No need to spend hours at the beach or in the sun to get glowy skin. While winter may have washed you out, you can get a healthy, luminous look sans sunburn with the right bronzer. This magical makeup simultaneously warms and highlights your face, giving you that post-tropical-vacation look.

For darker skin tones in particular, the wrong shade will leave you looking ashy (and nobody wants that!). Instead, find a color that's one or two shades deeper than your natural skin tone. Like choosing your blush, knowing your undertones can help you select a bronzer that complements your skin for a natural and realistic glow. Not sure? Put on some jewelry. If you look good in gold, you likely have warm undertones and should gravitate toward golden bronzers. If you stun in silver, then you have cooler undertones — soft, cool browns will complement your skin. If you can wear either color, then you have neutral undertones, and you can stick with medium browns.

Skin tone is important too: For people with medium or olive skin tones, copper-colored bronzers really complement your complexion, though almost any bronzer will look great on you. Those with with deep and dark skin tones should opt for dark brown colors or deep orange-brown shades to give you a natural glow.

How to apply bronzer on dark skin

A slight error can make you look patchy, streaky or overdone. Here are three easy steps to apply bronzer to your face:

1. Start light. Dust on a small amount at first; you can always build more product for a deeper glow.
2. Take a powder brush and sweep the bronzer lightly to the outer areas of your face and along the edge of your jawline.
3. Use bronzer to highlight and contour, applying it from your ear and brushing it right under your cheekbone.
4. Finish off the look by applying it to the sides of your nose, if you desire a slight contour.

Here are the best bronzer shades for people with darker skin tones:

Mented Cosmetics

ulta.com

$22.00

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This Mented Cosmetics blendable bronzer is rich in pigment and contains skincare ingredients like vitamins A and E. The shade Out of Office is perfect for giving a radiant glow to dark skin tones.

NYX Professional Makeup

amazon.com

$9.00

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Want the glow without the glitter? This affordable drugstore pick from NYX Professional Makeup is the perfect solution. Its matte formula helps minimize large pores and leaves your skin with a velvet finish. The vegan bronzer is an Amazon favorite, with 87% of reviewers giving it a 4 star rating or above."It's not harsh and bold like other powders and creams can be for beginners," a reviewer said. "It blends so easily and so well into the skin to give a nice kiss of color."

NARS

nordstrom.com

$38.00

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This finely-milled powder from Nars is a favorite among celebrity makeup artists and beauty editors alike. It provides a smooth application, and the slight golden shimmer gives your face definition and a warm glow. This shade is great for both olive and dark skin tones.

Fenty Beauty by Rihanna

sephora.com

$32.00

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Rihanna to the rescue: This Fenty Beauty cream bronzer has a texture that melts into your skin for a believable finish. It's light and buildable so you choose whether you want a sheer or deeper glow. It can be hard to find a cream bronzer for very deep skin tones, and Toffee Tease is the holy grail, providing a nice contour.

Chanel

nordstrom.com

$58.00

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The chic, slightly iridescent Chanel powder easily sweeps across your skin, giving you a beachy glow. This bronze powder is light and buildable, resulting in a healthy glow for tan and medium skin tones.

Cover FX

coverfx.com

$29.00

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Cover FX is known for custom drops that give a luminous look, and this liquid bronzer lotion can be added to foundation or moisturizer (including body lotion!) for a sun-drenched effect. You can also apply below your cheekbones, on the sides of the forehead and under the chin for a contoured and bronzed look. This shade is perfect for medium to deep skin tones, and the drops allow for easy blending. You can also apply to your collar bone, legs and arms for an overall sun-kissed shimmer. Note: Use sparingly to start as a little goes a long way.

Physicians Formula

walmart.com

$11.04

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This creamy formula from Physicians Formula, a GH beauty editor favorite, is an amazing drugstore bronzer for dark skin as it provides a natural glow. The color is the perfect balance between warm and cool, so it works on multiple shades of melanin. The bronzer also contains natural butters to nourish skin.

Too Faced

macys.com

$32.00

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This Too Faced matte bronzer will give your face slight definition, and the light chocolate color is the best for medium warm skin. It holds up well throughout the day and is perfect for creating a natural contour. True to its name, it also smells like chocolate.

Charlotte Tilbury

nordstrom.com

$55.00

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This oversized Charlotte Tilbury compact holds an ample amount of product, and the bronzer accentuates a warm complexion on dark skin tones. The formula is finely-milled and blends into your skin seamlessly, leaving you with a flawless airbrush finish. It also contains hyaluronic acid, which locks moisture into your skin.

Danessa Myricks Beauty

danessamyricksbeauty.com

$26.00

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Danessa Myricks has given flawless beauty beats to A-listers like Ciara and Madonna. A self-taught makeup artist, each product in this collection is multi-use. This vegan cream bronzer also serves as a shaping cream, giving you a contour that the camera will love. It naturally defines by shading the contours of your face. The formula is blendable, buildable and adds instant warmth to your face.

Iman Cosmetics

anabale.com

$22.00

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Iman Cosmetics is founded and named after supermodel Iman, who created this line to meet the needs of Black women. This bronzer doesn't disappoint with three vivid shades that won't leave you looking ashy or too orange. When traveling, you can apply these products separately to serve as your highlighter, blush or even eyeshadow.

Gucci

nordstrom.com

$62.00

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You get what you pay for with this luxe Gucci bronzer: this long-lasting formula is light and easy to apply, with a satin finish. This shade in particular has reddish undertones, which are great for boosting deep skin tones and providing a rosy look.