Index / e.l.f. / Putty Bronzer
e.l.f.

Putty Bronzer.

e.l.f. Putty Bronzer
Blush & Bronzer

About this product

A cream bronzer in putty texture designed to blend seamlessly onto skin for a natural-looking bronze finish.

Full ingredients

Guru Score

92%

Yay

4 experts · Moderate agreement
4Gurus
4Yay
0Mixed
0Nay

What they liked

  • Blends seamlessly into skin
  • Natural finish despite full coverage
  • Works across all skin types

What they flagged

    Nothing. None of the experts who reviewed it raised a problem.

    What the gurus are saying

    This putty bronzer earns consistent praise for how smoothly it blends out and sits on the skin without looking cakey, even at full coverage. Multiple creators who tested it found it works across different skin types and layers beautifully over foundation, making it a strong pick if you're after a cream bronzer that feels natural rather than heavy.
    Synthesized from 4 expert reviews · most recent take June 2025

    Type

    Blush & BronzerCream

    Key actives

    Vitamin E

    Formula notes

    Fragrance-freeNo drying alcohol

    Where to buy

    Opens a search for this product. We do not sell anything ourselves.

    More from e.l.f. 33 products · Guru Score 88% How it works Independent by design. Every take comes from a creator we have no relationship with. We do not ask anyone to review, and affiliate links never move a score.

    What the gurus are saying.

    Every take we've logged from this product's reviews across YouTube. Click any row to watch the moment they said it.

    All takes Yay takes Nay takes Mixed takes Hide sponsored
    Yay
    "I really like this as a drugstore option. I really like these formulas, they're very creamy and blendable but they have a little bit more of a matte finish, so if you are a little bit more oily, they're easy to work with, they're easy to blend and they just blend forever, so they're really really soft. It's like this beautiful soft matte. It's a little bit more tan than some of these others. If you're really really really pale this can end up looking kind of muddy on you, but I think it's really beautiful. I like it a lot, especially for sculpting the cheeks. It has more of a matte kind of finish, so it's easy to blend and it blends out into this kind of like soft, very very soft finish which I like."
    Yay
    "Another one of my favorite bronzers this year is the e.l.f Putty Bronzer. [...] It's much smaller than the other one, but it does the same job, blends beautifully, and looks great on the skin."
    All 4 takes from HotandFlashy
    Beauty Faves + Fails! Makeup, Skincare, Self Tanners! May 2023
    "It's so easy to work with it's just so easy to get it on it looks so really nice and natural on the skin because it's sheer and it Blends out really easily"
    BEST Makeup of 2023! Drugstore + High End | Mature Beauty!
    "Another one of my favorite bronzers this year is the e.l.f Putty Bronzer. [...] It's much smaller than the other one, but it does the same job, blends beautifully, and looks great on the skin."
    NEW Drugstore Makeup Try-On! Reformulated True Match Foundation | Nothing Over $15!
    "The e.l.f Putty Bronzer has a really nice feel to it, it almost feels a little bit greasy so it feels like it's going to be super hydrating. The color is not too orange, it's nice and sheer, and it seems like it's going to not end up looking muddy which is good. Most of the contours I buy are super dark and I'm really afraid to put them on, but this is really nice, it's almost like an invisible sheer little veil, like the subtlest little wash of color. It's really good and I'm definitely a keeper with this. This is really good and I'm really happy with the e.l.f Putty Bronzer."
    Full Face of DRUGSTORE Makeup DUPES With All Day Wear Test!
    "The e.l.f. Putty Bronzer is seven dollars in the shade tan lines. They're not shimmery, they're a nice matte bronzer but they still have that kind of glow from within so they look so natural and so beautiful on the skin. What I love about both of these is that they're not opaque, they're very very sheer going on, and so if I need to put on a little more that's fine because they are so easy to blend and they're never going to look dirty or muddy. The e.l.f. is seven dollars for a third of an ounce, so if you triple it to get up to an ounce that's really like 21 dollars for the same amount, still 11 dollars less even ounce per ounce. They blend out beautifully and look fantastic on the skin."
    Yay
    "For cream bronzer, somebody said the e.l.f. Putty Bronzer specifically, and I literally would choose it over any other bronzer I own. The way it just seamlessly blended out onto the skin, I love how that looks. I was so excited to see somebody mention this because it gave me an excuse to use it again."
    Top Pick: bronzer
    Yay
    "The e.l.f Putty Bronzer is one of my absolute favorite, favorite bronzers. It sits incredibly well on the skin, no matter what kind of skin type. For something that's full coverage, this does have a really kind of natural finish. It doesn't look crazy, crazy full. It doesn't look cakey on the skin. I [...] love the way it just looks fully blended with a foundation. Melts in with it beautifully."
    Sponsored

    What the evidence says.

    Independent of what the gurus think, this is what the published research supports about the main active ingredients here.

    Sunscreen filters

    Sun protection is the best evidenced way to slow visible ageing, and the filters are what does the work. Mineral and chemical filters both protect when a product is applied thickly enough and often enough, which is where most people fall short rather than on the choice of filter.

    Source: DermNet

    Vitamin E

    Vitamin E is an antioxidant, and it is often in a formula to keep the other ingredients stable rather than as the active itself. It pairs well with vitamin C, though on its own the evidence for visible change is limited.

    Source: NIH, National Library of Medicine

    Frequently asked.

    What is e.l.f. Putty Bronzer?

    A cream bronzer in putty texture designed to blend seamlessly onto skin for a natural-looking bronze finish.

    Is e.l.f. Putty Bronzer worth it?

    Yes. All 4 gurus who reviewed it give it their stamp of approval, for a Guru Score of 92%.

    What is e.l.f. Putty Bronzer's Guru Score?

    e.l.f. Putty Bronzer holds a Guru Score of 92%. That is our read on how warmly the experts talk about it, based on the verdicts of 4 expert reviewers we have collected. At least one expert has named it a Top Pick in its category.

    Same formula, worth a look.

    Products built around the same core actives as this one, with what the experts make of each.

    See how they stack up →

    Similar products worth a look.

    Other products the same gurus have weighed in on, plus more from this brand and category.

    Compare side by side →

    Share this score

    Add this badge to your blog or website. It links back to this page and updates itself when the experts change their minds. Free, no sign-up.

    Then paste it into your site's HTML or embed block.

    This week's top beauty news, in your inbox.

    A weekly read of the takes worth catching up on: the raves, the splits, the ones the gurus won't shut up about. Free, no spam, unsubscribe whenever.

    Subscribe to the digest