e.l.f. Bronzing Drops: How To Use Them, Plus Other Bronzing Drops To Try

In 1927 in Paris, Jean Patou launched Huile de Chaldée, often called the first suntan oil, at the exact moment a tan stopped meaning outdoor work and started meaning leisure. It was perfumed with narcissus, orange flower and amber, and it was meant to be smoothed over skin lying in the sun. People wanted the color, and they wanted it to feel like a treat. That is the whole idea behind bronzing drops, a century later, minus the lounger.

e.l.f. Bronzing Drops are the version I would hand to a friend who says she can never find a bronzer that looks like skin. The brand calls it an antioxidant-rich tinted serum, sold under its e.l.f. SKIN label, and the method is refreshingly plain: shake the bottle, add one to three drops to your moisturizer or body cream, and use more drops for more bronze. The brand is clear that the drops give no sun protection, so sunscreen still goes on first. It is a Californian company, founded in Oakland in 2004 as Eyes Lips Face, and it has always been good at making the format feel easy.

The trick is to see how the drops differ from the powders and creams next to them. The first grid is the rest of the e.l.f. bronzer shelf. The Camo Liquid Bronzer & Contour is a ready-to-use step, so it suits days when you do not want to mix anything. The Soft Glam Cream Bronzer is for warming cheeks by hand. The Primer-Infused Matte Bronzer, its Forever Sunkissed sister and the Bronzer Palette are for anyone who prefers a brush, and the Contour Palette and Cream Contour Palette are for actual shaping. Drops color the whole face. The rest add shadow where you point them.

Start with the mix, not the bottle. Put one drop of any of these into the moisturizer you already use, spread it across the back of your hand, and look at it in daylight before it touches your face. Drops are strong, and a single one is usually a better opening bid than three.

A working makeup artist quoted in Allure draws a useful line: drops are a concentrate you blend into moisturizer, foundation or a liquid highlighter, while a liquid bronzer is a standalone step. That is why this grid feels different from a shelf of bronzers. Summer Fridays' Bronzing Drops and Drunk Elephant's D-Bronzi, which the brand makes with peptides, are the two most talked about, and both are made to melt into skin care. Westman Atelier's Sun Tone Bronzing Drops are the polished, slightly grown-up option. Tarte's Key Largo glow serum is meant for face and body, so it can go straight from cheekbone to collarbone.

caliray's Sundrip Luminous Peptide Serum Bronzer and Isle of Paradise's Sunny Serum sit closer to a glowy serum, and Dr. Barbara Sturm's Everything Bronzing Drops is the quiet, skin-first pick.

A pairing I like: your usual SPF moisturizer, one drop of bronzing drops, and a cream blush on top. The color reads as your own.

What I would skip: adding drops to a heavy night cream you plan to sleep in, because the color will end up on the pillowcase.

Try this before you commit to a shade: swipe a stripe of it along the inside of your jaw, not your wrist. Your wrist is a different color from your face, and jaw is where the bronzer has to blend into your neck without a line.

Liquid and cream formulas are the easy way into bronzer, because you can build them with fingertips. The Sheer Bronze Liquid Bronzer in the first spot is the softest, the one for a first try. Saie's Dew Bronze is a soft-focus liquid that Allure names among its favorites, and By Terry's Tea To Tan Golden Glow is a fluid, golden-toned one for the top of the cheekbone. MAC's Strobe Beam Bronzelighter Liquid Bronzer adds a little light on top of the warmth, and Milk Makeup's Bionic Liquid Bronzer is for anyone who wants a bit more pigment.

On the cream side, Charlotte Tilbury's Beautiful Skin Sun-Kissed Glow Cream Bronzer and Rare Beauty's Warm Wishes Cream Bronzer Stick are both easy to tap on and go over skin care and foundation. Westman Atelier's Sun Tone Bronzing Crème is the hydrating one, a good cream for dry winter skin.

A rule I follow: bronzer goes where the sun would hit first, the tops of the cheeks, the bridge of the nose, the forehead edge. Then stop.

What I would skip: a liquid bronzer over a powder foundation, since it will grab and streak.

Here is a habit worth borrowing from anyone who tans at home: exfoliate the night before, moisturize your brows and hairline, and only then reach for the drops. Self-tan clings to dry patches and makes them look darker.

This is the other half of the drops story. Bronzing drops give color you can wash off, while self tanning drops develop on skin. Tan-Luxe's The Face Illuminating Self-Tan Drops and Isle of Paradise's Self-Tan Face Drops are the two I would try first, because both are built to be mixed into your moisturizer, so you decide how deep to go. Caudalie's Self-Tan Hydrating Face Drops leans toward skin care. Charlotte Tilbury's Beautiful Skin Island Glow Easy Tanning Drops and Bondi Sands' Hydrating Self Tan Drops, made for face and body, are the friendliest for beginners.

St. Tropez's Sunlit Skin Bronzing Tint and Self Tan Face Serum gives you a tint as you go, which helps you see where you have applied it. Dolce Glow's Acqua Hydrating Self-Tanning Face Mist is a mist, so it suits a quick sweep on a warm day, and Lux Unfiltered's Sunstruck Self Tanning Face Drops round out the group.

A pairing I like: self-tan drops at night, a bronzing drop or two in the morning for a bit more warmth.

What I would skip: trying a new self-tanning formula the morning of a big event. Do it a week before, in good light.

I think bronzing drops are the most forgiving way to wear color on your face, and e.l.f. Bronzing Drops are the one I would start with, since the format works whether you are mixing one drop or three. It sits in your moisturizer, so nothing needs blending, and it does not ask you to master contour.

So I would begin with one drop in your everyday cream, add SPF on top, and keep a cream bronzer for the days you want a little more shape. Leave the self-tanning drops for a weekend. Patou wanted his customers to feel the sun on their skin. You just need a dropper and a steady hand. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together e.l.f. Blush and e.l.f. Soft Glam vs Halo Glow.