E.L.F. • Matte Bronzer • Bronzers

Where To Buy?

thenameseriika on 12/9/2012 11:18:00 AM more reviews by thenameseriika

Age: 19-24   Skin: Dry, Fair, Neutral   Hair: Brown, Wavy, Fine   Eyes: Hazel    

okay, let me just say most of you are being way too melodramatic. Yes, it is dark but nobody ever said to rub it on the apples of your cheeks and the center forehead haha. it's called CONTOURING ladies! get with it! with a light hand and and the right brush this stuff works perfectly to define your face. and this is coming from a girl who's hardly a nw15. yes it's not the best formulation, but you get what you pay for! and with this product quite frankly is above and beyond what i would expect for just $1.00!
onto the down falls, yes the packaging isnt the greatest (my hinge broke) but at least its compact. you're all crazy complaining about the shimmer because its not over baring, you look at the product and it has a slight sheen but when it goes on it looks perfectly matte, if anything it just has an ever so satin finish when you apply it over foundation. now obviously if you're to heavy handed with this stuff it could look muddy, but every product has it quarks that you have to learn to work with. if you applied every product using the exact same tactic you'd be one hot mess. In the end though, this product is a stellar find in my opinion, its got the same attributes as Blunt by MAC without having to spend the $$

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*TOP REVIEWER* Xaephan on 5/19/2012 9:38:00 PM more reviews by Xaephan

Age: 19-24   Skin: Oily, Fair-Medium   Hair: Black, Straight, Fine   Eyes: Brown    

The site tricked me. The name was 'matte brown', but the bronzer's definitely got shimmer in it. The packaging is super gross, too, since mine had all this brown stuff where the glue connected the pan to the case. Yuck!

The bronzer itself isn't toooo bad, but the fact that I thought it'd be matte ruined it.

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*TOP REVIEWER* mirageangelhope on 4/24/2012 2:10:00 AM more reviews by mirageangelhope

Age: 25-29   Skin: Sensitive   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Brown    

THIS ISN'T MATTE.The picture on e.l.f website made it look matte but it's not.This is too dark to contour with with the muddy color that it has.I wouldn't put this anywhere near my cheek bones so if you want this for anything but an eye shadow I wouldn't purchase it.Try one of e.l.f 3 $ ones instead,they are of really good quality

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FaithLPS on 4/13/2012 3:24:00 AM more reviews by FaithLPS

Age: 18 & Under   Skin: Normal, Tan   Hair: Other   Eyes: Brown    

I love this bronzer i always wanted to get it, and i will say i love it much. It say matte yet it have glitters in it, but it doesnt shows up. Great pigmentation, just a light sweep will do if not it might look muddy. Packaging wise it is alittle flimsy, you wont know when it will break. Price is dirt cheap. Will def purchase it again. :) SGD $3

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JennaMB on 3/21/2012 6:15:00 PM more reviews by JennaMB

Age: 19-24   Skin: Combination, Medium, Warm   Hair: Brunette, Straight, Medium   Eyes: Brown    

TERRIBLE, PLEASE DON"T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS!!!!!

Good on E.L.F for at least attempting a matte bronzer, which cheaper brands seem to not have a lot on offer for, but this bronzer is a terrible colour.

It's far too muddy brown and far too pigmented for a bronzer.It actually makes a nice taupe coloured eye shadow to put into perspective how bad this is for your face. As it is so pigmented it goes on splotchy and is extremely hard to control, you end up looking like you've been working the mines for the day using this bronzer.

I have NC25 skin, and have tried constantly to make this bronzer work, even going out to buy a proper contouring brush, but the colour is terrible, for me anyway.

I have to be extremely light handed when applying, but then you can barely see it anyway, after using BeneFit's Hoola Bronzer, which is exceptional, I can see that E.L.F got the colour completely wrong, it's the wrong shade of brown completely.

Also, the packaging quality is rubbish, the flimsy hinged lid breaks off easy,it's one of those products that you can't carry around in a make up bag because you find the lid broken off and bits of bronzer smashed about your bag at the end of the day.

