Review: Bourjois Chocolate Bar Bronzer

I finally found it, kids.  The mythical Bourjois chocolate bar bronzer.  I say mythical because I couldn't find it in the US or at any of the Boots stores in Heathrow (unless you want to buy it online) but I found it in a Spanish version of CVS!  Great success.  Even though I paid astronomically more for it than I should have--thanks for that, Euro exchange rate.

Bourjois Delice de Poudre Bronzing Powder (price ranges from about $10 to $20 depending on the country as far as I know):

So, the skinny on this bronzer is that it looks like a chocolate bar (and sorta smells like one too, hence the hype).  The packaging is carboard, and it opens like a little book, with a heavily magnetized closure, to reveal the chocolate bar-shaped bronzer inside.  For cardboard packaging, it's pretty decent.  I'd say it feels on-par with Benefit's packaging, and it's much less expensive. 

The bronzer itself smells like chocolate with a hint of citrus--overall rather delicious without being too sweet or foody.  The scent won't linger on your skin, however.  I got the Medium shade (#51) which was the lightest shade offered (curse those tanned Spaniards).  Seeing as I am a NW15 at MAC and the real life equivalent of Snow White, I was a little scared by that Medium description.  The bronzer swatches as a medium-light yellow-based brown that's 90% matte with the tiniest amount of sparse gold shimmer.  I saw complaints on Makeupalley about this not being very pigmented.  I had the exact opposite experience.  This stuff is so ridiculously pigmented that I need to be very careful with how much I get on my brush.  


The pressed powder feels very finely milled and goes on smoothly, blending with little effort.  I'd say this would be 100% fool-proof if you were naturally a bit darker than me.  For fairer-skinned gals, you do need to be careful not to overload that brush and end up looking like Snooki.  Given that, though, this Bourjois bronzer lasts a very long time, especially on my oily skin and in this heat.  If I apply it in the morning and I want to go out 12 hours later, I'd do a touch-up, but it really does stick around for most of the day.


Now if only my ridiculous sun burn would fade and I could get an even tan all over...


Awkward Chic rating: A+.  If you can get this online for less than $15-$20, it's a great value.  Makes me wish Bourjois was more widely available in the US.

Image via boots.com, superfabme.com.