Here's How to Find the Best Bronzer for Dark Skin

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: