We Shopped For the Very Best Bronzers so You Wouldn't Have to—Here's Our List

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(Image credit: @tobimakeup)

Don't misunderstand. We love a sculpted, sun-kissed, bronzed moment 365 days a year, but there's truly no more opportune time than summer to find a new favorite bronzer. Or, if you're like us, multiple. The thing is, the best bronzers on the market have seriously evolved over the years, and no more are the muddy, orange-hued pans we used to smear on our faces circa high school.

These days, we have more options than we know what to do with. Some drugstore bronzers are best suited for our perpetually hungry wallets, some are great for contouring, some are nontoxic, some are shimmery, some are matte, some are creamy, and some are powdery. With limitless possibilities, pinpointing the best bronzer for your unique complexion, skin tone, and makeup aesthetic can suddenly feel like brain surgery. (Okay, maybe not, but you catch our drift.) 

To lend a helping hand, we scoured the internet to find the best bronzers to satisfy even the nitpickiest of bronzer shoppers. Keep scrolling the top 20 that made our "best" list—in every finish, form, and budget you could ask for.

The Best Bargain Bronzers

The Best Nontoxic Bronzers

The Best Bronzers for Contour

The Best Bronzing Creams

The Best Bronzing Sticks

The Best Bronzing Powders

Up next: These Bronzers Are $11 and Under—in Case You Haven't Seen the Sun in a Second

This article was originally published at an earlier date and has been updated.

Beauty Director

Erin has been writing a mix of beauty and wellness content for Who What Wear for over four years. Prior to that, she spent two and half years writing for Byrdie. She now calls Santa Monica home but grew up in Minnetonka, Minnesota, and studied writing, rhetoric, and communication at University of Wisconsin, La Crosse. She studied abroad in Galway, Ireland, and spent a summer in L.A. interning with the Byrdie and Who What Wear family. After graduating from UW, she spent one year in San Francisco, where she worked as a writer for Pottery Barn Kids and PBteen before moving down to L.A. to begin her career as a beauty editor. She considers her day-to-day beauty aesthetic very low-maintenance and relies on staples like clear brow serum (from Kimiko!), Lawless's Lip Plumping Mask in Cherry Vanilla, and an eyelash curler. For special occasions or days when she's taking more meetings or has an event, she'll wear anything and everything from Charlotte Tilbury (the foundations are game-changing), some shimmer on her lids (Stila and Róen do it best), and a few coats of the best mascara-type product on earth, Surratt's Noir Lash Tint.