Battle of the Bronzers: Part 1

Liquid or Powder?

There used to be just your average powder bronzer - different shades and formulas but always in a pan. But recently there's been a huge surge of liquid and cream bronzers appearing on the market. That's not to say you couldn't get your hands on a cream bronzer, e.g. the Chanel Soleil Tan de Chanel seems like it's been around for donkeys years; but there was no hope of finding a decent one in the drugstore.

There will be a review on this coming soon

Nowadays it's easy to get overwhelmed by the number of bronzers available, and then there's the matter of choosing the right one for you - do you want a matte bronzer or one with shimmer? Will it look orange on my skin or a little too muddy? And now there's the option of liquid or powder! 

So I thought I'd put together a small two part series all about my favourite bronzers and whether I prefer cream or powder, high-end or drugstore!

Part 1: Cream or Powder... to break it down simply, a cream bronzer allows you to get a slightly more natural look, whilst a powder packs a bit more of a punch.

In the powder stakes I've got the holy-grail Solar Powder by Soap & Glory and the brand new summer launch, Urban Decay Beached Bronzer in the shade Sun-Kissed. These are both great powder bronzers that can easily be applied lightly but can also be built-up. I'm also including the bronzers from some of my palettes, the famous Nars Laguna Bronzer and Hourglass Luminous Bronze Light from the Ambient Lighting Edit.

Urban Decay Beached Bronzer (Sun-Kissed)

As for the liquid category, I've recently picked up the Nars Laguna Liquid Bronzer and L'Oreal Glam Bronze Cushion Soleil (the slightly sunny weather's made me go a little bronzer crazy recently). These are also two great bronzers that work well on pale skin, but I'm not too sure how well they would show up on darker skin tones - unfortunately they only come in 1 shade.

L'Oreal Glam Bronze Cushion Soleil

As I would expect, the powder bronzers are easier to apply than the liquids, all you have to do is swish your brush in the pan and done. I found the Nars Liquid Laguna to be quite tricky to apply because of the very liquidy consistency and not-so-great pump - it made a bit of a mess and pumping it onto the back of my hand meant that it ran everywhere - but that's me being very picky, the product itself is really lovely. A nice bronze colour that doesn't look at all orange.

The L'Oreal Cushion Bronzer on the other hand was simple, just a quick dab in the pot with my Bobbi Brown Full Coverage Face Brush and it was distributed evenly and naturally on my skin. I really like the finish it gave and it was easy to tone down if I went a bit overboard by using a damp Beauty Blender. 

In comparison to the powder bronzers I definitely prefer the finish the liquid bronzers give, but the lack of faff with the powder would make it my first choice when in a rush. Both formula's are great once you find the right one for you - I have to say my favourites are definitely the L'Oreal Cushion Bronzer and the Urban Decay Beached Bronzer.

Although on a daily basis I prefer to wear one or the other, layering is also a great option in order to help it last longer and get a flawless finish.

My final thoughts... I love the cream formula and the beautiful glow it gives to the skin. I think I'm completely converted to the liquid-life but that's not to say I still don't love a great powder bronzer.

(P.S. Don't forget students get 10% off online at Urban Decay)