Summer Bronzers- My Collection

Although summer is fading and autumn fast approaching, a bit of bronzer can prolong a summer tanned look. I have medium olive skin and while I am amazed to find that there's still a lot of orange bronzers out there, especially in the drug store I've managed to find and recommend ones that aren't.I generally use Zoeva's Angled blush brushes (127 Luxe Sheer Cheek and 128 Cream cheek) to apply these bronzers below.

The Matte Bronzers 

Sleek contour kit in light 

Although this is sold as a contour kit/palette the warm brown makes it more suitable for bronzing. It's very pigmented, fairly long wearing and includes one of my all time  favourite highlighters. For such a cheap price this is fantastic value for money. When I hit pan I will definitely go out and buy another.  Sleek online and Superdrug £6.49

Ben Nye in Contour No 2  
Although sold as a contour powder the warm brown makes it ideal for bronzing.This is extremely pigmented and so requires a light hand and although I apply using a slanted contour brush I would recommend a fan brush so that you don't over apply, see my full review here. I absolutely love this, the pigment, the price everything and will definitely repurchase if I hit pan on this. Available from Treasure House of Make Up at £11.22 they are also available in the USA with other stage makeup brands such as Graftobian and Mehron.

Boots Natural collection in Milk Chocolate

 This is actually an eye shadow, one day I decided to try this as an Bronzer and the warmth of the brown really brings a healthy tanned glow to the face. At it's also very cheap and would suit paler skin tones. I would definitely repurchase as this is a double duty product.

From Boots £1.99

Boots No 7 Perfectly Bronzed Duo bronzer 

This is from a holiday set but is exactly the same as the one in current No 7 regular line which comes in a mirrored compact. Although this has tiny sparkles of glitter they don't really show up when worn so I've put this in the matte category. A good colour for a bronzer and I would repurchase this again. From Boots £12

Boots No 7 Mosaic Bronzer 

Again this is from a holiday set but it's the same as the one in the current collection.with a mirrored compact, although reviews on the Boots website say this palette is fairly fragile so perhaps one to keep at home rather than on the move.The colours can be swirled together for a more sunburnt tan or with applied with smaller brush (such as Sigma E40 or Royal and Langnickle Silk Pro C445 Large Smudger brush) for a swipe of one individual colour. This has some tiny sparkles in it but they do not show when applied so I've put this in the matte category. I would buy this again but I think some people may be put off by how narrow some of the bars of bronzer and blusher are.

From Boots £12

The Shimmery Bronzers

Benefit Perfect 10 

Unfortunately this is now discontinued probably because it never reached the dizzy heights of popularity that Benefit Hoola has. Benefit do boxed blushers and bronzers well and this is no exception. This is a duo bronzer/highlighter in one and does contain sparkle though not full on shimmer. It comes with a boxed brush but really requires an angled blush brush to properly blend it on the skin. I used to love the pinky highlighter until I realised it gives an almost lilac sheen to the skin and actually I think a golden highlighter is more flattering to my warm olive skin tone.

Benefit one hot minute
While the packaging looks gorgeous it's actually very impractical. In less than a minute, One Hot Minute turns into One Hot Mess. There is a sifter and a useful mini fan brush included but the loose powder just gets absolutely everywhere.  I've had to decanter this into a smaller tub that I can stick a brush into it instead. I have tried to throw this out of my collections a few times but each time I hesitate because it's actually a nice shimmery rose gold powder that acts as a highlighter and bronzer in one. It brings a lovely glow to the face but needs to be used sparingly to avoid looking like a bronze Christmas bauble.The texture is a softer lighter powder. It is a very glowy powder/highlighter which is difficult to show up on camera as it looks in person.  In all honesty I don't think I would re-purchase this again because it's so messy to use.
Benefit Cosmetics online uk  £23.50 Benefit cosmetics US site and all good department stores.

While everyone raves about Benefit bronzers I think Boots No 7 is a really underrated brand and offer slightly cheaper alternatives. However I would say the best value and all rounder are the Ben Nye Contour powder and Sleek Contour Kit.