LONG STORY SHORT, THIS PRODUCT IS BAD!
suggested instead:
Benefit Hoola
Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess Matte Bronzer

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HolDol on 3/7/2012 3:08:00 PM more reviews by HolDol

Age: 18 & Under   Skin: Oily, Fair-Medium, Warm   Hair: Blond, Straight, Fine   Eyes: Blue    

Used to be my favourite bronzer. Great for contouring and leaves a defiended tanned face. So cheap!! i got this product at 50%off only costing me 75p. Although it is not completely matte there is very little simmer/glitter. The colour is quite dark and muddy looking but blended in it looks fab! I've had this bronzer for nearly a year now and I've just hit pan. The lid is starting to break off and the writing on the front of the product is completely rubbed off. Would suggest if you really fair skinned. x

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sofiej on 2/18/2012 4:52:00 AM more reviews by sofiej

Age: 25-29   Skin: Combination, Medium, Neutral   Hair: Black   Eyes: Brown    

This is NOT matte. It has glittery particles in it. It's really strange considering it's called "matte". The color is deep and way too dark for my NC35 skin. It's dirt cheap but I have no use for this bronzer. Too bad!

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LiliLoves on 2/13/2012 10:22:00 PM more reviews by LiliLoves

Age: 18 & Under   Skin: Normal, Medium   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Blue    

I think this is pretty good for my first time using a bronzer. It really makes my high cheekbones stand out and it lasted a long time ( : I like it.

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alliehamilton on 1/15/2012 8:32:00 PM more reviews by alliehamilton

Age: 18 & Under   Skin: Combination, Fair, Neutral   Hair: Blond, Straight, Fine   Eyes: Brown    

one word...glitterbomb! even the lightest shade is very dark so not good for fair skined girls (even if you do have a tan). the only way i could see using this is maybe for a special event during the evening, when you are going for a bronzed and sparkly goddess look. not good for everyday use at all.

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*TOP REVIEWER* Christinaann5 on 11/10/2011 10:12:00 PM more reviews by Christinaann5

Age: 25-29   Skin: Normal, Fair, Cool   Hair: Blond, Straight, Coarse   Eyes: Brown    

