admin The media frenzy surrounding Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan’s latest three-hour epic, has yielded many gems: endlessly dissectable interviews, plenty of big brooding fits, and a smattering of anti-internet meme fodder. As far as I’m concerned, though, the press tour’s most tantalizing gift was the chance to gaze upon star Cillian Murphy’s architectural cheekbones. During a recent London photocall, as Murphy posed leisurely in a cardigan and Sunspel tee, his impeccably-defined cheeks glowed with even more of a sunkissed smolder than usual. The red-hot images left me with a single searing question: “ID on the bronzer, bro?”
Thankfully, Gareth Bromell, the celebrity groomer who prepped Murphy’s hair and makeup on the Oppenheimer press tour, was more than happy to let me in on the secret to his client’s healthy glow: Tom Ford powder, in a matte shade of Terra, applied with a soft Chanel powder brush. “The powder doesn’t have any glitter or shimmer, or anything like that, which I think is very important for male clients,” Bromell explains. “You want them to look sunkissed but you don’t want them to look like they’re wearing makeup.”
All men could benefit from a touch of bronzer before a big night out, Bromell says, but “especially gentlemen from, let’s just say the UK and Ireland, who are a little bit paler than others. They’re not exposed to the sun as much.” Cork native Murphy, perhaps the most Irish of all Irish actors, certainly qualifies there.
To get the radiant red-carpet look, Bromell advises targeting the exaggerated points of your face where the sun would naturally shine, like the tips of the cheekbones. “Then, I work it into the left and right of the forehead, the points that are a bit more raised on the face shape, and the center of the nose, a bit on the chin, the ears, and a little on the neck—but a very light dusting.”
Prepping your skin before the bronzer, however, is just as critical for looking your dewiest self. “Especially in men’s grooming,” Bromell says, “the skin tends to look a little drier and oiler than with women.” When grooming Murphy, he begins with a cooling cleanser and toner from UK-based brand Haeckels, follows up with a pair of hyaluronic acid and vitamin C serums, and then allows those to soak into the skin with an LED mask for about 5-10 minutes. “That brings up the pigmentation in the skin for a healthier glow.”
Another of one of Bromell’s tricks for giving Cillian a rosier complexion? A clickable self-tanner from UK brand James Reed that’s “very popular on the male grooming circuit.” After applying a 111Skin face and eye mask to seal in moisture, he mixes two clicks of the Click & Glow pen with some moisturizer, then works the tanner all over Cillian’s face. “I apply that into the skin and that develops over an hour and it’s very, very natural and adds a really beautiful glow to the skin.”
The clickable pen helps you control how much you use, Bromell says, and mixing it with a moisturizer or sunscreen dilutes the pigment. “When I use it for myself, it just looks like I’ve been in the sun for a day. It lasts a couple days and fades naturally. I always say less is more and you can always build it up if you don’t feel tan enough.”
Just be wary of getting too close to your hairline as it can stain that area, and be sure to use some cleanser to wipe some off if you get a little heavy-handed with it.
You might not have Cillian Murphy’s sculpted cheekbones—or if you do, my DMs are open—but a little bronzer and a tan-in-a-pen will still go a long way towards making you look and feel like a red-carpet-ready star whenever you the hit town.
