Welcome to 1 of 4 Summer Bronzer Bonus reviews!

I like to group multiple products in a single post if I feel they are relevant to each other in some way, but there are times when this caused me to delay on publishing.
For example, my Battle of the Milky Toners post was supposed to be about toners in general, featuring four milky toners and three “regular” ones. However, I kept hearing about other milky toners that were popular, so I would buy them, wait a month or more for it to arrive from YesStyle, then test it extensively before hearing about another hyped up toner, and repeat the cycle. This is how I ended up making a milky toner post specifically, with 11 compared, and it took over one year to complete!

It’s summer! Now is the perfect time to chat about bronzers. So, I thought it would be nice to have a bonus post each week in the month of July, guaranteeing that I won’t have to delay reviewing these any further because of a last minute addition, wanting to replace or add extra photos, etc.

So, here we go!

Anastasia Beverly Hills Smooth Blur Bronzer in Beach Bum Bronze

This packaging is beautiful! It’s weighty, has a mirror, and is a magnetic closure type. I love the rose gold details in the logo and around the pan. I first noticed ABH stepping up their packaging with their mascaras, and now this one.* The packaging upgrade has to factor into the price.

Although I don’t own a bronzer from their first line, I know that it has the same weight of 10 grams/0.35 oz and cost $28, versus this new one at $38.

*UPDATE: October 9, 2025 – I didn’t realize the brand’s Glow Seeker Highlighter is in similar packaging as the bronzer, but weighs slightly more!

I have to address the color options because it is very important for anyone to know when buying these. This range of bronzers is not intended to be cool-toned, but they might still appear ashy.

In the photos above, the picture with the untouched surface is color accurate in looking a bit dusty, cool, and as though it should be too light for my skin. Once I rubbed it, the true color showed as darker and warmer. I don’t know what causes the surface to appear different in color; perhaps because of whatever blurring properties are in this. Sometimes when a product has too much mica (especially paired with silica) or other ingredients that create a luminous or pearly sheen, it can look ashy/gray on someone even if the base color is dark. For example, the last three shades of ABH’s bronzers look a bit dusty in swatches by Angela Denise, despite her having a similar skin tone to mine. My skin’s hue is more saturated than hers, which I can only guess is why they wear differently on the both of us. Regardless of the cause, this problem has contributed to a lot of disappointment and backlash online, such as this scathing review from Robert Welsh.
Examples of other products that had this problem are the original launch of Fenty Cheeks Suede Powder Blushes and the darkest shade of RMS Beauty ReDimension Hydra Bronzer.
This differs from when a brand puts too much white in the formula of their product, which goes unnoticed for those with lighter skin, but is super ashy on dark skin. An example of that is YSL’s initial launch of shades in the Make Me Blush Liquid Blushes line.

So many people were thrilled to see photos of bronzers looking so cool toned that they should be labeled contours. Others were appalled. I would have completely skipped this release if not for the brand’s founder stating in Trendmood1’s comment section that the range was actually warm and she faulted Sephora’s photography (even though these were the same photos used by other retailers and they look the same as what’s on the official Anastasia Beverly Hills website).

Anastasia was correct in saying the bronzers look ashy in the photos, but some of those photos appear to be correct in showing how the bronzers look in the pan. It’s more useful for customers to know how they look on real skin. Where they went wrong is that too many of the models look sculpted instead of bronzed, so it doesn’t seem to accurately portray the color it should be on the skin. Then again, there are some people who this bronzer will look that gray on.

My original guess was that the makeup artist for the models didn’t use the bronzer alone in the photo shoot, and paired them with the brand’s Smooth Blur Contour Sticks. Perhaps too much of the contour was used, or the photos could have just been manipulated in post.
This is the grey area where the brand’s photos can be interpreted as misleading.
I’m happy with how Beach Bum Bronze looks on me, but I can understand why some people would feel let down, while others will be pleasantly surprised by the amount of warmth.

The thought crossed my mind that maybe it’s just my shade that is warm, but hanbeauty101 on YouTube bought the two lightest colors (Sun-kissed Dreams and Warm Sand Vibes) and was disappointed to see that neither were cool toned. In a contrasting reaction, Angelica Nyqvist happily confirmed that the shade just before mine called Tropical Tan is neutral-learning warm and golden.

When it comes to choosing a shade, I like that this one functions the way it should, by being warmer than my natural skin tone and only a little darker. I have many bronzers that are deep enough to be brontours, so having a subtle color is more desirable for me at this time. Beach Bum Bronze looks neutral-leaning-warm compared to the amount of orange in the shade Terracotta, which is my best match among Anastasia’s cream bronzer line.

Because Beach Bum Bronze is so similar to the color of the darkest section of my Hermès bronzer in the color Sienne, I can’t help but compare them. The ABH bronzer is the tiniest bit deeper with a little more red. Even though the powder is incredibly silky to the touch, I could see how much smoother the Hermès bronzer was when swatching the shades, and how it distributed the color evenly without skipping. To clarify, the Hermès’ bronzer is very soft to the touch, but doesn’t feel the same as Anastasia’s. It’s just the colors that are similar. If I mix in the the lighter two shades within the Sienne trio, the color turns more golden-orange.

The way the texture of the Smooth Blur Bronzer looks when rubbed reminds me of the ELF Halo Glow Pressed Powder, which is less than half the price of the bronzer from ABH. So, this kind of smooth and silky texture is achievable for drugstore brands too. The ELF powder doesn’t use Zea Mays (corn starch) like ABH, but it does have Aluminum Starch Octenylsuccinate.

Even though this cannot beat the #1 bronzer in my collection, the Smooth Blur Bronzer has still impressed me immensely with the texture, the blurring capability, how easily it blends and builds, and the finish. However, this can stick in one place and be harder to blend when applied on top of a dewy base. The only time I had a problem blending this bronzer was on a day when I was testing out a new foundation and skincare combo (one that I won’t be repeating). So, this formula may not be suited for someone who likes to use dewy foundations or moisturizing/emollient skincare. Someone with oily skin might still be able to enjoy this bronzer if a layer of powder is applied to the bronzer areas first before adding this on top.

Another difference between this bronzer and my Hermès is that the Plein Air Healthy Glow Mineral Powder blends perfectly with every brush I’ve used. The ABH Smooth Blur looks good with most I’ve tried, but light to medium density ones give more of the airbrushed look. A denser brush combined with the level of pigment in this range can be a bit overkill, and even if I try to blend it out, the end result isn’t as clean as I would want. Essentially, this bronzer doesn’t look great if overblended. Trying to build it up is better.

I’ve had no longevity issues, but this is usually the case with me.

This is a shimmer-less product with many potentially drying ingredients in the formula such as corn starch and kaolin clay, but it still has a natural looking sheen from the mica and silica. Even though this sticks too much on a wet base, I have no issues blending cream blushes on top of it. Those dry ingredients are why I think people with oily skin could still like this. I was worried I might have a problem with it, as someone with a dry skin type, but it hasn’t felt drying on my face. I use hydrating skincare, but my face is still usually dry to the touch. This is why the dew problem isn’t a big one for me, I know which brushes will work well with this, and the color is quite good.

Under my usual conditions, this bronzer works so well for me that I would place is somewhere within my top 15. However, I’m still hesitant to recommend it because of the number of potential issues I’ve detailed in this review. No product performs the same universally, but this has a bit too many outliers. I recommend that anyone interested in getting this should see it in-store if possible.

I hope you’ve found this post to be helpful. Thank you for reading, and be sure to click follow if you’d like to be notified of my next review, including the next bonus post!

-Lili ❤