How to Choose the Best Bronzer for Your Skin Tone

Shimmer or matte? It depends...

We all know the difference at face value, one is shiny and one is not, but they also add completely different elements to your look.

 

• Shimmer bronzers contain light-reflecting particles. They are really easy to over-do and because they have a hint of glitter about them can easily look unnatural. Be sure to tap your brush a few times to remove excess product before slowly building up layers of your bronzer. 
  
  Shimmery shades work particularly well for fair skin (which can risk looking simply grubby when using a matte bronzer) and dark skin (as matte products can get lost on deep tones). If you have any skin texture issues or blemishes it’s best to avoid this type of bronzer as it can accentuate and add dimension to unwanted problem areas.

 

• Matte bronzers have nothing shimmery about them. These work great on medium and olive skin and for those struggling with things such as dark marks, uneven texture and other skin issues as they are more forgiving. Our pick is Essence Soft Touch Butter Bronzer. To add a glowing dewy look without looking too shiny you can use a cream bronzer, which often come in matte formulas.

The Best Bronzer for Your Skin Type

While the most common bronzers come in powder form, you can also get cream and liquid bronzers. Cream bronzers are mostly available in a compact or a tube, but you can also get cream bronzer sticks which are super easy to use.

 

• Dry to Normal Skin.  If you suffer from dry skin then a liquid or cream bronzer is going to be your best bet for a flake-free finish. Use your fingers to apply it in a stippling fashion (that means lots of little light pats). Matte products can look cakey and make dry skin look worse so go for one with a shimmer.
  
  A subtle liquid bronzer option for dry skins is to mix Caribbean Tan Pure Pigment Darkening Drops with your favourite moisturiser for a transparent slightly bronzed hue. Essence Drop Of Sunshine Bronzing Drops can either be used alone for a more intense effect, or mixed with your favourite foundation or moisturiser for a stunning healthy glow.

 

• Oily/Combination Skin. Those with oily skin should stick to powder and you might want to try matte formulas as super shimmery ones could make you look too shiny.

How To Apply Bronzer Right

Powder bronzers are easiest to use, especially for beginner bronzers. This doesn’t mean you need to use a powder foundation however, as powder bronzers are easy to blend and build, mainly because you are using such a small amount. If you use a powder foundation, however, you need to stick to a powder bronzer as cream or liquid bronzers will cake when layered on.

Just be sure to first set your foundation with powder before applying bronzer. Your setting powder will mattify your face, hiding all the light-catching particles that make bronzer so amazing. Rather apply your powder bronzer at the very end of your makeup routine - just before your blush.

Read More. Natural No-Makeup Makeup: The Savvy Girl's Guide to Dewy Fresh-Faced Skin

 

Best Bronzer Makeup for Your Skin

Bronzer is not a one-shade-suits-all product. Also, many people’s skin colour changes slightly with the seasons, so if you can, get a bronzer palette with more than one shade that you can use all year round.

A good go-to-rule is to choose a colour that is one or two shades darker than your skin tone. Another tip for fair to medium skins is to opt for the shade that you would naturally go if you spent time in the sun tanning.
 

• Best bronzers for fair skin: It’s easy for bronzer to look unnatural or orange on lighter skin tones so it’s important to choose a sheer and super blendable product. Choose warm beige or rose-tinged (especially if you’re a redhead) shades that won’t make you look like you overdid the fake tan, and be sure to use a really light hand when applying.
  
  Our product picks: Essence Soft Touch Bouncy Glow, Catrice Sun Glow Matt Bronzing Powder and Essence Drop Of Sunshine Bronzing Drops.

 

• Best bronzers for medium skin: Instead of choosing warm or cool tones opt for neutrals like brown, taupe, beige and gold, as this will give you the most natural glow. Steer clear of orange or red-undertones in particular as these always look more intense on your skin than in the palette. Avoid anything pale or pink as this will wash you out.
  
  Our product picks: Palladio Baked Bronzer in Illuminating Tan, Revlon Skinlights Prismatic Bronzer in Sunlit Glow, Rimmel Multi Tasker 3in1 Bronzing Stick and NYX Professional Makeup Buttermelt Bronzer in Light Medium Warm.

 

• Best bronzers for olive skin: Most bronzers on the shelf will suit you, as long as they're not too much darker than your skin tone. Shades with a hint of red about them will look particularly amazing on you, like bronze, copper or terracotta.
  
  Our product picks: Michelle Ori Compact Bronzer in Sunkissed, Revlon SkinLights in Prismatic Bronzer in Sunkissed Beam, Clinique True Bronze Pressed Powder Bronzer in Sunkissed, NYX Professional Makeup Buttermelt Bronzer in Deep Rich Warm, and Essence Sun Club Matt Bronzing Powder for Darker Skin.

 

• Best bronzers for dark skin: A sheer bronzer with a light shimmery sheen is best for your skin tone. Shimmery shades work better than matte shades that can make the complexion look dirty and muddy on a darker skin.
  
  Bronzers with a red, burgundy or orange undertone work well to add warmth and brighten deep complexions. Remember the general rule for choosing a bronzer is no more than one or two shades darker than your skin tone.
  
  Our product picks: Passion Pro Bronzer Duo in Beach Please, Palladio Baked Bronzer in Caribbean, Rimmel Multi Tasker 3in1 Bronzing Stick in Tan, and Catrice Butter Like Bronze and Contour Palette in Shape It My Way. Although pricy, a popular matte option for medium dark skin tones is MAC Skinfinish Sunstruck Bronzer in Matte Deep Rosy.

