I think a lot of them are warmer than they need to be! Sometimes they run too orange or too yellow. When you find one that really adds warmth to the skin but doesn’t conflict with your undertones/coloring, it is great, though!
— Christine
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Color issues aside, powder is the only way for me. They last on my skin and can give a nice glow, added warmth like Physician Formula Butter Bronzer!
Erica, I will check out the Physician Formula Butter Bronzer as it seems to be more buttery and smoother. I am very fair skin and I’m currently using PF Bronze Booster Glow-Boosting Pressed Bronzer in Fair/Light but I find it a little bit too shimmery. I’ve also tried e.l.f. golden bronzer – poor pigmentation for me.
Similar thoughts: With neutral olive skin, everything EVERYTHING turns orange on me. so..I really like when I can get my hands on product that doesn’t cater to warm skin. I personally do not find the orangey ones all that flattering..even on warmer skintones; its just all too horrifyingly reminiscent of Brittany Spears circa early 2000’s and that gawdawful really bad fake bake era. Shudder. My picks right now for my light neutral skin are Too Faced milk chocolate soleil (matte). and GA Sun Fabric bronzer in 600 (satin finish). You can take away all my bronzers except these two.
Do you know if the GA is cooler/more neutral than TF in Terra? Also, if you haven’t already but get the opportunity, you may want to swatch LM Bronze Radiance in shade 3. I’d love to know if it pulls warm/cool/or neutral on you. It looks much warmer on Christine than it does on me. On me, it looks incredibly natural, more so than Too Faced Milk Chocolate Soleil (which can have a yellow cast). LM is actually making me consider wearing bronzer more often!
Just grabbed the two: They are quite similar in pan. The GA swatches a very small touch darker and definitely pinker than TF Terra. The TF starts out looking pink, but then pulls more yellow on me, but I’m olive so… The GA stays truer to the pink side against my skin. The finishes look similar and not hard matte. 🙂
Wow, I wouldn’t have guessed that GA would lean more pink than TF Terra. It’s definitely the one I want to focus on. Thanks for comparing them for me!
You should have seen me yesterday with the Milk Chocolate Soleil and LM Bronze 03 on the inside of my wrist. I inspected them in cool LED, then in full spectrum, then in halogen, and finally walked out on the back patio to see them in sunlight! I’m sure I looked ridiculous, but I can say without hesitation that (on me) Too Faced leans yellow! 😉
Going by my best guess from your photo, the TF Terra will work, but you’ll love the Armani one more. The Armani 600 is like their original #1 which looks very dark in the pan, but applies so, so nicely that fair tones can pull it off. I stocked up on the original when they reformulated and haven’t picked up the new version yet, but I’d suggest trying 600 out. I like Terra and it has worked out well for me, but I’d buy Armani over it any day. That’s what made me finally realize that bronzer can work on skin as light as ours.
I came across a blogger earlier who compared GA to Guerlain and said GA was better! The word “sheer” in the name of the product makes me feel much less intimidated by the color. I’m assuming one can, with the right brush, gradually build up the intensity instead of suddenly having a dark stripe on their face! 😉
Thanks for your advice! I was leaning towards buying the TF but now you’ve sold me on the Armani.
I’ve never heard that comparison myself; as pretty as the Guerlain bronzes are, they’ve always struck me as too warm to work on fair skin. The Armani looks dark, but it’s surprisingly build-able, which makes it so amazing. I use the Laura Mercier duo-fiber finishing brush to apply mine. Happy to have helped another fair skinned fanatic.
I am really not so big on bronzers. I have one or two that i like, but I feel like usually once I get my blush and illuminator on, I’m pretty much good of face color. Plus they can often run reallllly orange (why are they all so orange??) which is not flattering. I do think they can lend a nice healthy glow when I’m going for a more bronze goddess/ beach babe look, so I am happy with few that I’ve got. So I guess… Rave: they can make you look healthy and tan ,when they’re not Rant: Too orange!
I also find I need to be careful about bronzers that are too warm or orange and, therefore, very fake looking on me. I tend not to use them much anyway as I’m pretty pale and find they look artificial unless I use a really, REALLY light hand. I don’t contour – again, it’s not something that looks very natural on me and my fuller face makes me look younger and healthier – so on those rare occasions when I do contour, I tend to go for something more grey based than most bronzers. One that I really do like is the one Clarins came out with last summer (2015) that was, sadly, LE. It has the 4 quadrants like Guerlain’s bronzers but cost a whole lot less and was just a really good colour for me. So, of course, it was LE! Always the way!
