Fenty Beauty Toffee Tease Cream Bronzer Review & Swatches

April 18, 2020

Fenty Beauty Toffee Tease Cream Bronzer Review & Swatches

Toffee Tease

Fenty Beauty Toffee Tease Cheeks Out Freestyle Cream Blush ($20.00 for 0.1 oz.) is a deep brown with muted, cool undertones and a natural finish. It had sheer to semi-sheer coverage applied with a stippling brush, semi-sheer to medium coverage with an angled, moderately-dense brush, and medium coverage with a fingertip.

The color could be built up with ease with a second or third layer without looking heavy or the new layer pushing around the previous layer. For true, sheer coverage, you’d want to pat a fingertip once or tap a brush in once or twice and then apply.

Where the formula excelled was in how blendable and forgiving it was as often working with such a deep shade on my skin tone (which is obviously much lighter), any unevenness in blending is readily apparent. This particular shade was one of two that was called out as a contour shade (I think the brand would have been better-served by calling this range Cream Definers or Cream Shapers). The color went on evenly, diffused well along the edges, and dried down within a few minutes but retained a skin-like finish without being tacky or wet to the touch.

The texture was emollient, almost like a thin, gel-cream, that spread easily across my skin whether it was bare or had foundation on top. It stayed on nicely for eight and a half hours before fading visibly.

FURTHER READING: Formula Overview for details on general performance and characteristics (like scent).

Top Dupes

View Swatches View All Dupes

MAC Film Noir (P, $24.00) is less shimmery, lighter, less glossy (90% similar).
Benefit Hoola Toasted (P, $30.00) is less shimmery, lighter, warmer (85% similar).
Viseart Sculpting #3 (PiP, ) is less shimmery, lighter, less glossy (85% similar).
Bite Beauty Cocoa (P, $24.00) is more muted, warmer (85% similar).
Anastasia Mink (P, ) is less shimmery, lighter, warmer (85% similar).
Fenty Beauty Chocolate (P, $32.00) is lighter, warmer (80% similar).

View Swatches

Formula Overview

$32.00/0.22 oz. - $145.45 Per Ounce

The formula is supposed to be "non-greasy," "sweat-resistant," "easy to blend" cream bronzer (or contour) with "sheer, buildable" coverage that has a "natural-looking" finish. The brand called out two shades specifically as contour shades--Amber and Toffee Tease--though they can certainly be used as applicable to one's skin tone and undertone.

The coverage was semi-sheer to medium in one layer and buildable from there, though a lot of the initial opacity depended on the application. Per the brand, the product can be applied with fingertips (they mention "one tap") or with a brush (they created a denser, angled brush for this formula). What I found was that the formula had a tendency to diffuse and spread over the skin in a way that did sheer out the color in practice, so the blended out swatch was more in line with actual results. I think they were, on average, more semi-sheer to medium, buildable coverage than true, sheer coverage but they can definitely be applied lightly or blended out for true, sheer coverage.

Fingertips, generally, apply the heaviest coverage across formulas and products, which was true here. When applied with fingertips, a swirl through the pan yielded more medium and semi-opaque coverage, while a pat or two of a fingertip into the product was good for getting the first layer in place (with more sheer to semi-sheer coverage) and building up coverage where desired. For brushes, something like a stippling brush yielded sheer to semi-sheer coverage and a denser, angled brush yielded more semi-sheer to medium coverage.

The coverage built up exceptionally well as the product layered without becoming uneven in application or in actual texture. The product applied beautifully over bare skin as well as over foundation (I paired them with Fenty's Pro Filtr, which is popular but also more matte, so made for a good test base) as it did not lift up base products.

The consistency was moderately emollient with good glide--it spread easily across my skin, which made it more fluid and gel-like in that way, and it wasn't tacky or so wet that it was hard to blend evenly or get to "stay" in place where I wanted it to stay (thus enabling me to blend out edges with ease). It dried down within a few minutes, but it retained its more skin-like finish despite not feeling wet to the touch.

The test of blendability is often with deeper shades like Chocolate and Toffee Tease, which are significantly deeper than my skin tone, so any unevenness is much more noticeable, but they applied beautifully. I could see them working on deeper skin tones as they were likely designed for, but for someone who is looking for a darker contour shade and is lighter, they're easy to work with as well.

The formula wore well for eight to nine hours, and it had a continued, gradual fading from there that was a flattering fade (it didn't just slide down and off my face!). I'd agree that it seemed sweat- and water-resistant as it didn't start to migrate, bleed, or turn patchy, though it could certainly be rubbed off with light pressure (fingertip, napkin, etc.), e.g. blot away excess moisture.

Browse all of our Fenty Beauty Cheeks Out Freestyle Cream Bronzer swatches.

Ingredients

Octyldodecanol, Isononyl Isononanoate, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Pentaerythrityl Tetraisostearate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Synthetic Wax, Polyethylene, Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2, Silica Silylate, Nylon-12, Candelilla Cera/Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax/Cire De Candelilla, Mica, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Talc, Tocopheryl Acetate, Pentaerythrityl Tetra-Di-T-Butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate, Bht, Iron Oxides (Ci 77491, Ci 77492, Ci 77499), Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891).