Read More. How to Cleverly Contour and Highlight to Enhance Your Face Shape

How To Apply Bronzer

Think of bronzer like perfume: it’s easy to apply too much and impossible to tone it down without a good shower. The best tool for applying bronzer is a large, soft and fluffy brush. A brush with compact bristles will apply too much product and will leave you looking more dirty than dazzling.

A common mistake is dabbing the centre of the brush in your bronzer. This will result in too much product in one area and give you an unnatural finish. You should actually use the sides of the brush to dust on your bronzer, so rather gently roll your brush in your product. Tap the brush to get rid of any excess product then use a light, swiping motion to dust it on. Blending is crucial; you don’t want that dreaded tell-tale line of bronzer going across your cheek.

How to apply bronzer for a warm, radiant glow

A lot of tutorials simply say to apply a bronzer ‘wherever the sun would naturally hit your face’, but that could be pretty much everywhere. The key is to focus on your temples, your cheekbones and the bridge of your nose. You only need the lightest of touches - you just want to subtly warm and brighten up your face to give you a healthy-looking glow.
 

• The best technique is to lightly dust on the product in a figure 3 along each side of your face. Start at the temples, move down the side of your face to under the cheekbones, and then downwards from your ear about halfway across your jawline towards your chin. Finish off with a light sweep along either side of your nose and on your chin.

 

• If you want more of an all-over glow, then lightly stripe the bronzer across both cheeks. Using your brush, make sure you blend out all the hard lines well so it looks like you’ve just been lightly sun-kissed. Finish off with a light touch of bronzer along the bridge of your nose.

 

• Your bronzer can look totally perfect in your room but muddy and orange in the light of day. Apply it in daylight if possible, and have a good look at yourself in a mirror (or your selfie camera) before you leave the house. Inspect your jawline and cheeks in particular for any unblended areas.

 

• Finishing off with a light shimmery dusting on your décolletage, collar bones and shoulders looks amazing with little strappy summer tops or dresses. And if you’re wearing your hair short or up, bronzer can work well along the back of your neck too.

Bronzer vs. Contour Stick – Use Either or Both

It's easy to get bronzing and contouring confused but think of it this way: bronzing involves making your face look glowing and healthy while contouring carves and sculpts your face by creating shadows. They do two different things.

You can use your bronzer to contour lightly; however, if you’re wanting a serious carved out look then you need to use a matte product specifically for contouring first, and apply your actual bronzer afterwards. A shimmery bronzer won’t work for a super contoured look as it adds light instead of doing what contouring is supposed to do (which is to add shadow).
 

• To use bronzer to not only add warmth to your face but subtly contour as well, start at your hairline. Swirl your brush in small circles all along your upper forehead, from temple to temple.

 

• Next carve out your cheeks. Swipe a line of bronzer under your cheekbones from the apple of your cheeks towards your ear. Now buff out this line with small circular brush strokes instead of a wiping motion.

 

• Now swirl your bronzing brush from the start of your jaw to your chin, all along your jawline. Make sure to blend down your neck too to keep it looking natural.

 

• Lastly, swipe a touch of bronzer down either side of your nose. This will add definition to your nose and warmth to the centre of your face.

Our product picks for multipurpose contouring and highlighting palettes which also include bronzing shades: -
Catrice Butter Like Bronze Contour Palette in 2 shades including one for darker skins.
L.A. Girl Pro Sculpt Concealer Palette with 8 shades ideal for all your concealing, colour-correcting, defining, and highlighting needs.
Palladio Contour & Highlight Palette with 3 shades.
NYX Professional Makeup Highlight and Contour Pro Palette with 4 bronzers and 4 highlighters to mix and match.
Palladio Contour & Highlight Palette with 3 contour and 3 highlight shades ranging from light to dark.
MAC Contour & Sculpt Yourself Palette for contouring, highlighting and bronzing.

View Video: How To Apply Bronzer

How To Use Bronzer with Highlighter and Blush

How and Where to Use Bronzer and Highlighter

This isn't a way to get you to spend more money on makeup; you really need highlighter to balance the contract made with your bronzer. We’re trying to add dimension to your face and if you only use bronzer then you’ve only added dark shades; it’s time to lighten it up a little.
 

• Simply sweep highlighter along the top of your cheek bones and your brow bone to keep your face from looking one-dimensional and muddy.

How and Where to Use Bronzer and Blush

It's a common mistake thinking you can skip your blush - because just how much product can your cheeks even take, right? Well, bronzer and blush are two different products with different results and it’s worth using them both. Using bronzer on its own can look unnatural and flat. Blush is for making you look rosy and healthy while bronzer is for making you look sun-kissed.
 

• Apply your blush first in circular motions to the apples of your cheeks. Your bronzer goes just below and next to your blush, from under the apple of your cheek to your ear. As a general rule try to use the same formulas all over your face, so a cream blush with a cream bronzer, or powder blush with powdered bronzer.
  
  Your setting powder will mattify your face, including all the light-catching particles that make bronzer so amazing. Rather apply your bronzer after your powder at the very end of your makeup routine.

Read More. How Choosing the Best Blush Is the Key to Always Looking Awesome

View Video: Bronze Summer Makeup Tutorial | Dark Skin