I agree with you about so many of them being too warm, Christine! There also isn’t much of a range from light to dark; if you’re fair-skinned with cool undertones, there really aren’t many options out there for a flattering bronzer! Even contour powders tend to be too warm. They also need to be really, really blendable, if they’re to work well on fairer complexions.
I always look like an umpa lumpa, so I don’t even bother with bronzers anymore. I use a neutral/cool brown eyeshadow instead for contouring, since I can get a wider color selection. I know if costs more per oz, but I think it’s worth it.
I’ve got 2 that I was matched for and they blend well and suit my needs (to add a bit of color back into the face if I feel like I’m too flat looking). I have a third that is going to be used as a blush helper or eye contour helper or something because it is too orange – holy cow is it orange for me – or maybe it’s just that pigmented or I’m too heavy handed but wow.
So, rant: they can be too orange and unless you have a good eye for it (which I don’t), you might need help picking one out because they can look different in pan than swatched as some can be nuanced and subtle but really effect how it looks on a certain skin tone.
Rave: if you get a well-matched one, it can add that subtle dimension and that little extra something to a look.
I am happy with just the 2 that I have and this is a product I always skip or pass on; I wouldn’t have bought the 2 that I have were they not part of a makeover that I was getting and I was shown how and where to apply it. It made a difference that I like, so I use them but the hunt has stopped there.
Same here Pearl! When I just got back from my sunny holiday’s I went to the Mac store and was matched with a pressed powder that corresponded with my skin tone. Not fancy, no cute packaging, but this is what suits me best. I do not need foundation every day, but this evens out the skin on my face and matches it with the rest of my body, so happy!
I use the ‘orange’ bronzer that I have (lol) in the cheek area, (with a light hand!)a bit like a natural blush.
Make Up Geek has great cool toned options. I prefer very light bronzers or a cream. I don’t contour that often and use it to just warm up my look. I love the Hourglass bronzers and the Chanel Soleil Tan De Chanel .
I love how they add a bit of warmth and a sunkissed tan to the cheeks.
A lot of them run too orange or are too heavy though. I think whatever the color, it should be sheer to look natural. Also, I don’t really get the bronzer + blush + highlighter technique. For me it’s just too much. If I wear bronzer I’m not going to wear blush, it’s one or the other.
99% of them are either way too orange and/or warm for me, and many tend to make me look muddy, so I usually skip or use very lightly. If they come in a face kit, I usually end up using them as a blush.
Agree with Erica. Powdered is the way to go. Dislike the yellow ones. And, to me, that’s many of them. Lots look muddy. Nars blush, yes. Bronzers, bf no. tf, no, except snow bunny. I’d rather see orange than yellow Browns, but if I want orange, would go blush: Taj Mahal or others (Fira and Savage are always wish listed.) Liking for orange shows up in preferring coppery ones, like old benefit one hot minute, to golder bronze ones. If this ? Is aimed at powder vs. other formulas, def powder. Think snow bunny is my fave, bec I cannot avoid some tan, and think of adding that bronzer primarily in winter. SB has some taupe, pink, white, and light bronze. It doesn’t shriek ‘wtf are you doing with bronzer on, I know you went nowhere.’ Fairly subtle.
I really like them when the shade melds with my own undertones, which are warm-neutral. So far, my best matches have been Laura Mercier 03 Bronzer and a now DC’d Revlon Photoready Bronzer that had 4 shades in one pan, so one could customize their perfect shade. But I’m not a fan of them when I know that I’m going to work up a sweat, because when they streak up they look horrid!
I agree with what all of you said, they are typically too orange. I am a fan of powder bronzers and not liquid. My favorite hidden gem bronzer is the inexpensive Jane brand bronzer in the color Empower. You can find it at some Kohls.
Love: That they are easy to use and it seems pretty standard these days for powder bronzers to be fairly blendable. I like that a variety come in different tones, and many come in red undertones, which I think is very flattering on my skin tone- looks more natural that way.
Dislike: I guess that more companies aren’t upfront about how their one bronzer isn’t actually a universal shade. We made a bronzer! Buy it, it’ll work for you! But I think we’re definitely moving away from one-shade-fits-all makeup, which is a good thing for makeup newbies and pros alike.
