St Tropez 'Powder Bronze'.

With Spring/Summer looming, I thought it would be chance to ditch the pink blush and swap it for a product which would give me a nice Summery glow.
First of all, I have to embarrass myself here and declare that I have never used a bronzer before. The idea of putting brown and orange tones on my face has never really appealed to me, and have always been much more of a pink blusher kind of person, because I always thought I (and 99% of the population) suited it more that streaks of brown across the cheeks.
But, I bought this bronzer as a spur of the moment treat, and the fact that when you get bronzer right, it looks amazing. I am always willing to try new stuff, and on my lunch-break a couple of weeks ago my legs had just happened to take me to the tanning section of Boots (I have no idea why, I haven't fake-tanned in about five years and am as pale as a sheet right now!) and I found myself picking it up thinking, 'screw it, I'm buying this'. I also bought a facial tanner (spur of the moment purchase as well!) which was also by by St Tropez, but I'm waiting for my skin to clear up before I can get round to using it, but hopefully that won't be too long now I'm back on my medication!

I paid £20.49 for 'Powder Bronze' at Boots, so it is quite an expensive purchase. However, I had been eyeing it up for ages, and had a 'what the hell' moment and decided to splurge!
I was willing to pay that little bit extra for the product because it's by a brand that I have heard so much about, and who constantly get good reviews. I remember being little and wanting a really tanned face, so I put my Mum's fake tan all over my face. Yes, I know. But it looked amazing. I could have turned out with a face the colour of an oompa-loompa, but instead I ended up with natural, olive-coloured skin. Ever since then, even though I haven't ever bought anything of their products, I have had a lot of respect and trust for the brand. I'm such a sucker for a good brand name, and probably this was one of the reasons I gave in to my demons and bought it!

Even before using the actual product itself, I was very impressed with the packaging. I love it!
As you can see, its a very sleek, black, plastic compact with the company's name in white across the front. I really like simple designs, and products with flowers and fairies and stars on just do not appeal to me, it all just seems juvenile and babyish.
So right from the start, this compact was ticking all my boxes!

I opened the compact up and thought 'oh god'. I have such a pale face after spending the past two years covered in SPF 50, so the realisation of the fact I was putting brown stuff on my face really hit me. I was panicking, thinking I'd spent so much money on a product that was going to look horrid on my pale skin!
However, after I stopped freaking out and had calmed myself down, I tried it on my hand. It is a powder (if you hadn't noticed already from the pictures above!), and is a very matte finish, and also doesn't contain any of those annoying glittery bits that seem to get everywhere. I think a matte finish to the bronzer is much more natural-looking, although I do think that a bronzer (when it's a good product/applied well) which also provides a bit of a sheen to the skin does look amazing, I am of the opinion that when you get an actual tan (the skin-cancer variety), it's never got 'added radiance' in the form of glittery bits and bobs, it's plain matte melanin.
The product blends into skin like a dream, and when used lightly, is very subtle, which is how I like to wear it. It gives a very natural glow to my cheeks. I do look as though I have more of a 'summer glow' now when I wear it, which is the look I wanted to achieve.
Obviously a heavier hand gives more dramatic results, but you don't really want to end up like a clown.
In terms of wearability, it stays put on my face all day, and currently, my working days run from 8:30 through till 5pm, so that really is a long time!
It does only come in one shade, but you can get a deeper more intense colour with repeat applications of the product.

Overall, I really love this product! I would possibly re-purchase, for the reason that I am getting on really well with this product, but then again I might buy something else! In terms of value, usage, colour-payoff, blendability, I would repurchase and I really think it is a first-class product. Plus, because it is a powder and I only use a swirl for each cheek, it will last me forever, which in the long term, makes it good value for money.
But whether I will repurchase it, is a whole completely different kettle of fish!

I honestly have no issues with it, and can't think of anything that I haven't been happy with regarding the product.
Nice one St Tropez, two thumbs up and a high-five from me!

(I would post a photo with it on my actual face but I'm hating my skin right now, even so much I didn't want to do an acne-related picture post last week.
I just haven't got the mental strength to put my nasty face on the internet for all to see right now!)