The best bronzer for fair skin to get a natural-looking glow

RRP: £32 Best shade for fair skin: Dusty rose/light tan

This particular Jones Road bronzer took two years to perfect, and in true Bobbie Brown style, it's easy to use and looks seamless on the skin. It's a powder bronzer but is so silky it applies like a cream, but with a powder finish. It's a great option for fair skin as it goes on somewhat sheer but is easily buildable. When testing, we found that it gave skin a super natural hint of colour, and on fair skin, it's tricky to make bronzer look this subtle. We tested the shade dusty rose, which is a dark, rosy colour closer to a blush and offers a rosy glow for pale skin. However, if you want a more sunkissed, faux glow look, we'd suggest opting for the light tan shade, which is more of a bronze. 

Buy if: A super sheer, natural glow is on the agenda
Avoid if: You prefer cream or gel formulas

RRP: £26 Best shade for fair skin: Light bronze

This 100% vegan formula is one of the best bronzers for pale skin for when you want to fake a sunkissed; I just got back from a holiday glow. The light bronze shade is light enough to not look orangey or cakey on pale skin. Instead, it gave us a gorgeous, natural hint of colour and added just the right amount of warmth. What we loved the most about this was the super matte finish. When testing, we found it helped the bronzer look more natural on fair skin, which is not always easy to find. It didn't separate throughout the day, nor did we need to top up the colour after hours of wear. 

Buy if: You like your bronzer to have a matte finish
Avoid if: You prefer something more glowy and shimmery

RRP: £25.90 Best shade for fair skin: Summer glow

It can be challenging to find the right bronzer for fair skin tones in the summer months when you want to mimic a sunkissed glow and want the warmth of a bronzer. This illuminating bronzer is a great option. Our testers found that this bronzer offers a glow that doesn't look too overdone, and because of the liquid formula, it felt like it melted into the skin and blended in seamlessly with the best foundation. What we enjoyed most about this was the added skincare benefits. Infused with vitamin E and hydrating Nordic Algae, it gives skin that lit from within glow. 

Buy if: A 100% vegan formula, with added skincare benefits and an easy-to-blend glow sounds exactly like what you've been looking for
Avoid if: You have oily skin and prefer a powder bronzer

RRP: £25 Best shade for fair skin: Jensta

If you have fair skin, then cream bronzers like this are a good choice as the lighter texture and their ability to blend makes them pretty much foolproof when it comes to application. With a cream bronzer like this one from Trinny London, you get that added glow that you would usually see when you're in the sunshine, and similar to a liquid bronzer, it gives a much more natural finish than powder formulations. When testing, we loved how creamy this bronzer was, how it melted into the skin and how it added a warm glow and dimension to the skin. The lightest shade, Jensta, is subtle enough for pale skin and gives a faux sunkissed warmth with no shimmer.

Buy if: You want to fake a sunkissed glow easily
Avoid if: You like a powder formula or some shimmer

RRP: £32 Best shade for fair skin: Quince

This is one of the best bronzers we tested as the lightest shade has been created to work with even the palest skin tones. As with all Merit products, it's a vegan, clean and cruelty free formula, and almost impossible to mess up. A cream formula in a stick is sheer but easily buildable, blended into bare skin just as well as it did with the best foundations. Although bronzer and contour shades are different, what we love about this is that we found when we added more layers, we could use it to add definition when applied under the cheekbones. Overall, it offers warmth and adds colour to pale skin tones without the dreaded orange tones. 

Buy if: You want a bronzer you can use to add warmth and dimension
Avoid if: You never contour

RRP: £33 Best shade for fair skin: San Juan 

Anyone familiar with Nars (or who counts their Orgasm blush as one of their best blushers) will know that they don't play when it comes to pigment. We expected this bronzing powder to require a very softly-softly approach to avoid veering off into tango territory, but actually, the payoff is much more subtle. This gives you much more control over how much you want to build the colour, which is great for fair skin. We used the Nars Bronzing Powder with a big fluffy brush which was the perfect tool for diffusing this very soft, fine powder onto the skin. It has a subtle shimmer, but you have to apply a lot to see those specks of sparkle. They catch the light very softly but in a grown-up, not glittery, way. 

Buy if: You like your bronzer to have a grown-up flattering shimmer to it
Avoid if: You don't like shimmer or you want a bronzer you can also use to contour, this would be too subtle

RRP: £45  Best shade for fair skin: Fair/Pale

This bronzer is absolutely huge (a slight downside for keeping your makeup bag travel-friendly), satisfyingly weighty, and clad in rose gold. The powder inside might have less initial wow factor than the packaging, but it delivers where it counts. It's super silky and very finely milled, which has a blurring, pore-disguising, almost air-brushed effect on the skin – not entirely dissimilar to the best powder foundations. It's matte, so it helps to soak up shine on oily complexions without the need to follow with your best setting powder. Depending on how fair you are, you might need to build this a little for a noticeable colour, but don't worry about running out – it's so generously sized that you won't be hitting pan anytime soon.  

Buy if: A bronzer that will last you all summer is at the top of your shopping list
Avoid if: You want a smaller compact you can carry with you on the go 

RRP: £7  Best shade for fair skin: Feelin' Shady or Tan Lines

This putty bronzer comes in a little tub which is perfect for travel and has a creamy texture that's easy to dot onto the skin where you want it. It transforms into a powder as you apply, so you just need to buff and blend relatively quickly before it dries down too much. We did find that the textures varied slightly between the shades we tried (some were silkier than others) so keep this in mind. It could also be that one sample was older than the other, so make sure you're putting the lid back on properly to stop yours from drying out. Also, it's worth flagging that the lightest shade in the range, Feelin' Shady, has a slightly cooler grey tinge to it, which makes it better for contouring than bronzing. 

Buy if: You want a bronzer you can also use for contour, is easy to blend and has good staying power
Avoid if: You prefer your cream bronzers in a stick rather than a pot

RRP: £30 Best shade for fair skin: Butta Biscuit

Rihanna's brand proved hat it is possible for a brand to cater to all ends of the skin spectrum – including the very pale.The formula of Cheeks Out Freestyle Cream Bronzer works for all skin types, and the shades stretch for all skin tones. What we love about this is that it's sheer and glossy, which gives skin a gorgeous glow, but is also super pigmented so you only need the tiniest amount. You can shop by your skin tone (which would be fair or light) but also by your undertones too, which are cool, neutral, or warm. If you don't know which category you fit into, hold a piece of gold jewellery next to your skin, followed by a piece of silver jewellery. If the gold makes your skin look brighter, you're warm, and if it's the silver, you're cool. Look the same? You have a neutral undertone. By taking these into account, you'll get a more convincing finish from any bronzer for pale skin.

Buy if: You like to make sure your bronzer has the right undertone, this has a wide offering of undertones to suit fair skin
Avoid if: You don't enjoy cream textures or a glossy finish