Sunday, September 5, 2010

Review: ELF Healthy Glow Bronzing Powder

ELF sells these Healthy Glow Bronzing Powders for $1/each as part of their basic line. They are described on the ELF website as "A touch of sunshine to warm up every complexion with its soft and silky texture for a beautiful and natural glow." They come in 4 colours and I have all 4 here to show you and review. I think they are an ultra-cheap alternative for a bronzer. The colours are flattering and I think this product is definitely one of the ELF's most under-rated products, since people are generally skeptical of a product this cheap being any good.


The packaging on these is a really cheap and thin plastic container, with not much product. I kind of like the clear plastic packaging, but if you flip it over you see the glue holding the compact together (pic above) and that just screams cheap. This is all indication of why this product is only $1. I feel like I need to be careful with these, if I drop them, I think the entire thing will crack and get destroyed.

These come in 4 colours: Sun Kissed, Warm Tan, Luminance and Matte Bronzer. There is a colour to suit every skintone I think. Putting the packaging quality aside, the quality of the actual product is really good. The powders are quite finely milled, but you will get fallout with these (since they are so lightly pressed) so make sure you tap the brush off before applying it. The powders are quite pigmented as well and add that "healthy glow" that the name suggests.

Luminance is probably the most popular bronzing powder of the bunch. I have read many people rave about this one. But keep in mind, despite it being called a "bronzing powder" it is not that, it's more of a highlighter and works really great at that. This is a shimmery pale, beige colour. This is a fantastic highlighter.

Sun Kissed is peachy bronzey colour, this one is more of a blush colour in my opinion and works well for that. I think this is the prettiest one out of the bunch, I use this one the most.

Warm Tan is gold bronzer, it is much darker than Sun kissed, and is super pigmented. This one is also the shimmeriest of them all and I think the darkest to pull off, but I have read that some people use this as an eyeshadow, which is actually a great idea.

Matte Bronzer is a dark coloured bronzer and as the name suggests it is matte, unlike the rest in this range which all have shimmer. If you are light, I would suggest being very careful when using this, use a light hand to apply it as it can look dirty on your face if you overdo it. However, as you can tell in the swatch it is not as dark swatches as it may appear in the pan.

I think these are very nice affordable bronzers. If you are looking for a cheap highlighter, Luminance is a very nice one and if you don't mind shimmer in your bronzer, these will work well for you.

Have you tried any of these ELF Healthy Glow Bronzing Powders?

11 comments:

Stephanie Merlin said... Best Blogger Tips

I love Luminance it's been a product I've repurchased quite a bit. I use it as highlighter like you mentioned. It gives such a pretty glow to my cheekbones.

Isabel said... Best Blogger Tips

I have these in Luminance and Sunkissed. I don't use bronzer but I use Sunkissed as a light blusher. It does just what its name says : Gives you a healthy glow

Renay said... Best Blogger Tips

I think I have 3 shades all except the matte one :( They were out of it :/

Great post I enjoy them very much!

Unknown said... Best Blogger Tips

thanks for the review! I think Im gonna pick up a Luminance and a Matte Bronzer.

Jamie Dorman said... Best Blogger Tips

Loved this review! I have been considering these. and omg I saw drew barrymore and justin long at Rite Aid like 15 min ago! I had to tell someone!

BudgetBeautyGoddess said... Best Blogger Tips

I've tried these kids of bronzers from elf twice and I just can't seem to make them work. I like the elf studio bronzers.

Annie said... Best Blogger Tips

I love to use Luminance as a lid colour, it's a very nice champagne colour. I haven't tried the matte bronzer yet, I have way too many bronzers I neeed to finish first!

Justine (Productrater) said... Best Blogger Tips

@PoorCollegeStudent - omg! pictures??! I would suggest you make a blog with celebrity spotting and post candid spots of these people! that would totally take off! :)

Alina Rodriguez said... Best Blogger Tips

Great review! I have this powder in sunkissed and I like to use it as a bronzer, and sometimes contour color. I really like it, but I agree when you say that these are very soft powders, causing lots of loose fallout. That highlighter color look beautiful!

Silverstargirl said... Best Blogger Tips

Can i use this product for contouring????

Stevista said... Best Blogger Tips

@Silverstargirl you can use the last one, which is matte, for contouring! :)