Color is also my biggest issue – being fair with pink undertones doesn’t lead to a lot of non-orange bronzer options. Fortunately Armani and Tom Ford have options that work without overwhelming me.
Side note – Neiman’s posted the TF Orchid Collection sometime between Saturday when I was shopping and today and immediately sold out. However, the Nightbloom powders are back in stock at TF for anyone who was hoping to get them. Lipsticks are sold out however. I recall people were still hunting for them, so I’d suggest moving quickly!
Wow, glad I grabbed the Velvet Orchid lipstick while I could! Had a feeling this collection was going to go fast
Katherine – glad you were able to get one. I hope you love it.
Update to my TF Velvet Orchid. Heard back from my person at Neiman’s – while the collection is online to see, it hasn’t been put on sale yet. Pre-sale will start sometime this week for anyone who’s still interested. Just keep your eyes peeled and happy hunting.
I hardly ever use bronzers. My skin isn’t cool, it’s quite neutral, but almost all bronzers I have tried have looked orange-y. Not that I mind orange, but it’s supposed to look sunkissed and healthy, not like a bad self tanning job.
So it’s not for me, fortunately as it’s one less thing to spend on 🙂
I seem to have the opposite problem with bronzers. Many look like mud on my face — Nars Laguna, one of the Armani shades, and Two Faced being prime offenders. Is it my complexion? Skin chemistry? Dunno.
But I did find the Laura Mercier Baked Bronze Blush that is just right. The pink veins in the bronzer adds just enough depth to keep it from going muddy — and it stays light years away from orange and yellow. It’s the only bronzer I ever really loved, and it adds dimension and glow. Sometimes I’ll sweep the pinker section lightly over my blush for a different look, which I like a lot.
I do like the control of the powder. Different brush….build it or not…I like the control it gives me.
I tend to use bronzer with a very light hand but do like them bc I have a fuller face (read chubby) and jawline that is a bit square. I avoid those that run warm and avoid any sparkle. It just doesn’t make sense for my use of the product. I only use powder.
Honestly, I’m just not sure quite what to do with them! I’m really pale and haven’t figured out how to apply it in a flattering way (though I certainly wouldn’t mind looking a little more sun-kissed).
You should try the 3 shape technique. Start at the hairline and essentially draw a 3 with the curve starting at the forehead hairline, curving back in toward your nose at your cheekbone (middle of the 3 shape) and the bottom of the 3 along the jaw line. Start light and then build up as you get used to color/shape and can control the product placement. Hope that helps from one pale-gal to another.
I think there’s still some widespread confusion over how to use bronzers, or any powder meant to warm the skin up. For a naturally bronzed effect you should be putting it where you’d normally put your highlight since that’s where you’d realistically tan first. The push for a multi-tasking bronzer/contour product has kinda muddied the waters.
I hate that there’s not enough variety. Finding a good bronzer for deeper skin tones can be hard. Everything’s usually too light or more of a highlighter. I wish more brands would create deeper bronzers for those of us outside of the light-medium spectrum
I have very light skin so a bronzer looks orangy and silly on me. Bronzed face – pale body. Nah! : )
Rant: Too many Oompa Loompa shades!
Rave: I love sheer powders that can be built up to your desired intensity. I guess that’s why I prefer powder products in general, because I have more control over them.
I can name on less than 5 fingers how many suitable bronzers there are on the market for those who are fair and have pink undertones. It’s a little like hunting for a needle in a haystack.
Rant: Most are too dark, warm, and shimmery for me. Very few brands make bronzers suitable for very fair skin.
Rave: They’re easy to use, and work great on oily skin.
Rant: Just like everyone else, I hate that so many pull orange on me, especially since I use bronzers mostly for mild contouring. It’s also difficult to find bronzers that aren’t way too dark for my liking. (I’m light, but nowhere near as fair as my photo makes me appear.)
Rave: I don’t fool with bronzers in any form other than powder since it’s so easy to use.
Streaky orange mess? Yup. Streaky poop brown mess? Yup. Sparkly chocolate explosion? Yup.
So few bronzers get it right! Powder ones especially!
I find that bronzers take my quite fair, but red-warm toned skin right into orange. It’s like adding orange color to a freckle — why do it? Neutral and more cool toned ones look odd on me, and even mildly warm ones make a pumpkin of some variety. So I’m fine without it.