Summer, a time for chillin’ out max and relaxin’ all cool and obviously getting our bronze glow on. Apologies in advance… this post is not about fake tan – although that will be coming soon I promise you. It’s about what I like to think of as fake tan’s little sister – the bronzer. Dun.. dun… duuuun. I am hoping that sounded a little ominous because I don’t know about you, but I used to be a little bit scared of bronzer – and for good reason! Bronzer is scary! Especially for us pale-faced babes, a good bronzer can be hard to find. You can end up looking muddy, orange or if you’re lucky – like a muddy, orange disco ball!

In this post I will be sharing with you my go-to bronzers, the ones I grab for on a regular basis. These bronzers work for my pale skin, but they will also look lovely on other skin tones too.

Top left: NARS ‘Laguna”  ($58NZD), Top right: Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzer in ‘Milk Chocolate’ ($39.40AUD)

Bottom left: NYX Blush in ‘Taupe‘ ($12NZD approx), Bottom right: Benefit ‘Hoola’ ($53NZD)

Let’s start with the most expensive, NARS ‘Laguna’ as it’s a bit of a cult favourite and a wee gem I had been wanting to get my hands on for forever! ‘Laguna’ is a gorgeous medium brown colour with a magical shimmer throughout it. Don’t worry! It doesn’t come out like a 90’s disco party on the face… instead it gives off the most heavenly bronzed glow. Personally, I’m too pale to use this as a contour colour or anything like that – it would just make me look like a muddy swamp woman – but as a way of jazzing up your face and giving you a healthy glow it certainly does the trick! I actually like the shimmer in it because it doesn’t really come off that shimmery at all and instead it kind of merges in with (what I hope) is my overall highlighted, dewy face. I like the classic NARS packaging, however it does get awfully dirty quite easily which is something I just get over because of the beauty of the product. Overall, it is expensy… BUT if you’ve got the funds I recommend you should totally buy it! It’s definitely worth a wee splurge and definitely helps my pasty wee face fit in with my tanorexic body.

Next up, a newbie on the market! I haven’t heard as much about this product as I have about the others but there were two things that sold me. #1. It smells like chocolate. #2. It’s matte! ♥♥ But also… IT SMELLS LIKE CHOCOLATE. Like, what more could you want all over your face?! I’d love to smell like chocolate all day er’ry day. I purchased the shade ‘Milk Chocolate’ which is a little bit lighter and is for lighter skin. It’s not the most pigmented thing on the planet, however that’s probably what I like most about it. You don’t always want to be gliding your bronzing brush over your face to be left with a big brown streak because you didn’t tap off enough product! I like with this bronzer that you can build up the colour easily. Don’t get me wrong, it doesn’t take a million swirl-swipe-and-repeats to get a nice coverage but it’s just not like spreading a layer of chocolate with one swipe. It’s a nice middle-ground. The packaging is beautiful as usual with Too Faced products, and it’s sturdy and would be fab for travel. Overall, it smells like chocolate. Add to cart.

NYX ‘taupe’ is what I use as more of a contour colour. It’s less of a brown and (obviously) more of a taupe. However, what makes it so good is that it does exactly what a contour colour should – it gives you the shadow of your cheek bone. It’s like the perfect ‘shadow’ colour. Like if I was going to paint a shadow, I’d be painting it with this powder. It’s not as big of a product as the others, and the packaging is simple, and it’s not hugely pigmented, but it’s super affordable and it’s the best contour product I’ve used so far. In fact, I feel like it’s so good I won’t need to test out anything else. (As the boyf would say “Emily, you say that but…”). Overall I’d suggest this baby for fair skinned babes, newbies to contouring (like me) and basically anyone on the planet with $10. I heard a horrifying rumour that this may be discontinued (WHY do they discontinue everything dear to me!?) so get in quick and add this to your collection!

Benefit ‘Hoola’ is the product I would take away with me when I’m travelling, have in my car or purse or in my desk at school. Not only is it an amazing matte bronzer which I am able to use for both bronzing and contouring but it comes with a brush (that is actually decent) and a wee mirror AND the packaging is super cute and sturdy. I love the way ‘Hoola’ is so universal – it seems to work for everyone and can be used for so many different things. It’s like one of those kids in my class who can just do everything I ask them to do properly. It’s a crease colour, it’s a lid colour, it’s a contour colour, it’s a bronzing colour. It just does everything I’d want a bronzer to do – and more! I’d recommend this gem to anyone as another wee splurge because kids, it’s so worth it. The ONLY fault I have with it, is that it can be hard to get a bronzing brush in there enough to give it a swirl, however the packaging is so perfect for travel and the brush it comes with fits in perfectly so really it’s a petty fault. This was one of my first bronzing products and I’d recommend it for a beginner as well.

It was hard to get a decent swatch on my skin but I think they show up the varying colours quite nicely.

Left to right: NYX ‘Taupe’, Too Faced Chocolate Soleil, NARS ‘Laguna’ and Benefit ‘Hoola’.

That’s it from me today, look out for my next post which will be coming soon – and please comment below – what is your favourite bronzer? Have you used any of these ones before? What are your thoughts? I’d love to hear from you!