Trust Me, This Fenty Beauty Sun Stalkr Bronzer Is *So* Much Better Than A Vacation

I (like every other beauty junkie) contour with darker shades of concealer and foundation, but admittedly, I don't use powder bronzers a whole lot. I have tan skin with olive undertones, so I never think to add more color to my complexion. On the other hand, I do love returning from vacations with a golden tan on my cheeks and nose. So when I got the opportunity to do my own Fenty Beauty Sun Stalkr Bronzer review, I did my best to recreate that -just-back-from-the-beach bronze — and honestly, I can't wait for my friends to think I just got back from a glamorous island vacation.

Fenty Beauty describes their new bronzer as a blendable, buildable, long-wearing, transfer-resistant powder that gives you a sun-soaked glow that lasts, but I'll be the judge of whether or not that's actually the case. It's writeup on Sephora.com reads, "smooth, creamy, and easy to blend, this light-as-air bronzer gives you a sun-soaked glow that stays put all day." And, well, there was only one way to find out if this is actually true or not.

Before:

I decided to apply my makeup as usual — that's eye shadow, brows, liner, mascara, lipstick, everything — and bake it in with Fenty's PRO FILT'R Instant Retouch Setting Powder in Banana ($30; fentybeauty.com). After I brushed off the excess setting powder, my skin had a brighter cast to it with a subtle yellow undertone, and as you can see, without an ounce of tan to it. I held off on swiping on the bronzer until the very last step so I could see the bronzing power in real time.

To give myself a true sunny glow, I applied it on all the places the sun would hit my face (think: high points like my forehead, cheeks, nose, and chin) with a fluffy brush for a diffused look. I noticed immediately that the powder melted into my skin in the creamiest way, which was absolutely wild, considering the formula is a true powder. It didn't feel chalky or look flaky, which is usually a concern with powder bronzers. And it was definitely buildable — with every dip I made into the palette, my skin got warmer and more tan, which is definitely safer than laying out for hours.

After:

The shade I used is Private Island, which has a reddish-brown, almost terra-cotta looking hue to it, which totally complements the olive undertones in my complexion.

Three or four layers of the bronzer later, I looked like I just got back from vacay. My skin had a warm glow to it that I haven't seen since last summer. It removed the yellow undertone, but my skin still looked sunny as ever. And the matte finish was a true matte (no sparkly bronzer here), so it looked totally natural too.

After spending the evening at a major league baseball game, I got home at the end of the night and to my surprise, I still had a sunny glow to my makeup. Clearly, a Dodger Dog, a beer, and lots of screaming was no match for this bronzer formula. Fenty did say it was long-wearing and transfer-resistant, but I had to see it for myself to believe it.

Now the only thing I regret is saying I don't wear bronzer — I take that back.