Wow, what a great bronzer. Elf makes great makeup but this is def one of my favorite products of theirs. Ive used this for awhile now so i feel its time to update my previous review on this product.
~~~~~~~~~~~ PRICE/AVAILABILITY ~~~~~~~~~~~~
Elf Healthy Glow Bronzing Powders can be found on the elf website. I have seen a few shades in Target, KMart & Sears Grand stores but not Matte Bronze. So far, they have d/c their $1 blushes so hopefully they DO NOT DISCONTINUE THIS!! These $1 bronzers are simply amazing. For the $1 price tag, it seems insane. I've spent so much money looking for a bronzer and or contouring bronzer & I always end up coming back to these.
~~~~~~~ SHADE/FORMULA/PERFORMANCE ~~~~~~~
According to the site "Achieve a sun-kissed complexion year round! The silky smooth, fine powder formula blends evenly and easily onto the skin for a lightweight feel. Use all over the body for a touch of sheer radiance. Perfect to buff onto the face, arms, shoulders, legs and décolleté for a gorgeous natural glow. "
Elf Healthy Glow Bronzing Powder is a nice deep cool toned chocolate brown bronzer that is matte. It does for some odd reason have silver chunky glitter throughout that does not translate onto skin once applied. Its odd esp since its "matte". This tone is great for contouring the face in areas like the hollows of cheekbones, temples, nose, eyes, etc. This powder is soft & smooth, easy to apply & blends nicely. The color is deep enough for med to tan skin & those like myself w/ super pale skin can also use it with a light hand. I like to use a small dense brush for application & then buff it out w/ a kabuki style brush. This color is great considering its not orange like most affordable bronzers which for me, never look natural. This looks the best or the most natural out of the many ive tried. The color is similar to that included in the $3 studio cool bronzer. The powder is finely milled but does have some fallout left in the pan which is not a big ordeal to me. I dont mind, its not as bad as some though. This wears well on top of liquid or cream products, some more blending may be needed though as in the case of placing powder on top of liquid products. If there is any issues of blending, placing a little bit of a face powder before application of your bronzers or blushes etc, will ease the process. This wears for around 7-8 hrs on my face before i see it begin to fade or disappear. This is a really amazing bronzer that Im so glad to have, it allows me to contour naturally w/ out looking crazy.
~~~~~~~~~~~ PACKAGING ~~~~~~~~~~~~
This bronzer comes in a clear circular plastic compact. Its see thru so you can see the pan inside on the back. Elf logo & product name is located on front and a small sticker w/ shade name on the back. There is a snap shut closure. The bronzer is in a circular pan & you can clearly see the amount of product inside. The pan is decently deep so its a fair amount of bronzer. I like that you can see the product inside since i also own the other shades in the Healthy Glow Bronzing Powder so i can see which one is which if they are stored by each other. its not the prettiest packaging but its practical & keeps the powder safe. small enough to fit in your makeup bag too!
Overall, if you are interested in trying a new contouring powder and looking for a cooler tone, give this a shot. I think this will work great for those w/ cooler skin tones but i think everyone can enjoy it. I have repurchased this over & over just in case they decide to do away w/ their $1 products, i really hope they dont bc im slowly seeing all my favorites get "upgraded" & i find the product has downgraded & i dont like it anymore & pay an extra dollar for it on top of that. So pick it up now while you still have a shot, i have a few back ups bc ive had a hard time finding the perfect contour shade & this is mine!

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*TOP REVIEWER* miomega on 9/10/2011 6:30:00 PM more reviews by miomega

Age: 36-43   Skin: Normal, Dark   Hair: Black   Eyes: Brown    

This comes off like glorified mud and just sits on my skin. It does nothing. The worst of the bronzer lot imo.

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I_Smell on 9/7/2011 10:34:00 AM more reviews by I_Smell

Age: 30-35   Skin: Combination, Fair, Cool   Hair: Blond, Straight, Coarse   Eyes: Blue    

I bought this 'Matte' Bronzer from the Essential line online for € 1 ($1.40) in Europe, and while I *love* the neutral, medium to dark brown chocolate color, I *hate* the CHUNKY GLITTER! I uploaded pictures so you can see for yourself that there's gritty gold glitter in there. It's actually pretty evenly distributed over the whole surface of the pan, but my camera doesn't pick up half of it...
The sparkles not only show in the pan; a good amount of it transfers onto the cheeks as well and there's no amount of buffing that will get rid of it. Why anyone would call this bronzer 'matte' is beyond me. If I had known beforehand I would never have bought it. Straight into the bin it goes, but not before I have compared it to the ELF Studio Cool Bronzer Palette for you guys, lol.

In the pan the light milk chocolate brown color from the Cool Bronzer Palette seems pretty similar to the color of the Matte Bronze. On skin the latter has a bit more grey to it though: it's a tad cooler. As you can hopefully see in the swatch pic, it has no orange or red undertones, and no purple or plum either: it seems perfectly neutral. The Matte Bronze is also a few shades darker, but it doesn't go on as dark as in the pan: I'd say on skin it's right in between the light and the dark brown from the Cool Bronzer Palette. I can imagine it being too dark as a bronzer for very fair skinned ladies though, and IMO it's useless for contouring because of the glitter. Also, the Palette colors are less powdery, because they are more finely milled; the Matte Bronze has extremely much fallout. One feather light swipe with the flimsiest fan brush produces a huuuge powdery mess that wastes a lot of product. It's by far not as pigmented as the Cool Bronzer, but that makes it easier to build up the color, IMO. Both bronzers blend well BTW, and last all day on my (combo) skin.

