#TFWOC Project Week #5 - MakeBelieve Sunbeam Bronzer Review

There’s only a few more weeks left of the #TFWOC project – BOO! I’m definitely going to miss it, and I’m going to miss all of the strange looks I get when I tell people I wear fake tan!

But before I shed a tear let’s get started with this week’s product. Yet another item from the generous people at MakeBelieve – the MakeBelieve Sunbeam Bronzer*. I don’t actually own any bronzers so I was really excited to try this.

As with all MakeBelieve products, the packaging is gorgeous; the gold and matte black make it feel very decadent. Inside houses the matte bronzer and a white kabuki brush with a little mirror for when you’re on the go. I was a little put off by how matte the bronzer was, I mean isn’t the whole point of bronzing powders for you to look more bronze? – as opposed to more tanned.

When I first tested the bronzer I really didn’t like it. I found it quite chalky and the colour didn’t suit my skin. Another gorgeous #TFWOC blogger suggested that I try and use a different brush to apply it, and surprisingly the results were better.

Remember the MakeBelieveTinted Moisturiser that I tried recently and promoised to revisit? Well, I decided to use it as a highlighter with the bronzer …

Just a bit of foundation – please excuse the eyebrows, appointment booked for tomorrow!

I dotted the tinted moisturiser on my cheekbones and blended with a stippling brush. I like the result; it definitely works a lot better as a highlighter than as a tinted moisturiser.

With the Sunbeam Bronzer – and some lip gloss!

Honestly, I didn’t like the bronzer. In fact, I don’t even think it should be called a bronzer. Whilst I wouldn’t say it looked horrible on me, it really didn’t make me looked more ‘bronzed’. It took a lot of product to even get it to show up on my skin and when it eventually did it just looked very chalky.

You can barely even see it swatched on my wrist here.

(blurry, sorry)

Bottom line: I don’t think matte bronzers are really suitable for WOC (the darker end of the spectrum) - or this one at least. I’d say this was perfect for contouring for someone with a lighter skintone. But for my dark skin? Not so much. I actually prefer to use it as a finishing powder on top of my makeup as the translucency is perfect. I wish it came in perhaps a darker shade, or perhaps with a subtle shimmer.

MakeBelieve Sunbeam Bronzer is available from the MakeBelieveBeauty website, priced at £15.

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TFWOC Project Week #4 - MakeBelieve Glow Tinted Moisturiser Review

Next up in the #TFWOC project is the MakeBelieve Glow Tinted Moisturiser*. Now I don’t have much experience with tinted moisturisers; I’ve got very oily skin and use mattifiers and oil-free moisturisers/serums to help keep the oil slick at bay.

Due to the fact that I get so shiny, putting anything shimmery on my face just makes me look like a greasy disco-ball – not attractive. But with winter fast approaching, along with the prospect of lacklustre skin, now could be the perfect time to ‘get my glow on’.

As with all of the MakeBelieve products we were generously sent for the project, the packaging really gets me going. I love it. But when I squeezed the ever-so-sexy-looking tube, I was a bit disheartened by what came out …

As a “Woman of Colour” (I really hate that phrase), I’m very intimidated by putting anything on my face that’s lighter than my skin tone and won’t appear translucent. I’ll admit I was immediately put off.

When I swatched it on my hand I was sure that it just wasn’t for me. Surprisingly, it worked in quite well and left my skin looking nicely illuminated. However it wasn’t enough to really give me a ‘glowing’ look.

When I tried to apply more, it was really difficult to work it into my skin and it left me looking ashy.

The left picture is a heavy swatch, lightly blended. The right is the product fully blended.

As you can see it’s completely changed the colour of my skin, making it look almost ‘grey’.

However, it works perfectly as a highlighter. If you’re going for a Kimmy K, countoured to the max look then it’s perfect.

I tried it on my Mum’s skin (I’m adopted by the way, she’s not a stranger haha), you can see how gorgeous it looks. The red line indicates the area that I applied the Tinted Moisturiser and the blue line is the area with nothing applied.

Bottom line: I’m going to revisit this review to show you what it’s like on dark skin as a highlighter, but as a Tinted Moisturiser for “WOC”, it doesn’t get my vote. On lighter skin tones, obviously judging by how it looked on my mum, it illuminates the skin perfectly.

MakeBeauty Glow Tiinted Moisturiser is available from the MakeBelieveBeauty website, priced at £15/30ml.

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TFWOC Project Week #3 - MakeBelieve Self Tan Lotion Review

The next brand up in the TFWOC Project is a brand called Make Believe. Before the project I hadn’t even heard of this brand, but I’m quickly falling in love with it.

Before I start my review though, I just want to send the lovely people at Make Believe a huge thank you for their generosity in the project.

I’ll be reviewing the MakeBelieve Self Tan Lotion with Bronzer* today, however reviews of the other products will come soon!

I had high expectations of this product after trying Abi O’s Shimmer Tan Boost and Karamel & Brown’s Glow Fast. And honestly, this really exceeded my expectations.

For starters the branding really does it for me. Packaging is very important (fickle, I know!), and Make Believe looks affordable yet decadent.

Available in five different ‘zones’ I received Zone 4, which aims to provide a golden tanned look. I love how the zones enable you to control what kind of look you’re after, wave goodbye to the oopma-loopma look, eh?

The lotion comes with plastic gloves, however I found these more of a hindrance than help to be honest. Latex gloves or a mitt would make the application such simpler, but for the sake of the project I used the gloves and was pretty pleased with the result!

The lotion itself reminds me of the chocolate sauce you get from an ice-cream van, not completely chocolate coloured but a very dense brown. And the smell, oh the smell. It’s gorgeous. It’s quite sweet, nothing like the usual biscuit or curry odour complaints. I will admit that the smell dissipates after a little while into a slight biscuit-y scent, but nothing overpowering.

I love the colour it gave me; golden tan is definitely an accurate description. This look was achieved with two coats of the lotion. On the slighter side of my arm it removed all of the yellow tones in my skin, and on the darker side it removed the red tones – so it definitely adapts perfectly.

It’s also very moisturising, so I didn’t need to apply anything on my skin after applying the tan – no ashy skin here!

I see myself using the Make Believe tan more than the other tan I tried – simply because I like how adaptable it is on the skin. Again, I wouldn’t use it all the time but definitely fairly regularly.

My only issue with the lotion is time it takes to dry. It took ages to work the tan into my skin, and then slightly longer for it to dry. It was hardly an age but obviously when you’re waiting, two minutes can feel like 10. I also found that the colour looked less vibrant after 2-3 days, but the lotion is easily applied so that wasn’t too much of an issue.

Bottom line: LOVE, love, love. This is definitely the tan that has shown me that dark-skinned women can use fake tan! At £24.50 it’s quite pricey, but it’ll definitely last a while!

TFWOC - ★★★★★

You can buy Make Believe Self Tan Lotion with Bronzer directly the MakeBelieveBeauty website, priced at £24.50/200ml.

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