For medium and deep skin tones, Benefit's Hoola Matte Bronzing Powder offers new shades that flatter, contour, and add depth.
Eighteen years after Benefit debuted the original Hoola bronzer powder, it's still an iconic and best-selling item. Three more shades of the bronzer have launched since then, two of which are great for medium and deep skin tones.
People with medium and deep skin tones usually have issues finding a bronzer that actually shows up on their skin — and looks natural too. But Hoola Matte Bronzing Powder in Caramel and Toasted have been well-reviewed by shoppers and beauty editors for its blendability, versatility to double as contouring powder, intense color payoff that you can actually see on skin, and just that all-around "finally!" moment.
Several editors at Refinery29 praised the two deeper shades, with one editor who tried Caramel saying, "When Benefit announced it was creating darker shades of Hoola, my immediate reaction was: 'OMG, it's happening.' As a makeup lover, I've always heard about the greatness of this product, but when I applied the original, the shade disappeared like a setting powder. But as soon as I swiped Caramel on my hand, I knew my time had come (Alexa, play Etta James' "At Last")."
Another editor who tried the shade Toasted said, "I've known about the Hoola bronzer for years, but never tried it because — well, the original shade looked more like a setting powder for me than a bronzer. And when I saw this Toasted shade in the box, I thought it would be too red on my skin (my expectations were rather low, I admit), but the color is just the right shade to give depth to my cheeks."
The bronzer holds a 4.6-star rating on Influenster with 36,000+ reviews, and a 4.6 again on Ulta with more than 1,300 reviews. Most reviews on both sites are for the Original shade but recent reviews tout the new shades, with one Ulta shopper saying, "For reference, I'm about NC45 in MAC and 420 in Fenty and I find that the color Toasted looks very nice on my skin. It's the perfect shade to give my face some warmth and add some dimension." — Jada Wong
Pros: Great for medium and deep skin tones, very pigmented, matte finish provides versatility as a contour powder, comes with brush
Cons: Included brush isn't the best
Buy the Benefit Hoola Matte Bronzing Powder at Ulta for $30