You know that feeling when you really fall into some type of products and you have to try every single one of them? Yeah, that's me in 2020/2021 with any cream face product that exists.
The SOL Body Face & Body Bronzing Balm has been around for a minute and I came across is almost by accident when I did a Colourpop order back in the summer. I use cream bronzer all the time, sometimes I add a powder one on top and sometimes I don't but cream bronzer as a base for my bronzer is my life right now. SOL Body is Colourpop's sister brand and they do all sorts of things like shimmering body oils, spritzers and bodycare and beauty products.
The bronzing balm comes in 7 shades and retails for $15, however I got it on sale for about a half if I remember correctly. It comes in a pot and you get 31g of product which is A LOT. It's a really good value for such a great amount of product. I have the shade Fair because the other ones I wanted were sold out so I just risked it.
It's meant for face and body so you can use it pretty much anywhere and it should give you a sunkissed glow. They also sell a kabuki brush which is supposed to be great for applying it but well...I have too many brushes I don't use already.
It's a cream-balm bronzer that enhances natural skintone and adds a touch of color. It has velvety smooth bronzed finish with soft-focus effect. It should be applied on moisturized skin with a buffing or kabuki brush.
Not gonna lie, I wasn't expecting much since it's also a body product and I was a little sceptical about the formula before I got it. After I got it I was surprised. The shade Fair is a little warmer than I would go for but it looks very natural as I'm very pale. The product smells amazing, like coconuts and pineapples on vacation. It's very smooth, not too creamy and not slippery at all. It's a very interesting formula, I knew it's not supposed to be matte but it's almost cream to powder finish but not totally matte powder...it's hard to explain. But I really like it because it doesn't slide around and it blends really well.
The packaging is nice and simple, it's a twist-off pot with an extra protective lid. You really get a lot of product and you can fit any brush in there which I like a lot. It comes out just enough pigmented where you don't need to build it up if you want to go soft but you surely can. I applies very well with both brushes and sponges. I do prefer to use a brush though.
Compared to my other cream bronzers it's overall lighter and warmer but I do think that it might look great on the body as well because it looks quite natural on the face. I also really like how you can kind of customize the shade a little bit by adding a powder bronzer on top. I like to top it off either with a shimmery bronzer to add even more glow or a cool-toned bronzer to really add some structure to the face. I also really like the even pigmentation that is very similar to how the Fenty cream bronzer shows up.
I have been using this bronzer for months at this point and I really enjoy it. It's a quick and easy bronzing product especially if you're looking for something natural and skin-like. It builds well and doesn't cake up and in the photo you can see how it looks quite well. It also lasts really well on the skin and you can see it even after many hours of wear. If you powder it, it's not going anywhere.
Wear test
I happened to wear this cream bronzer on its own when I did a recent wear test of the Colourpop Pretty Fresh Hydrating Foundation so I thought that I might as well include the wear test in here.
The bronzer applied smoothly like it usually does and I built it up a little bit because I didn't have time to pile on different types of bronzers today. I applied it with a NYX Multi-purpose Buffing Brush which I love for cream bronzers and I powdered my whole face with the Catrice Glow Illusion Loose Powder. It's one of my favorite powders for that glowy and natural look.
I wore the makeup for 12 hours, it was quite a day. You can see that the bronzer is a little more visible in the late night picture. That sometimes happens to me that cream products either fade or pick up more vibrancy through the day. I think it might be partially because the powder kind of covers the pigment and then it comes through as the powder dissolves into the skin through the day. Anyway the bronzer is still very much there and it's very pigmented, not patchy or separated at all.
Final thoughts
If you're looking for a pot of bronzer that's going to last you forever and performs really good then I would recommend this one as one of my top picks. I love that it's affordable, you get a great amount of product and I love the formula.
The shades are nice but since the bronzer is also meant to be used on the body the undertones are a little different than with other cream bronzers. At the end I don't mind it and I love how natural it looks but I can imagine that the shades are going to be too warm for some people.
To some extend I would compare this bronzing balm to the Fenty formula, maybe a little less glowy. It looks very natural, skin-like and it just works so well with all my foundations. I blends really well and you can really apply very sheer layers and build it up so it's easy to use if you're scared of cream products. I would say it's a great option for beginners.
Have you tried any SOL Body products? Let me know in the comments and thanks for reading!
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