Bronzing drops

Bronzing drops are liquid bronzer in concentrated form. Most are a thin serum or fluid in a dropper bottle, loaded with warm pigment and often with fine shimmer, and meant to be diluted: a few drops mixed into moisturiser, sunscreen or foundation turn the whole base a shade warmer, and a single drop on its own can be dotted where bronzer would go. The same idea also comes in wands and tubes, sold as liquid bronzer, which are usually applied directly to the skin.

Their nearest neighbours are cream bronzer, which is thicker and placed rather than mixed, and liquid highlighter, which carries pearl for light rather than pigment for colour; many drops sit between the two, adding warmth and a sheen at once. The distinction that matters most, though, is with self-tanning drops, which look the same in the bottle and work quite differently. Bronzing drops are makeup. The colour sits on the skin and comes off with cleanser.

Read the label before you buy. A self-tanner, whatever it is called, usually contains dihydroxyacetone, or DHA, a colour additive that darkens the skin by reacting with amino acids in its surface;^[1] the colour develops over some hours and fades over days. A bronzer gives a temporary effect, like other makeup, and washes off.^[1] Neither word is defined in American law,^[1] so the name on the bottle is no guide: look for DHA in the ingredients, and for words such as “develops” or “gradual”, which belong to self-tan.

The difference matters for where you put them. DHA is restricted to external use and is not permitted around the eyes or on the lips,^[1] while makeup drops can be blended up towards the lash line like any foundation. Some drops carry a sun protection factor. That is the maker’s claim, and only products that contain sunscreen ingredients and are labelled with an SPF can offer protection at all;^[1] a few drops mixed into moisturiser should not be counted on for it. Wear sunscreen as its own step.

Drops come in fewer shades than powders, and some in a single shade meant to be diluted to suit, so check the range before anything else. On fair skin choose the lightest shade and mix it well, because a concentrated drop goes a long way; on deep skin look for a range that reaches a true deep bronze, since a drop that is too light adds only shimmer. Undertone matters as with any bronzer: golden or neutral reads as sun, and very red or orange as makeup.

Then decide how much shine you want. Shimmering drops give an all-over glow that flatters dry, flat-looking skin but shows up texture and oil; shimmer-free drops add warmth alone, and make a better base under powder bronzer or on skin that shines by midday. A shimmering drop can soften a matte foundation, and a shimmer-free one mixed into a dewy moisturiser keeps the glow without adding sparkle.

Shake the bottle first, because the pigment settles. For an all-over glow, mix one or two drops into a little moisturiser or foundation on the back of the hand and apply as usual, adding a drop at a time until the colour looks like a weekend outdoors rather than a fortnight. Mixed into foundation, drops also darken it, which is useful in summer when your usual shade looks pale, and less useful if you only wanted warmth on the cheeks.

For targeted colour, dot a drop along the tops of the cheekbones, the temples and the bridge of the nose and blend at once with the fingertips or a damp sponge: thin formulas set quickly and can leave a tidemark. Carry the colour down onto the jaw and into the hairline so there is no line where it stops. Shimmer-free drops can go anywhere; those with a sheen are best kept off textured skin. Choose a shade by depth, as you would a bronzer, start with fewer drops than you think, and wash your hands afterwards.

The dropper bottle is new; bronzing liquids are not. By 1960 the London house Leichner was selling Tan Klear, a make-up “designed only to give the appearance of a tan” and described as a clear, coloured liquid for the body that gave a thin colouring with a slight sheen, in shades called Suntan Light and Suntan Dark.^[2] In 1966 Estée Lauder introduced Go-Bronze, advertised as smoothing on quickly and drying “instantly—under or over make-up—to an ingeniously natural looking golden sheen”, in Early Sun, Golden Sun and Deep Sun.^[3]

The same years sold bronzers to men. Aramis, Estée Lauder’s range for men, brought out a Bronzing Gel in 1966, “color-coded in three shades to correct a man’s skin tone for a year round summer glow”.^[3] Frances Denney added a Conditioning Face Bronzer to its men’s line in 1968, and in 1970 a Sheer Bronze bronzing gel for younger women, in a range sold in tubes.^[4] What has changed since is the format rather than the idea: a serum base and a dropper, so that the colour of a tan can be diluted into whatever is already on the face, and washed off with it at night.