Benefit Hoola Bronzer Review

It took me a long time to cave in and buy Benefit Hoola Bronzer, partly because it is on the pricier side. I’d only ever tried the They’re Real mascara from Benefit so I was excited to see if their powders were as amazing as I’d heard.

Like I said in my 'The Best of The Bronzers' post, as a paler human being I’m not too fussed when it comes to bronzers. I have a select few that work for my skin tone but I tend to stay well away. My curiosity got the better of me however and after hearing that this was great for fair skin, I took the plunge and purchased it.

First impressions were that the box style packaging was a bit chunky and could be a bit sleeker to fit into any and all makeup bags (mines pretty tiny). Saying that it is unique, as far as I know no other brands have the same cardboard packaging and I definitely don’t have anything that looks similar in my collection.

The product itself is smooth, well packed and an amazing shade. This is not too dark, not too muddy and not too orange, perfect for the fairer skinned population. The unique selling point for me though, the thing that really makes it stand out from all my other bronzers is how it blends. I’ve never used a powder product that blends so seamlessly into the skin. I usually apply two strips along the hollows of my cheekbones with an angled face brush, then I blend it out with my Real Techniques buffing brush. It immediately blends away leaving a gorgeous bronze glow that isn’t too overpowering.

I would definitely recommend this if you were looking for a new bronzer, it is definitely worth the hype and the extra bit of cash you’ll have to splash.

The Best of The Bronzers

For many years I detested bronzers, I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole because they always looked so orange. Other fair skinned ladies will understand that as someone of the paler variety, the task of finding a bronzer that doesn't look completely ridiculous on my skin was one I really couldn't be bothered tackling. This meant that I would walk past the most beautiful bronzers sitting on their shelves crying out to be bought, but I would turn my nose up at them and say "No Oompa Loompa face for me today thank you!" 

However since getting into the blogging world and finally learning where I'm supposed to put the bronzer on my face, I grew curious and dived in. The first one I ever bought was the Bourjois Delice De Poudre or Chocolate Bronzer as most people call it. I was pretty lucky with my first ever bronzer purchase, this is such a great affordable bronzer for any skin tone and it blends superbly. It is slightly more orange than my other two and has very subtle shimmer, but if you use it lightly it gives such a gorgeous colour. 

My next one was The Body Shop Honey Bronzer as recommended by the lovely Estee from Essie Button. If you have fair skin and you don't want to splash out on high end bronzer then this is a must have. The pigmentation is amazing and it comes in various different shades from Light Matte to Dark Matte. I have the Fair Matte shade, which is one up from the lightest, and I reckon I could go slightly darker and I'm very pale. This has a slight pink tone to it and is a bit ashier than the rest; it is perfect if you want to double it up as a contour as well as a bronzer! 

Finally we have the most expensive and most raved about over in the blogging community, Benefit Hoola Bronzer. Another matte bronzer, this has so much hype surrounding it I always stayed away, not to mention it is mighty expensive. After much deliberation I bought this and after one use I could see why people love it so much. It is an absolute dream to blend, I can apply two big stripes to contour my cheekbones and be able to blend it out seamlessly. This is a more taupe bronzer so like the honey bronzer; this can also be used as a great contouring product. 

If you have very fair skin I hope this little blog post has taken the mystery out of some of the bronzers on the market, and hopefully there is one out of these three that is in your budget! 

What is your all time favourite bronzer? Are you willing to pay a bit more to get one that really suits your skin?