Note: Years ago, I wrote what has been, by far, my most popular post. It needed an update, so I'm posting it again here, with some refreshing as of 2023.

Benefit's Hoola and Tarte's Park Avenue Princess are my two most used bronzers. I love them both equally, for totally different reasons. Mostly, I use bronzer as a contour rather than color on the whole face. Because I'm fair of skin, I need something that can go on pretty light but also build up if I want a more dramatic look. Both of these bronzers work well at accomplishing this.

Benefit Hoola is an actual brown bronzer. Because it isn't orange or red-based, it works on many skin tones without looking ashy or muddy. It is relatively dark, as you can see in the swatches at the top of this post, but Benefit has come up with a "Hoola Light" if you think this one is too dark. It looks natural under the cheekbone. It is long-wearing but begins to fade slowly around the six-hour mark. It goes on relatively lightly, with moderate pigmentation, which is nice because it is harder to be heavy-handed with it, but it might not show up on a medium to dark skin tone the same way it does on a light skin tone. Hoola in the full size also comes with a brush of high quality in terms of free brushes. It retails for $36 CAD or $28 USD here. 

Park Avenue Princess has more of a red undertone. If you naturally have a lot of redness in your skin, this one might not be for you. It's something to be wary of. Park Avenue Princess is waterproof and lasts forever. Once it is on, I can get an excellent twelve-hour day with it without primer of any kind. Unlike Hoola, this one goes on very heavily pigmented. I must reign myself in to avoid the brown line of shame across my face. It's also very similar to the Nars Laguna bronzer but is more matte, so if you like that one but wish it wasn't shiny, this is a good choice. Park Avenue Princess retails for $38 CAD or $30 USD and is available here.

Both provide a matte finish, which is particularly good for contouring. I use Hoola more in the winter and Park Avenue Princess in the summer because of changes in my coloring. I prefer Tarte more because of its long-wearing nature. Once it's on, I don't have to worry about it anymore. I can confidently believe that it's on. That said, Hoola is also great. Either is an excellent addition to your collection.

What's your favorite bronzer?