Haul + Review: Sephora Sol de Rio Bronzing Powder

This has been a week of cleaning and shopping for me. I'm doing a major spring cleaning of my room which includes moving all my makeup over to my desk and ordering a stand up mirror (which should arrive tomorrow) so that I have an actual makeup station. No one knows how excited I am.

Plus! Ebates (a cash back site that I swear by, just got my check the other day for the previous three months) is having a Ebates birthday celebration where a bunch of online stores are at 15% cash back. That is amazing. Included in this is Sephora, Ulta, Lancome, Drugstore.com, and a whole bunch of other awesome online stores. 

If you have not signed up for Ebates, you should because who can say no to free money for shopping. If you want to sign up, please click this link. Yes, it is my referral link. If you don't like referral links, you can head over to ebates.com, sign up, and shop!

With that said! Here is what I ordered at Sephora:

Smashbox Full Exposure Palette sample, Make Up Forever HD Pressed Powder sample, Make Up Forever HD Primer sample, and Sephora Sol de Rio Bronzing Powder full sized

So, I subscribe to KathleenLights on YouTube, she does a lot of tutorials and reviews. Really, her Ipsy unbaggings were what made me sign up for Ipsy when I was on the fence.

And her review of Sephora's Sol de Rio bronzer is really what made me buy it. Here is a link to her video if you want to see the product in action.

Before I start gushing, here's a bit of info. The bronzer was $22 which is completely worth it in my opinion as you'll see below. Unfortunately, it is Limited Edition and the last time I looked at the website, it said it was permanently sold out. If you see this review and really want it, I'd attempt to call up some Sephora stores to see if they still have any in stock (just because it's out online does not mean it's out of stock in stores). 

Size comparison: City Color Be Matte Blush vs Sephora Sol de Rio Bronzing Powder

First of all, this bronzer is huge. The above is a comparison to City Color's full sized blush, which is 0.314 oz or 8.9 g. Sephora Sol de Rio bronzer is 0.88 oz or 25 g. Seriously, this thing is ginormous (to me at least, I've never had a makeup product include that much actual product).

The packaging is amazing. First because it's pretty and sleek. The bright colors are perfect for summer. It's obviously not a travel item. You're not going to throw this in your backpack (I mean, if you want to, go for it), but it's the size of your hand. The latch to close it is sturdy though. I wouldn't be worried if you did want to take it somewhere. It's just not a "take only what you can carry!" item.

Sephora Sol de Rio Bronzing Powder

I would like to have a love affair with this mirror. I posted a picture on my Instagram last night of it just taking up my whole face. THIS is what I want out of a makeup mirror. Not a thin rectangle of a mirror. My face is not rectangle.

I know, I've been gushing about the product without actually talking about the makeup. But I took like twenty pictures last night when I got it (posted three photos to IG after only having it for a couple hours) and then another 20 this morning because I am in love. And here is why.

Sephora Sol de Rio Bronzing Powder

I am pale. I am the palest of pale. There are foundations that I cannot buy because they do not make a shade as light as I am (plus all foundation makers seem to think that everyone has yellow undertones, I do not!). Bronzer is one of the banes of my makeup existence. 99% of bronzers will just look like I slathered my face in dirt. Don't know about you guys, but I do not want to go to work looking like I have streaks of dirt on my face.

This bronzer is my bronzer for life. First because there is so much product in this thing that if I hit pan, I will faint. Second because it is the perfect color for me. It's light enough that it doesn't look like mud, but dark enough that you can see it. It isn't orange at all, it's just a light tan. And it's matte. There is no shimmer in this thing.

 The formula isn't overly powdery. It actually feels pretty creamy without being an actual cream. And it is possible to build it up so that it's a bit darker. I did different swatches with one pass, then two, then three. This definitely can be built up.

All in all, I think that everyone can tell that I just love this product. I do think they should have come out with another one or two shades since this wouldn't work anything darker than medium skin. But for those that are like me and bronzer just doesn't work, see if you can find this bronzer. Because in my opinion it gets 5 stars.