The Best Bronzers for Cool Skin Tones That Look Natural, Not Orange
Flick is Adore Beauty’s Creative Copywriter. She started her writing career covering women’s sports and interviewing musicians and can often be found photographing gigs on the side. She’s no stranger to a rotating skincare cabinet and is currently on the lookout for a skincare routine that caters to redness, sensitivity and texture. She also used to complain when her mum would tell her to wear sunscreen and for that, she'd like to publicly apologise
Key Takeaways
- Cool-toned pale skin can make finding the right bronzer challenging, often leading to unwanted orange tones.
- Subtle bronzers that maintain a natural look are ideal for achieving a faux sun-kissed glow without the need for fake tan.
- Big, fluffy brushes are my preferred tools for bronzer application, ensuring a light and even dusting without streaks.
- Benefit Hoola Lite is a fantastic bronzer for those hesitant to dive into pigments, as it's buildable and looks very natural.
- MAKE UP FOR EVER offers a versatile bronzer-contour hybrid that blends seamlessly into cool-toned skin types without appearing orange.
- Jane Iredale Glow Time Bronzer Stick provides a nourishing, cream-to-powder formula that is great for drier skin and offers a luminous finish without shimmer.
I have cool-toned pale skin, like a type 1-2 on the Fitzpatrick scale kinda pale.
Sometimes having the colouring of a sickly Victorian child comes in handy: Halloween costumes, easily spottable veins when giving blood, being able to nail the 90’s never-seen-the-sun grunge look – there are some serious perks.
Sometimes, however, it’s fun to dabble in the bronzey healthy-looking glow that I know my skin will never naturally achieve (not only because I don’t tan, but also because I prefer to be slathered in SPF and donning a hat).
Now, I’m not going to complain about the lack of makeup available for pale skin because I’ve got a smorgasbord.
Pale skin foundation? Easy. But a bronzer that doesn’t send me running to join the workforce of a chocolate factory? Hard.
Everything I test seems to pull really orange or, has to be blended down to my bra straps to avoid a face-neck mismatch, and at that point, I’m using a $60 bronzer as fake tan (file that under ‘things my tax bracket can’t get away with’).
Let's get into the particulars: a bronzer is meant to be a little bit warm, it’s giving the illusion of being ‘sun-kissed’, so it’s applied where the sun would hit your face.
A contour is used to accentuate your bone structure and is meant to create what looks like a shadow, this means that it’s generally more grey or cool-toned.
My go-to contour shade is a M.A.C COSMETICS Eyeshadow in the shade Omega – I’m aware this is a sin don’t @ me. I’m working on finding a replacement but that’s a story for another day.
Back to the bronze – my dream? A subtle bronzer that’s slightly cooler in tone (but still has warmth), adds a faux sunkissed glow, and that I don’t need to fake tan to use.
The kind of bronzer you can pull out in the depths of winter and won’t look muddy the second you leave the comfort of the warm-toned heating lamps in your bathroom.
Application tips:
My favourite bronzer brushes are big and fluffy! I find anything dense or geared towards ‘buffing’ makes the application too specific and I end up looking streaky.
I aim for a light dusting across my forehead, cheeks, jawline and neck.
Shameless plug, but my go-to brush right now is the Adore Beauty Tools of the Trade Domed Bronzer Brush.
1. Benefit Hoola Lite.
What: Benefit Hoola Lite
Type: Powder.
Finish: Natural matte, no shimmer.
If you were privy to the makeup side of YouTube in 2016-2017 (my favourite era to date) you would have heard of the Benefit Hoola Matte. This was (and is) a cult fave for a reason.
I’ve grown up since then, but I’m still attached at the hip to Hoola.
Hoola Lite is the slightly lighter cousin – a fine powder bronzer that looks very natural.
You know when you dip into a bronzer or blush and your first swipe is followed by a bunch more frantic swipes as you hastily try to blend out the paint swatch you’ve just left on your cheeks?
Not going to happen with this one – it’s buildable and perfect for anyone who’s bronzer-shy and wants to experiment with placement.
In the photo, I’ve opted for a natural wash to see how no-makeup-makeup I could take it, but I can confirm the bronze can be amped-up with a few more swipes.
For the record, I also LOVE the regular Benefit Hoola – it gives a great colour that doesn’t overwhelm my complexion or turn muddy.
2. MAKE UP FOR EVER Artist Face Powder Sculpt.
What: MAKE UP FOR EVER Artist Face Powder Sculpt in the shade 410.
Type: Powder.
Finish: Matte.
Power Sculpt is a kind of bronzer-contour hybrid, it’s got a mix of warmer and cooler tones which help it settle into cool-toned skin types with ease.
Like all the bronzers on this list, it’s buildable, blendable, and doesn’t (clap) pull (clap) orange (clap).
It’s more pigmented than Hoola Lite, but in a ‘noticeable glow’ way not in a ‘you’re scaring small children’ way.
MUFE packaging tends to lean sleek and light (truly made with makeup artists in mind) and this one is no different – it’s a compact compact with a removable pan.
I layered it over a dewy-sunscreened face and the formula didn’t settle weirdly or melt away in places so that’s a bonus.
It claims to be long-wearing, and while I didn’t give it a full 10-12 hours wear test, after 5 hours it was still as good as new.
3. Jane Iredale Glow Time Bronzer Stick
What: Jane Iredale Glow Time Bronzer Stick in the shade Scorch.
Type: Cream.
Finish: Natural to dewy, no shimmer.
For a reason unbeknownst to me, I’ve never tried anything from Jane Iredale before – this product has made me regret that!
This is the only cream formula on the list and it’s packed with ingredients like jojoba seed oil that nourish the skin and help deliver a radiant (but shimmer-free) finish.
Beware, the shade does look quite deep, but it blends down to appear much more sheer.
I took it for a test run during a night out and it stayed put and was noticeable but not too intense.
Its formula is almost cream-to-powder, it’s still dewy but goes on smoothly without any streaking or stickiness.
If your skin is on the drier side, or you prefer a cream formula this is the one for you.
I found that lightly tapping this one onto your face and then blending it out, or swiping it onto a brush and then brushing it onto your face worked the best.
If you’re worried about the intensity, you can always try your hand at underpainting and apply it before your foundation.
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