Fenty Beauty Toffee Tease Cream Bronzer Review & Swatches
Toffee Tease
Fenty Beauty Toffee Tease Cheeks Out Freestyle Cream Blush ($32.00 for 0.22 oz.) is a deep brown with muted, cool undertones and a natural finish. It had sheer to semi-sheer coverage applied with a stippling brush, semi-sheer to medium coverage with an angled, moderately-dense brush, and medium coverage with a fingertip.
The color could be built up with ease with a second or third layer without looking heavy or the new layer pushing around the previous layer. For true, sheer coverage, you’d want to pat a fingertip once or tap a brush in once or twice and then apply.
Where the formula excelled was in how blendable and forgiving it was as often working with such a deep shade on my skin tone (which is obviously much lighter), any unevenness in blending is readily apparent. This particular shade was one of two that was called out as a contour shade (I think the brand would have been better-served by calling this range Cream Definers or Cream Shapers). The color went on evenly, diffused well along the edges, and dried down within a few minutes but retained a skin-like finish without being tacky or wet to the touch.
The texture was emollient, almost like a thin, gel-cream, that spread easily across my skin whether it was bare or had foundation on top. It stayed on nicely for eight and a half hours before fading visibly.
FURTHER READING: Formula Overview for details on general performance and characteristics (like scent).
Top Dupes
- Milk Makeup Spaced (P, $24.00) is lighter, warmer (95% similar).
- Anastasia Cool Brown (P, $35.00) is lighter, cooler (95% similar).
- Iconic London Sunset Bronze (P, $27.00) is lighter, cooler (90% similar).
- MAC Film Noir (P, $24.00) is less shimmery, lighter, less glossy (90% similar).
- LYS Beauty Worthy (P, $18.00) is less shimmery, lighter, warmer (90% similar).
- Mented Cosmetics Out of Office (P, $22.00) is less shimmery, warmer, less glossy (90% similar).
- Tom Ford Beauty Intensity 3 (Contour) (PiP, ) is lighter, warmer (90% similar).
- Salt New York Deep (P, $16.00) is lighter, warmer (90% similar).
- elf Deep-Rich (P, $9.00) is darker, cooler (90% similar).
- Coloured Raine Mocha Queen (P, $16.00) is less shimmery, lighter, warmer (85% similar).
Formula Overview
$32.00/0.22 oz. - $145.45 Per Ounce
The formula is supposed to be "non-greasy," "sweat-resistant," "easy to blend" cream bronzer (or contour) with "sheer, buildable" coverage that has a "natural-looking" finish. The brand called out two shades specifically as contour shades--Amber and Toffee Tease--though they can certainly be used as applicable to one's skin tone and undertone.
The coverage was semi-sheer to medium in one layer and buildable from there, though a lot of the initial opacity depended on the application. Per the brand, the product can be applied with fingertips (they mention "one tap") or with a brush (they created a denser, angled brush for this formula). What I found was that the formula had a tendency to diffuse and spread over the skin in a way that did sheer out the color in practice, so the blended out swatch was more in line with actual results. I think they were, on average, more semi-sheer to medium, buildable coverage than true, sheer coverage but they can definitely be applied lightly or blended out for true, sheer coverage.
Fingertips, generally, apply the heaviest coverage across formulas and products, which was true here. When applied with fingertips, a swirl through the pan yielded more medium and semi-opaque coverage, while a pat or two of a fingertip into the product was good for getting the first layer in place (with more sheer to semi-sheer coverage) and building up coverage where desired. For brushes, something like a stippling brush yielded sheer to semi-sheer coverage and a denser, angled brush yielded more semi-sheer to medium coverage.
The coverage built up exceptionally well as the product layered without becoming uneven in application or in actual texture. The product applied beautifully over bare skin as well as over foundation (I paired them with Fenty's Pro Filtr, which is popular but also more matte, so made for a good test base) as it did not lift up base products.
The consistency was moderately emollient with good glide--it spread easily across my skin, which made it more fluid and gel-like in that way, and it wasn't tacky or so wet that it was hard to blend evenly or get to "stay" in place where I wanted it to stay (thus enabling me to blend out edges with ease). It dried down within a few minutes, but it retained its more skin-like finish despite not feeling wet to the touch.
The test of blendability is often with deeper shades like Chocolate and Toffee Tease, which are significantly deeper than my skin tone, so any unevenness is much more noticeable, but they applied beautifully. I could see them working on deeper skin tones as they were likely designed for, but for someone who is looking for a darker contour shade and is lighter, they're easy to work with as well.
