Beauty products can be befuddling. There are mascara wands that look like medieval weapons, toners parading as “lotions,” mousse, and, perhaps the most puzzling, makeup compacts that include more than one color within a physical boundary. Why? And furthermore, what are you supposed to do with them?

So when Tory Burch’s makeup collection debuted, featuring the tricolour Divine Bronzer, Blush, & Highlighter Palette, we seized the opportunity to clear the air with the line's creator, herself. After all, she seems to know what she's doing in the makeup department, and she's very nice— we’ve met before.

According to Tory, you're free to apply her multi-colored compact nearly any way you damn well please. “When we developed this collection, our approach was to make products that could be used quickly and effortlessly. I don’t have time to put on ten different things,” (She's not kidding—her assistant replied to our initial query by telling us that Tory would have five minutes to chat next week) “nor do I have the space to carry it all,” Instead, she likes to swirl all of the colors together with a big, portable Face Brush that she applies to her cheeks. The effect is a light-catching tawny peach that makes your skin look a little more mattified, moisturized, sunned, and flushed.

But that's not all! You can also use a smaller brush to isolate the shimmering beige highlighter-cum-eyeshadow, the coral blush, or the gold-flecked bronzer and use individually. Or, simply wipe a large face brush horizontally across the product and then in a straight line across your cheeks—highlighter up top, blush on your cheeks, and bronzer below. The Divine Palette is even lightly scented with Tory's first floral-citrus-vetiver fragrance, so you can leave that at home, too.

Photos by Mathea Millman.