If You’ve Ever Felt Personally Victimized by a Bad Bronzer, Editors Say Try These

Harper Rose8 hours agoLast Updated: 13 March 2025

0 1 1 minute read

If You've Ever Felt Personally Victimized by a Bad Bronzer, Editors Say Try These

This goes out to anyone who’s ever tried a new bronzer only to see a patchy, streaky, muddy, or orange mess in the mirror. I know I certainly have. After experiencing one too many run-ins with bad bronzers in high school and college, I’m still hesitant to test a new formula when it comes across my desk. Yeah, that kind of disappointment is hard to forget. That’s why I think we’re entitled to silky, creamy, natural-looking formulas only.

Luckily, it’s 2025, and those silky, creamy, natural-looking formulas are out there. We just have to find them. So I reached out to my fellow beauty editors to ask for their all-time favorite bronzers. I’m talking about the formulas that never fail them and always deliver healthy-looking, sun-kissed skin—even if they haven’t seen the sun in too long. Ahead, see 12 of the best bronzers ever, according to editors.

Our Top 5 Picks

Best Overall: Kosas The Sun Show Baked Bronzer
Best Affordable: Physicians Formula Butter Bronzer
Best Bronzing Stick: Merit Bronze Balm Sheer Sculpting Bronzer
Best Bronzing Cream: Refy Cream Bronzer
Best Shade Range: Fenty Cheeks Out Freestyle Cream Bronzer

Best Overall: Kosas The Sun Show Baked Bronzer

As someone who gets very, very pale in the winter, I wear bronzer almost every day (or at least every day I leave my house). Kosas’s The Sun Show Baked Bronzer is one of my go-to formulas, especially when I’m short on time because it’s unfussy and doesn’t require a lot of blending or finagling to look natural against my skin. See what I mean about that golden-hour glow?