bareMinerals Endless Summer Pressed Matte Powder Bronzer – Faux Tan

bareMinerals Invisible Bronzer (Fair to Light), Endless Summer Bronzer (Faux Tan), Faux Tan

I decided to get the bareMinerals Endless Summer bronzer that everyone seems to be raving about despite having reservations. As you probably know, I’ve really grown to love bareMinerals as a brand over the past few years and I look forward to their new releases each year but this bronzer just didn’t hook me.

Side note: I generally prefer bronzers with a hint of red/orange. But based on photos and swatches I’d seen online, this new one looked decidedly cooler/more neutral than what I like. On top of that, the Faux Tan shade name of the new Endless Summer bronzer really threw me. I’m a big fan of bareMinerals’ original Faux Tan loose mineral bronzer and I wondered if the two shades were a match in person despite looking so different based on stock photos online.

$32 dollars later ($29 + tax) I have my answer.

bareMinerals Invisible Bronzer (Fair to Light), Endless Summer Bronzer (Faux Tan), Faux Tan

bareMinerals Invisible Bronzer (Fair to Light), Endless Summer Bronzer (Faux Tan), Faux Tan

First off, I love the packaging. I HATED the rubberized plastic, NARS-esque compacts that they used to (still?) have because after awhile they became gross and sticky. Sure, you could rub them down with acetone or alcohol to remove the sticky residue but that ruined the finish/look of the packaging irrevocably. This new simple, black packaging seems to resolve those issues. About damn time! I hope they keep to it and it’s not just a limited, special edition packaging like their silver or gold holiday compacts.

As for the bronzer itself, it has really good color payoff. It’s more pigmented than the baked Invisible Bronzer but much less so than the loose mineral bronzer. And as the product name states, the new bronzer is definitely matte. Among the three bronzers, the loose Faux Tan has the most sheen, followed by the subtler Invisible Bronzer. Additionally, the Endless Summer Faux Tan bronzer is not a shade match for the classic Faux Tan loose bronzer. The pressed version is a lot cooler/neutral in comparison. Not my cup of tea. When I wear bronzer, I wear it in place of blush on the tops of my cheeks and the Endless Bronzer, on my skin tone, doesn’t work; it makes my cheeks look dirty. I think that if I were into contouring, this would work great. But I’m not, so…