So, if you're looking for a neutral toned *matte* bronzer, um... this is not it. ;-) I suggest you spend a little more and get the Cool Bronzer instead. You get 4 colors (light brown, dark brown, old rose and vanilla) in a sleek, Nars-like compact that comes with a large mirror. If interested: see my review of this product for more details.

Back to the Matte Bronze. I guess for the price I can't complain about the small amount of product, or about the ridiculously cheap packaging (see my 3rd picture). Yup, they didn't cover the bottom with a fitting label: the blotchy, scratched, dented aluminum pan is in full view, lol. Seriously: for the price that's really no biggie. I do think it's very unfortunate that ELF continues to advertise this as a 'matte' bronzer though. Even if it's cheap: it's wasteful to throw perfectly new products away just because they were mispresented. What annoys me is that ELF keeps getting away with it, because they know noone is going to make a fuss over a dollar/euro. Very disappointed, as I really love the color.

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tightkitty on 9/6/2011 8:20:00 AM more reviews by tightkitty

Age: 25-29   Skin: Acne-prone, Tan   Hair: Brunette, Coarse   Eyes: Grey    

I was surprised this is called matte bronze since there was clearly some kind of shimmery particles in it. I decided to get it anyway since it looked pretty. Well, it does as a highlighter for my cheeks but as far as all over bronzing powder -no unless applied very lightly with a soft brush. I would recommended this it is pretty and I did like it as a highlight. I couldn't stop looking in the mirror at myself while I was working out lol don't expect matte bronze the name is deceiving
UPDATE I LOVE THIS SO MUCH IT GIVES YOU THAT GORG GLOW

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bambooflower on 6/21/2011 4:13:00 PM more reviews by bambooflower

Age: 30-35   Skin: Sensitive, Medium   Hair: Black   Eyes: Brown    

This is a really good basic non-orangey bronzer. It applies more or less matte, and unlike another reviewer, I can't see any shimmer on my face when applied. This could be because I don't apply very much of this on my face - I mainly use it for contour when I feel I have enough time to do it. There are little bits of shimmer in the pan, but I don't see them on my face at all.

I love that it leans grey as opposed to orange. I really dislike looking like an oompa loompa.

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missty86 on 2/19/2011 7:44:00 PM more reviews by missty86

Age: 19-24   Skin: Combination, Tan, Warm   Hair: Brown, Straight, Fine   Eyes: Black    

I love this bronzer for contouring.

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missannster on 6/21/2010 7:58:00 PM more reviews by missannster

Age: 25-29   Skin: Acne-prone, Medium   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Blue    

loooove this bronzer. this is the most perfect color. there is NO hint of orange or red in this, it is straight up brown. kind of scary in the pan, almost looks like a greyish brown, but when i blend this on with my bobbi brown blending brush it looks like a natural tan that i would get in the sun. it isn't too pigmented so you can't really pick too much up at a time, but that's good so you can build it up. if i want shimmer i can add another bronzer on top but normally i've just been using this. and for $1? i'd def be repurchasing. the only thing is that the compact is kind of hard to open, but for the price, i don't really care. great bronzer.

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Xdevilisious on 6/18/2010 4:23:00 AM more reviews by Xdevilisious

Age: 19-24   Skin: Very Dry, Fair   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Blue    

I don't know why ELF decided to name this "matte bronze". Cause it's not. If i hold this in the light I can see some obvious bits of glitter in it and unfortunately they show up on the skin too. On the skin they're not so obvious as in the pan but in bright light you can definetly see glittery bits on your face, which isn't what i expect from a "matte" bronzer. Apart from that the color is nice. Quite dark but if you use a light hand this works on pale skins too. Doesn't last all day though. This stuff left me kinda "meh'd". No good staying power, cheap looking packaging AND glitter. Won't repurchase.

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*TOP REVIEWER* IheartCHA on 4/13/2010 8:33:00 PM more reviews by IheartCHA

Age: 19-24   Skin: Acne-prone, Fair, Neutral   Hair: Brunette, Wavy, Fine   Eyes: Hazel    

YAY! I found this new on their site and got it to try out since I've never tried a matte bronzer. All I can say is WOW. This is my go to bronzer. This could be a great contour color as well. [with a light hand] It's very blendable and very natural looking. I'm very pale and this works great for me. The good thing about this bronzer is that it's not over orangey or golden. It's a nice, true neutral brown color. It's not very warm at all and it doesn't look muddy without shimmer. This makes me look like I have a natural tan. I just made an order on E.L.F and bought backups. For $1 it's def. worth the try! I also believe Target is carrying ELF again [it's not around my home yet.] So look there first!

Edit 09.24.10

This is still my favorite bronzer!

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