The first bronzer I ever purchased is now discontinued. At the time I purchased it, I didn’t even know it was a bronzer. I was 17 and new to makeup and experimenting with the basics. One day I was looking around the cosmetics section of a Walmart and was drawn to the Covergirl display by a new line of products called Covergirl Queen. I noticed a compact with a clear top that had brown sparkly pressed powder on the inside. I knew that was the compact for me.

At that time I wasn’t even wearing foundation. I’d experimented with cream to powder and that was the extent of it . So when I wore makeup I swept this shimmery bronze powder that matched my skin tone over my cheekbones and to me it looked good. I wore a warm red blush over my cheeks with this right above it. It was barely detectable aside from the golden shimmer. But that was okay with me. Whatever this shimmery stuff was was shimmering and that meant I was doing something right. 🙂

Fast forward a few months…

I was shadowing a makeup artist for a school project. And she used one a bronzer from the line that I was using. I mentioned to her that I used that one and she told me that my color was a darker shade called Ebony bronze. I disregarded it at the time because it was darker than my skin tone because I liked the golden sheen of the lighter one. I didn’t know at the time that its usually recommended that bronzer be about two shades darker than your skin tone. I kept using the shade that I had already but I did eventually get the darker shade about three years later. And I liked the color. I went through two of them before it was discontinued. And I haven’t found a color similar to it since. I don’t really like red tones in a bronzer so its hard to find one that is dark enough that doesn’t have a lot of red in it.

And I think for brown skin tones bronzer doesn’t have to be used to darken. Subtle bronze that slightly darkens can look good. Bronzer is good for adding dimension since foundations make everything one tone and skin (especially deeper skin) is naturally a different tone on the outer part of the face than on the inner part. Bronzing is also good for adding a glow to the skin. It can create a “summer-y” look like you’ve been in the sun.

Through experimentation I learned that bronzers don’t have to be expensive to look good. Most of the ones I have listed below are drugstore, Dollar Store/Dollar Tree.

L.A. Colors Bronzers

Shimmer Bronzer- Sun Goddess

L.A. Colors – Beachy

L.A. Colors – Baked

(This one is my favorite for a golden shimmer. It’s like a golden highlighter.)

Shimmer bronzer- Radiance

Physicians formula butter bronzer

I think you can tell which one is my favorite…..

Mac – swiss chocolate (blush)

(S.N. Can’t link this one because I didn’t realize this one was discontinued….until now 🙂 )

But it is dark enough to be used as a contour or lightly as a bronzer. Any deep powder foundation would work just as well.

Left to Right
L.A. Colors – Radiant
Physicians Formula Butter Bronzer – Sculpting Bronze
L.A. Colors – Sun Goddess
L.A. Colors Beachy
L.A. Colors – Baked
Mac- Swiss Chocolate(Blush)

This is a current list of what I’ve found so far to be good bronzers for brown skin.

-Amber ❤