The Best Cream Bronzers for a Perfect Vacation Glow

Looking for an easy (and safe!) way to recreate a sun-kissed, I-just-came-back-from-vacation glow (no matter if you've actually gone anywhere)? Cream bronzer is your foolproof product. "Cream bronzer brings warmth, dimension, and a natural luminosity to the skin, and tends to look more natural and skin-like than powders," explains celebrity makeup artist J Guerra. All skin types and tones can use cream bronzer to help warm up the areas the sun would naturally hit—the perimeter of the forehead, cheekbones, and the bridge of the nose—and create a radiant glow.

How to apply cream bronzer

Overall, it's quite easy: You can use a brush, a damp beauty sponge, or your fingers. Whatever tool you select, make sure to tap the product into your skin (don't rub) and diffuse the edges to create a blended lit-from-within look, Guerra says. You can also contour by focusing the product on your cheeks and jawline to sculpt and create the illusion of a more defined face shape. Ahead, he shares specific application tips for different skin types:

Dry and/or mature skin

Cream bronzer formulas tend to be hydrating, but they'll still blend best on thoroughly moisturized skin (and are less likely to settle into fine lines or wrinkles). "For a seamless finish, apply bronzer while your foundation or tinted moisturizer is still slightly wet," says Guerra. If you have mature skin, place bronzer slightly above the hollows of the cheeks to lift the face.

Normal to oily or acne-prone skin

Makeup tends to move or slide off oily skin. So after applying a cream bronzer, set it with a translucent setting powder, tinted face powder, or a powder bronzer to lock it in place and increase wear time, suggests Guerra.

Now that you know how to apply cream bronzer, shop our favorite options: