Summer is starting in the northern hemisphere, and so ghostly pale people like me need a good bronzer. I have an e.l.f. bronzer (review coming eventually) but it's shimmery and just not natural-looking. I wanted something matte, so that's why I went with the Balm's Bahama Mama.
REVIEW
Description from the Balm's website:
Finally, a Caribbean getaway in a compact! This matte bronzer creates the look of beautifully tanned skin without any orange undertones for a fresh-off-the-beach glow. Bahama Mama also doubles as the perfect contour powder and matte brown eyeshadow. Yes, this tropical beauty keeps busy!Ingredients list from the Balm's website:
Isoeicosane, Silica, Polyethylene, Zinc Stearate, Polyisobutene, Dimethicone. May Contain; Mica, CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499 (Iron Oxides), Bismuth Oxychloride (CI 77163).I love this powder as a bronzer, but as a contouring powder it's just so-so. I've used this product multiple times as a contouring powder, and every time without fail it just looks dirty and unnatural. It could just be my skintone, so I'd encourage you to try it for yourself. This doesn't hurt its overall rating, though! It's such a good bronzer that I use it regardless of if it's good for contouring or no.
As a bronzer, application is sheer yet builable -- the greatest thing for a bronzer. Because this is a powder and not a cream, sometimes blending is a bit difficult but because this is so sheer it is easy to create a nice gradient from highlight to bronze.
This powder doesn't fade throughout the day or smudge. I can rub my face gently and not remove any product. Even in the heat this didn't melt off my face.
The packaging is adorable, especially the lady on the front. Inside there is a small mirror, but it's not too useful since after you first pick up some powder on your brush the mirror will be cloaked in bronzer. It is
sad that such a cute package attracts so much powder, but such is life.
The powder looked a bit dark in the picture before the one just above, so I took this one to show how the powder actually looks in person.
SWATCH
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| Bahama Mama |
This is the powder swatched heavily on my wrist. I kept brushing and brushing and brushing until I got good opacity, but this is the heaviest I'd ever apply bronzer. You can certainly go lighter than this and still get good color.
CONCLUSION
This is my favorite bronzer that I've tried, including NARS' Laguna! I cannot think of a way for this product to be better, except maybe adding more taupe tones to make it a better contour. This isn't the cheapest powder ever at $20, but you get quite a lot of product so I call it worth it.
