What exactly does a Bronzer do and how should dark skinned women wear it?

With more brands coming out with 40+ foundation shades or more shades or more, it's clear that diversity and inclusion in beauty is no longer seen as just a topic for community forums and customer complaints. 

We’re seeing a revolt in the beauty aisle by consumers who are less willing to mix products and "make products work".

One customer who's very vocal about not wanting  to "make products work" and expects conglomerate brands to have products available for all skintones is beauty vlogger, Nyma Tang. 

In a recent video, she spent a whopping $800 at Sephora, which features nearly 300 brands and generates billions in revenue but was unable to find a single bronzer that worked on her deep skin tone. 

Her followers many of whom are not women of color, were shocked to see a glaring, visual representation of how limited the product selection is for dark skinned women. One of the products was even ironically named "Dark Chocolate"🤦🏾‍♀️

The video has sparked even more conversation about bronzer, a product that has primarily been marketed  exclusively to lighter skin tones. 

Thanks to the marketing and limited availability of bronzers for dark skin tones over the years, many dark skinned women have assumed that bronzer is not applicable to them.

Let's dig into this thought process by clarifying what bronzer is in the first place. 

What would a bronzer do for you?

When foundation is applied to the face, it takes a face that naturally has dimension and makes it into a blank canvas. Bronzer is one of the many products (like highlighters and blush) that is used to add dimension back to the face. 

How is a bronzer different from a contour?

While highlighter is used to add shine and contours define, a bronzer is used to add warmth to the face. It's basically a way to get a vacation glow even if you just spent the day bingeing Insecure on HBO. 

A key simple difference between a bronzer and a highlighter is that while you can place a bronzer all over the perimeter of your face. You will likely look like a tin-man if you did the same with a highlighter. 

Although, we've offered a placement example, take this placement as a rough guide. Place products where they look best and enhance what you see in the mirror as we all have different face shapes and preferences. 

Still got questions about bronzers, share your thoughts below