Best Bronzers For Pale Skin (incl. Contouring Products)

To me, finding a suitable bronzer for pale skin is as important and difficult as finding the right shade of foundation. Often, bronzers can be too orange for our fair complexions, too muddy or too ashy. It's down to personal preference which way we lean when we choose a bronzer, so I've listed a variety of my favourite bronzers, with mini reviews and descriptions.



So first I'm going to talk about bronzers; the list below is the shades from left to right.

1. Bourjois Bronzing Powder - 51 Light/Medium - £7.99
   - As you can see from the swatch above, this bronzer is one of the lightest shades and it is more warm toned. When swatched, is does look slightly more orange than it does when it is blended onto the skin. The packaging is very sturdy, the bronzer has a slight chocolatey / vanilla scent and the texture is very creamy and soft. It blends nicely onto the skin and can be built to create a more intense look. You get 16.5g of product and you can find this product in Boots or Superdrug stores or online.


2. Physicians Formula Murumuru Butter Bronzer - Light - £11.24
   - This is cult favourite bronzer in America and is very popular with beauty gurus on YouTube. The thing that sold it for me is the smell; it smells like tropically Pina Colada so if that's not your thing, you might not like it. Even when I swatched this, I could smell it on my arm for ages! The packaging is very sturdy and you get a mirror underneath along with a sponge applicator. The texture of this is like no other that I've tried. It feels like a cream bronzer, because it is so soft and silky but it looks like a powder. It is very buildable and you don't need a lot of product. The actual bronzer itself doesn't kick up any powder when you swirl your brush around, that's how creamy it is. This is a must have for me. The shade is on the warm side but it is not as orange toned as the Bourjois Bronzer. You get 11g of product in this tropical looking compact and if you are in the UK, you can find this online at iHerb or Amazon.


3. MUA Matte Perfection Bronzer - £4.00
   - This is one of my favourite bronzers because of the shade and the price. As I've mentioned before, and all pale princesses will know the struggle, cheap products tend to be too orange or dark for our skin tone. Well, not this bronzer! I mentioned this is my Must Have Products for Pale Skin  blog post. The formula is soft and the packaging is good quality (compared to lots of other affordable brands) but it does kick up a bit of powder if you swirl your brush in. Again, this bronzer is pigmented but buildable and it doesn't have a scent like the previous two bronzers. This bronzer really surprised me because it's such good quality and such a good shade for pale skin, for such a low price! You get 15g of product in this compact.
4. Freedom Professional Matte Bronzer - £3.00
   - This is actually my favourite shade of bronzer from the swatches above. To me, it is not too warm, but not too cool, it is the perfect balance of light and dark and I think it compliments my skin the best. Some people may find this too dark - if you want a natural looking bronzer and you have porcelain skin, this might not work for you. But personally, I like to emphasis my high cheek bones as it's one of my only good features! The packaging is a bit crap, it snapped at the hinge within a few uses but it comes with a huge pan and it's not too powdery. It is not as soft and silky as other bronzers I have used but the shade alone gets it into the top 7 bronzers for me. It's not the best bronzer in the world in terms of formula, but it is one of my favourites. You get 15g of product and you can find this online at Tam Beauty or at Superdrug stores.
5. NYX Matte Bronzer - 03 Medium - £7.00
  - I've also spoken about this bronzer before in my Top 10 NYX Products blog post. This bronzer, as you can see from the swatch, is more of a rusty, dark red shade but I think this works well as a more intense bronzer or a contour shade. You need a light hand when applying this as it is very highly pigmented. The packaging of this is very sturdy and it comes with a mirror. The formula is soft, but again, it is not as soft and silky as certain other formulas. You get 9.5g of product, which is not as much as the other bronzers I have mentioned so far, but it is super pigmented so a little goes a long way.
6. Benefit Dallas Bronzer & Blusher - £24.50
   - This is another cult favourite for pale skin, although this might all change when the Benefit Hoola Bronzer Lite is released in the UK (it was released in America very recently). It can be used for bronzing, contouring or as a dark blusher. It is similar to the NYX Matte Bronzer with a slight red undertone but it does also have hints of brown and red. There is a slight shimmer to this but it is not overly noticeable when it is on your skin. Again, because this is a darker shade, I would recommend using a light hand with this. If you're in the market for a high end bronzer and want something that will work with pale skin, I would try this out. You get 12g of product and you can find this at larger Boots stores and online, as well as in Debenhams and John Lewis.


7. Make Up Revolution Duo Face Sculpt - £4.00
   - Along with the Freedom Professional Bronzer, this is another favourite shade of mine out of the swatches above. The packaging is sturdy and similar to the MUA Matte Perfection Bronzer packaging - a large thin pan. This product does also come with a light powder which is slightly shimmery. I haven't really used this at all, although it is a very light shade which is suitable for pale skin, it is not shimmery enough for my liking to be used as a highlighter. This is a soft formula that again, doesn't kick up much powder and after months of using it regularly, there's not even a slight dent in it. You get 15g of product in total, which will be half bronzer and half highlighter but it is very good value for the price. You can find this product in Superdrug stores or online.


Although some of the products that I mentioned above can be used for bronzers or contour products, these 3 products can only really be used as a contour on fair skin.


1. NYX High Definition Blush - Taupe - £5.50
   - This is actually a blush, however, it is a cult favourite amongst pale princesses for contouring with. As you can see from the swatch, is is highly pigmented so you only need to use a small amount of product and a light hand when applying this. It is a very cool toned shade with a hint of purple/mauve, which is why it works well for contouring as it creates a natural looking shadow underneath your cheekbone instead of warming up the complexion as a bronzer does. The packaging is very sturdy and compact, with a little bow on the front. You get 4.5g of product in this because it is a blusher instead of a contour shade, but a little goes a long way and the price is great for the quality.


2. NYX Wonder Stick Highlight & Contour - Light / Medium - £10
   - This is a dual ended cream contour stick which has a highlighter end as well as a contour shade and this again is a cult favourite product for pale princesses. The formula is creamy and pigmented but it easily blended into the skin. The highlighter shade is light enough for pale skin although it's not my favourite formula as it is much thicker than the contour end and it can end up looking cakey. You only need a small amount of product to achieve a structured contour, if you apply too much it can end up looking like a hot mess. If you haven't used a cream contour product before, this is a great one to start with as it's easy to get a precise application with the stick. Make sure you set the contour with a powder or bronzer to keep it in place all day. There are 6 shade choices in this product and you get 8g of product in total - 4g of contour and 4g of highlight.

3. Collection Precision Contour Stick - Light - £3.99
   - If you're looking for a more affordable version of the NYX Wonder Stick or aren't interested in the highlight shade on that product, this could be a great one to go with. The shade of this is very similar to the NYX product, as you can see by the swatch and it is just as pigmented and blendable and again, it is easy to achieve a precise application with this but it is worth applying a small amount and building it up. The shade is fab for porcelain skin but it does also come in a medium and dark shade. You can find this product at Boots or online - Boots.com has a detailed description of how to use this product which might be helpful for those just getting into make up or those who are not sure how to use a cream contour product.


So I hope this has been helpful for any fellow pale princesses looking for some good bronzer and contour products! If you have any other favourites, let me know if the comments so I can try them out myself.

Sarah (aka. Pale Princess) x

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