Hoola bronzer first appeared in 2001 as a tidier answer to loose powder, and it is still the shade people picture when they say bronzer. Here is the powder, the cream balm and the brush, the rest of Benefit's face lineup, and other bronzers worth a look.
Hoola Bronzer Began as a Fix for a Messy Powder
Benefit began in 1976, when twins Jean and Jane Ford opened a boutique in San Francisco, and the first product they sold there was Benetint. A quarter century later, in 2001, came the product most people know the brand for. Allure reports that Hoola debuted that year, and the reason is very practical: it was developed to replace a messy loose-powder bronzer, and it became Benefit's first Box O' Powder. Marie Claire UK says that when it arrived, it was one of the original powder bronzers. That is why hoola bronzer still feels like the reference point.
What I like about it is a small piece of color thinking. Benefit says it blended white, brown, red, purple and yellow pigments so the shade reads bronze, not orange. You can see that on skin: it is matte, slightly cool in the middle, and it does not go orangey on fair to medium skin the way a lot of warm bronzers can.
The Hoola Matte Powder Bronzer is the original, and the one I would start with. The Hoola Wave Cream Bronzer Balm is a creamy balm version of the same idea, which is the one I like on bare skin, pressed on with fingertips over the cheekbones. And the WaveMaker Bronzer Brush is the tool made to go with the set, with a shape that lets you draw a number three from temple to jaw.
The rest of the Benefit face
Benefit has built a whole face around that first bronzer, and the products here are the ones I would put next to it on a dressing table.
The Silky-Soft Powder Blush is a soft, natural pink that sits well on top of bronzer, where blush goes on the apples and bronzer goes on the edges. Benetint is the tint that started the brand, a lip and cheek stain with a wash of color that looks like you have just walked in from the cold. Juice Stick is a dewy, sheer gel blush in stick form, handy in a bag and ideal over moisturizer. Play Daze is an airy, soft matte liquid blush for people who like a more velvety cheek.
Two more belong to the base. The POREfessional Pore Minimizing Primer smooths the canvas before anything else goes on, and the POREfessional Super Setter Setting Spray is the finishing mist that helps the whole face stay put. If you are layering a cream bronzer and a liquid blush, a setting spray is a nice final pass.
Leave a minute between steps, and press the spray in with a clean sponge if any powder looks dry or patchy. Cream products also last longer when they are pressed in, not swiped, so tap them on with a fingertip and then blend the edges.
The order I use: primer, base, cream products, then powder, then spray. Cream goes before powder, so nothing drags.
More Benefit for the face
Silky-Soft Powder Blush
Benefit Cosmetics
$34
Benetint Lip & Cheek Stain
Benefit Cosmetics
$28
Juice Stick Dewy Sheer Gel Blush
Benefit Cosmetics
$34
Play Daze Airy Soft Matte Liquid Blush
Benefit Cosmetics
$34
The POREfessional Pore Minimizing Primer
Benefit Cosmetics
$36
The POREfessional Super Setter Setting Spray
Benefit Cosmetics
$36
Other bronzers, other finishes
Benefit's Hoola has a lot of company. These are the other bronzers I would happily wear, and each one does something a little different.
Rare Beauty's Warm Wishes is a soft matte powder bronzer, easy to build, and kind to anyone who worries about looking streaky. Saie's Dew Bronze is a liquid bronzer with a dewy finish, the one for skin that looks better glowy than matte. Gucci's Sun-Kissed Glow Powder Bronzer is a finer, silkier powder, and I reach for it when I want a softer, more polished finish. NARS' Laguna is a talc-free bronzer powder with a long reputation for a sun-warmed look. Merit's Bronze Balm is a sheer sculpting bronzer in balm form, closest in spirit to the cream Hoola, and the most understated of the group. It is the one I would hand to someone who has never worn bronzer, because it is hard to overdo.
Pick by finish, not by color name. Matte powder gives shape. Liquid and balm give warmth. A balm or liquid with a matte powder on top is what I do on days I want both.
What I would skip: a bronzer that is much darker than your skin, and a heavy hand at the start. Also skip using bronzer as contour in the hollows of the face if your skin tone is very fair, since a warm shade there can look muddy. Build in thin layers and stop early. Hoola and the rest of these are easy to add to and awkward to take away.
How I put bronzer on
The routine is short. Bronzer goes where the sun would naturally hit: the tops of the cheekbones, the forehead near the hairline, the bridge of the nose, and a little on the jaw. Use a fluffy brush, tap off the extra, and work in a loose number three or a big, light circle.
Check it in daylight near a window. If you can see where the color starts and stops, blend more. If your face looks like it has a mask on, wipe a little off with a clean sponge. A cream bronzer wants fingers or a dense brush, and a powder wants the fluffier one.
A good bronzer should look like a day outside, not a swatch. If you use the cream version and the powder together, apply the balm first, let it settle for a minute, then dust a little powder only where you want it to last. Start with one product, learn where it sits on your face, and add a blush only when you feel it is missing.
