When you're a pale girl like me, bronzer is both a must have and a struggle. I find that a lot of what's out there in the bronzer world, especially at a lower price point, can end up looking too stark or muddy on my skin and just end up looking like makeup rather than a healthy glow. After spending a couple of years being a loyalist to my Physicians Formula Butter Bronzer, I wanted to branch out and try something else, so when I saw that the Maybelline City Bronzer was available in quite a light shade for under $10, I took a chance!

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For a long time it was pretty much impossible to find a good matte bronzer in the drugstore, but they've definitely been stepping up and I'm here for it. It has pretty simple packaging and I'd say that the pan is a little bit on the small side at 0.24oz of product. For comparison, the Butter Bronzer is 0.38oz and the new NYX California Beaming bronzers come in at 0.49oz. I'm really not bothered by the smaller pan, but do know that you will go through this one faster if you're a consistent user. 

I sort of feel two ways about the shade selection of this bronzer. As you can see, the shade Light 100 is very, very light, which is amazing for a pale girl like myself who struggles to find a shade. On the flip side, though, this formula is only available in three shades and I feel like the darkest shade might not quite get there for people with deeper skin tones. I kind of wish that this range had double the shades, with a little bit more depth on the deeper end and different undertone options. 

It's interesting because once I swatched this shade on my skin and really saw how much yellow there seems to be in the base I was worried that this wasn't going to look a little strange on me. I've actually seen swatches on other skin tones where it seems to look quite a bit more neutral or even pinkish and heard it described as cool toned, but on my skin and even in the pan to me there's definitely a very yellow undertone. I will say, though this isn't what I would normally gravitate towards, I give it huge points for being a pretty unique option in the drugstore.

Even though it leans yellow, I actually really like how this looks on my skin. I feel like there's something about the tone of it that ends up looking really natural and adds definition without really looking makeup-y or obvious on the skin. I think personally I would prefer more of a pink tone, something that would mimick a little bit more the way sun exposure actually looks on my skin, but I still do quite like this. I feel like the undertone is definitely going to be the decider for a lot of people who are similarly pale to me because it does really show up. 

Overall, I would say that while this isn't my new all time favorite, this bronzer is definitely going to continue to have a place in my makeup collection and my beauty routine. Finding a bronzer light enough to look natural on my skin can be tricky - and if you'd like to see a post about my favorite light bronzers, please let me know - and I like that there's another drugstore option that differs in undertone from the others in my collection and is widely available and affordable. I also think this is a really beautiful, no fuss formula that looks really, really seamless on the skin. 

The Maybelline City Bronzer is available now and I picked mine up at Walmart for under $10!

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