores it seems to be priced at £34.