Summer Bronzers - The Great Beauty Bronze Off!

It’s summer, so the musthave makeup item is a bronzer. Of course, many of you will use bronzer the whole year through, but I am very pale and I like it that way, except in the summer, when I take on a very, very slight golden glow, if I am lucky. When I went on holiday last month, I took a whole load of bronzers with me, to try, just for you, really!

Here are the results of what I like the call my Great Beauty Bronze Off!

1.  Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess Powder Bronzer in Light, £30, esteelauder.co.uk

I really like this bronzer. The light is very light, perfect for pale skins and it really isn’t shimmery, which suits me, but still has a lovely sheen to it. However, the mirror fell out after one day – not good for £30! I think perhaps our extreme heat in Tenerife the week we were there had something to do with that. A little bit of glue fixed it, and I will continue using this one. It has a soft texture, and goes on beautifully.

2. Bobbi Brown Bronzing Powder, £27, bobbibrown.co.uk

I used this in Golden Light, which will give you the look of a light tan. Bobbi advises using this all year round, so, I guess it didn’t overly enhance any tan I got. It is matte, which wasn’t my favourite look, without any summer sheen at all. The powder is silky, as you would expect from Bobbi, but nothing about this got me very excited.

3. Clarins Splendour Summer Bronzing Compact, £30, clarins.co.uk

This looks beautiful, with the gorgeous embossed detail. It has three shades in it – two bronzers and a golden shimmer. My mum took a fancy to this one, and used it, and found it quite easy to apply. You mix the two shades together with a bronzing brush, and you can apply the golden centre shimmer to your cheekbones, or as an eyeshadow. Lovely big compact too.

4. Clinique True Bronze Pressed Powder Bronzer in 02 Sun Kissed, £21, clinique.co.uk

I really loved this bronzer. I’ve not even shown it open in the photo – I didn’t care about it that much when I first got it, but I grew to love it, and it is one of two I am using now I am home. It’s subtle colour, with a slight shimmer, and comes with a little brush, which isn’t the best, but it works. Apply this sparingly and build, and you really do look sun kissed. I love this – it’s like a real pick-me-up for your face, when you feel a bit tired.

5. Autograph Bronzing Collection, £15, marksandspencer.com

This bronzer is part of a set, which also contains a liquid glow illuminator and a lip gloss, which I didn’t use. This bronzer is a wee bit cheap looking, and feels a bit cheap, it has to be said. I really don’t think £15 is a good price for this set, for what you get. The bronzer has three different elements to it – a matte bronzer, a shimmery bronzer, and a peachy blush. It’s quite nice, all of them do what they are meant to do, but I did find it a bit fiddly.

6. Guerlain Terracotta 4 Seasons Bronzing Powder in 4 – Medium Blondes, £46.50, debenhams.com

This is almost £50, but it is absolutely lovely. Even for a non-bronzer fan like me. I am in love with it, and am eking out every last bit of my sun-kissed look with this product. It isn’t the lightest of the compacts available, but the colours are great. However, the quality of the powder is sensational – so fine-milled, luxurious to apply, super-smooth and beautifully matte. It also smells absolutely delightful. Be careful with the darker shades if you are pale, but the top two shades in he compact are perfect – just swirl your brush over, and use for highlighting and contouring as well as bronzing.

7. Boots 17 Instant Glow Oversized Animal Print Bronzer, £5.49. boots.com

This looks brilliant – huge compact, gold leopard print dotted bronzer. Beware! I swirled my brush and when I applied it to my face, I was left with a big old brown mess! It’s very dark and it does load on to the brush very quickly. The gold disappears after a few uses, which is a shame, but this is a good bronzer for your body, if you want to give your tan a wee bit of a shimmer. It has two tones of bronzer in it, and the base tone is pretty dark, so be careful!

8. Cargo Water Resistant Bronzer, £20, debenhams.com

I was a bit sceptical about this. How could it be water-resistant. But it is to a point. Obviously if you go snorkelling for an hour there won’t be much left, but that’s not what they mean by water-resistant. This withstands perspiration – you won’t sweat it off. It contains a unique silicone-coated talc that provides better adhesion to the skin and withstands water, so a quick dip might not shift it! It seems to come in one shade, and it is a nice shimmery, medium shade. But, the packaging – for £20, no! The bronzer fell out of the tin (the heat on the glue again, no doubt) to reveal a cheap plastic insert below. Not good. Cargo is a Canadian brand, which used to be stocked in supermarkets here, but seems to have revamped and price points seem to have rise. Time to sort out the packaging, then, perhaps?!