Mineral beauty bronzer by Bella Il Fiore - review by indiglo

The Bella Beauty Bronzer by Bella Il Fiore is a skin bronzer in pressed powder form. Bronzer is usually used to give your skin a sun kissed glow. To find the right color for your skin, test it on your jawline in natural sunlight. If it looks golden, or about the same color you get after being in the sun, it will work for you.

Before applying bronzer, prepare your skin as you normally would with foundation and concealer as needed. Bronzer can look blotchy if you apply it directly on your skin without prepping it first. If your skin tends to be oily, it’s best to use some translucent powder in the oily areas before applying your bronzer to prevent the bronzer from going on too heavy there.

Next, choose a medium or large soft bristle round brush, and lightly swirl the bronzer in all the areas the sun would touch your skin: your cheekbones, your nose, your temples and your forehead near the hairline. You can even sweep a little color beneath your jawline and across your collarbone and your decolletage if you’re wearing a low neck. Blend the bronzer into your skin so that the edges don’t show, or layer on more color if it isn’t dark enough for your liking and then blend it in. To complete the look, sweep your normal blush on just the apples of your cheeks.

Since the Bella Beauty Bronzer has three different shades built in, you can customize the color to your skin tone. I am very, very fair so I chose the Squiggle pattern because it looked like I could get more of the lighter shade on my brush and less of the really dark one.

During the summer a bronzer can make you look like you’ve gotten some nice sun on vacation, or it can warm up your skin tone during the winter months when there isn’t much sun to be had. Since we all know that any tan damages the skin, the Bella Beauty Bronzer is the perfect way to get some color on your skin safely.

If you have any chemical sensitivity to the ingredients listed in this bronzer, it would be best to avoid it. If your skin isn’t particularly sensitive, you shouldn’t have a problem with this product.

Since there are so many mineral makeup products on the market these days, I thought it would be nice to compare the ingredients in Bella Il Fiore mineral bronzer to some of the leading brands.

The ingredients in the Bella Beauty Bronzer are: mica, magnesium stearate, bis-diglyceryl polyacyladipate-2, actyldodecyl stearoyl stearate, caprylic/capric triglyceride, dimethicone, aloe barbadensis leaf extract, tocopheryl acetate

The ingredients in Bare Minerals mineral makeup are: titanium dioxide, zinc oxide, bismuth oxychloride, mica, iron oxide

The ingredients in Sheer Cover mineral makeup are: zinc oxide (12%), boron nitride, bisabolol, aspalathus linearis leaf extract, May Contain (+/-): bismuth oxychloride, titanium dioxide, mica, iron oxides

The ingredients in Maybelline mineral power bronzer (a drugstore mineral makeup) are: Polyethylene Dimethicone, Boron Nitride, PTFE, Synthetic Wax, Cetyl Dimethicone, Acrylates Copolymer, Trimethyl Citrate, Aloe Barbadensis/Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Tocopheryl Acetate, Alumina, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Calcium Aluminum Borosilicate, Isopropyl Titanium Triisostearate, Polyethylene Terephthalate, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Chamomilla Recutita Extract/Matricaria Flower Extract. [+/- May Contain: Mica, Titanium Dioxide, Bismuth Oxychloride, Ultramarines, Yellow 5 Lake, Red 30, Red 7, Manganese Violet, Blue 1 Lake, Ferric Ferrocyanide].

So as you can see, while it has more ingredients than some of the high end mineral makeups, it has fewer ingredients than the drugstore mineral makeup. It is up to each user to decide if that is a pro or a con.

The texture of this makeup is dry and powdery. Simply swirl your makeup brush in a circular motion to pick up the different colors, and then tap or blow off the excess before applying it to your face. My only complaint in this department is that the powder tends to go everywhere when I swirl my brush in it, and makes a bit of a mess. I also feel that wastes some of the product, since my brush created small piles of powder inside the compact that I couldn’t pick up with my brush to use.

This product has no real discernible smell, even when I put my nose directly down onto the pressed powder. It smells a tiny bit like makeup, but it’s not something you’re going to notice.