The formula wore well for eight to nine hours, and it had a continued, gradual fading from there that was a flattering fade (it didn't just slide down and off my face!). I'd agree that it seemed sweat- and water-resistant as it didn't start to migrate, bleed, or turn patchy, though it could certainly be rubbed off with light pressure (fingertip, napkin, etc.), e.g. blot away excess moisture.
Browse all of our Fenty Beauty Cheeks Out Freestyle Cream Bronzer swatches.
Ingredients
Octyldodecanol, Isononyl Isononanoate, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Pentaerythrityl Tetraisostearate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Synthetic Wax, Polyethylene, Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2, Silica Silylate, Nylon-12, Candelilla Cera/Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax/Cire De Candelilla, Mica, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Talc, Tocopheryl Acetate, Pentaerythrityl Tetra-Di-T-Butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate, Bht, Iron Oxides (Ci 77491, Ci 77492, Ci 77499), Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891).
Disclaimer: Ingredient lists are as available by the brand (or retailer) at the time of publishing. Please always check product packaging, if it exists, for the ingredient list applicable to the product you're purchasing, or the brand or retailer's website for the most up-to-date ingredient list.
This is an excellent contouring cream! I could see this working on anyone from, say, an NC40/NW30 upwards into NW45 skintones as a very natural looking contour.
I can’t believe you made this shade work on you! Love the look you did here.
The actual shade as a contour is better on my skin tone than the other one (Amber), as this one isn’t so gray (but cooler-toned)!
Um everything about this look is gorgeous and this shade’s performance on light skin is impressive
Thank you! I’m very curious to see it in action on deeper skin tones over the next few weeks, though!
Wow.. based only on the pan’s colour, I wouldn’t give a second glance at this… But it looks so stunning on you, Christine, so classy and elegant. I’m guessing how it will look on me, sice I am slightly lighter than you… Maybe too dark? But it seems quite buildable… sadly it’s Higly probabily that I will never have a chance to discover it. Apart from the quarantine, here sephora doesen’t offer the fully range of Fenty shades, only the more ‘typical’
Amber is quite light, so you might prefer that as a contour shade. On a personal level, Amber was a bit too subtle and too gray for my skin tone/undertone!
I never would have suspected this shade would work on a lighter skin tone, but it looks great on you. I’m quite impressed.
Excellent! Everything they said. Always liked the dupes, but they got lousy ratings. I think the sheer aspect makes this work for lighter skintones. That’s another aspect of difficulty in getting full diversity. Shades aimed at darker skintones can work on lighter complexions, but the reverse is seldom true.
Wow – for a shade that is so dark in the pan and swatch, you have made it look beautiful on you. Just love your eye look too. Sensational.
Wow. That smooth blend out really shows off how versatile this shade really is.
Wow, I am shocked at how well this color applied to lighter skin tones. I expected it to look great on dark and deep tones but this seems to maybe work for most complexion colors. Way to go!
Wow. This is an amazing addition on Fenty.
This looks so chic on you – beautiful. You also blended it so well. Interestingly, I’m around a NC45 and now I’m curious!
This color is so lovely on you, Christine. Can you comment on the texture of this product compared to the Match Stix? I have the amber Match Stix and find it a bit too gray even though I’m very fair. My go-to cream contour product has been ABH, but this might be a good replacement. Just wondering if these are more creamy than the Match Stix (which I always apply to the back of my hand and then use a brush to transfer).
The formula of Match Stix tend to have a more matte finish and feels more like a powder during application, but I don’t know if I have any of the flesh-toned ones (just the blush ones) so I’m not sure if there’s a big difference between the shimmer vs. the matte range!
I just love this. You look so pretty here!! I’m slightly more fair than you, but I’m really interested in trying it. Did you use a brush or your fingers to blend it? I’m also thinking about getting Surratt’s Grisaille as a contour. I checked your site and liked the pics. I have Kevyn Aucoin’s sculpting powder, but it’s a bit too…greenish grey? I don’t know. From your pics, Fenty’s Amber seems too grey…I hope you reply! Thanks in advance!
I tested with both brush and fingertips, but for the photo here, I used fingertips. Grisaille is a bit less murky – I think the “greenish” you’re seeing is what I see as a bit murky. I found Amber was too gray for my personal taste against my warmer undertones, but I imagine it should be great on neutral, cool, and maybe olive skin tones.
Thank you, Christine! I really was grateful for your helpful reply! Most beneficial.
My jaw dropped! I thought, “This will be great for a darker-toned beauty.” And then “Bam!”, you just blew that presumption out of the water! I think of all of them, this will be the first one I’ll purchase when I buy something from her line (I thought it would be the Flyliners, but I think this one is it.)