This product is not edible, so I did not want to taste it. You should never ingest makeup, and you should keep it out of the reach of children and pets so they can’t ingest it either.

One thing I like about the Bella Beauty Bronzer is that you can build up the color on your skin. Here you can see three different applications, starting with a very light one on the right, and building up more color as you move to the left.



As you can see, I have very, very fair skin. I always use the lightest/fairest color of any makeup line I’ve ever encountered, so I was a bit dubious about this bronzer working for me. I found that it can, as long as I keep the application very, very light. If I build too much color, it will look a bit orangey and clown like, so if you are fair like me just be careful how much you put on. If you have darker skin, you should not have any problem creating a darker look, as you can just make your application a bit heavier.

As you can see in the picture, it does add a subtle shimmer to your skin. It does not look obviously glittery, like some of the makeup teenagers wear; it just gives your skin a slight dewy look. I liked it when I first applied it, because it really made my face glow.

I have an issue with my skin eating makeup for lunch. For some reason, most makeups only stay looking fresh on my face for about 4 hours before I need to do a touchup. I can get a couple additional hours out of my makeup if I start with a face primer and then use a long-wear makeup, but I will still have to touch it up after a few hours with blotting tissue. The shimmer in this bronzer made me feel like I needed to touch up my makeup after just 2 hours. I liked the dewy look in the beginning, but as time went on I felt like it made my face look a little too shiny. I generally prefer a very matte look, because even a matte look eventually looks dewy on my face. If you like a dewy look you will most likely really like the look this bronzer gives your skin.

This product is definitely NOT waterproof; it will run significantly if it gets wet. To completely remove it you will need to use soap and water or your normal face wash. A thorough face washing and rinsing removed all traces of it from my face, including the little bits of shimmer. Nothing was left behind. I liked that a lot.

When my Bella Beauty Bronzer arrived, I was really shocked at how big it is! It comes in a pink box with black trim, and the box is a bit larger than 2 CD cases stacked on top of one another. When you open the box, the compact itself is safely nestled in a bed of Styrofoam to protect it during shipping. The compact is also VERY large; it’s a fraction smaller than a CD and has a net weight of 36g or 1.27oz. I compared this to the average compact of pressed powder at the drugstore, and found they average about 11g or 0.39oz. You really do get a lot of product for the money with the Bella Beauty Bronzer. (A little more than 3 times the amount of the drugstore pressed powder!)

It does not come with a brush or applicator, so you will have to provide your own. You can purchase a bronzer specific-brush, or if you prefer a lighter application you can use a large, soft bristle powder brush.

There are not a lot of instructions on the box. The back of the box says: “Look like you are on holiday... everyday! Blend the colors of Bella’s oversized beauty bronzer together and apply over face and body to create a natural, healthy goddess glow.”

This was my first experience with a mineral makeup. I generally am satisfied with drugstore makeup brands, so I am definitely not a makeup snob. I really like a lot of the features of this makeup, but with my skin I felt it just made me look too shiny too quickly.

When I wear makeup I usually wear liquid foundation, concealer under my eyes, sometimes blush, loose powder, and then my eye makeup. Adding the bronzer, which requires careful application in my case due to my very fair skin, is a bit of a time consuming process. Combining the fact that it adds several minutes to my makeup routine, and that the shimmer in it makes my face look too shiny and oily, this will definitely not become a regular part of my makeup regimen. I love how it looks when I first put it on, but after 2 hours I feel it looks too shiny and makes my face look oily.

One thing about this makeup that really impressed me was that it did not have a tendency to rub off on clothing. I had to rub pretty hard to get any to rub off on a tissue, so if you’re going to be changing clothes, you don’t have to be worried about it rubbing off on your tops or blouses. I found that really impressive, since most powdered makeups I’ve used can have a tendency to rub off on clothing. So, even though I wasn’t crazy about the bronzer, I’m definitely looking forward to trying Bella Il Fiore’s other products!