Fenty Beauty Macchiato Cream Bronzer Review & Swatches

Macchiato

Fenty Beauty Macchiato Cheeks Out Freestyle Cream Bronzer ($32.00 for 0.22 oz.) is a light-medium brown with muted, warm undertones and a satin finish. There was a very skin-like finish–not overtly shimmery but seemed to have a bit of luminosity to the finish despite drying down on my skin.

It had semi-sheer to medium, buildable coverage applied with fingertips or a moderately-dense, angled brush, which was a bit higher coverage than described. For true, sheer coverage, I’d recommend applying with a stippling brush. The consistency was more like a gel-cream, so it was very spreadable and easy to work with, and it meant that the product naturally sheered out when applied to bare skin. It had to be layered to achieve more opaque coverage, which took two layers or so. The formula worked well over bare skin as well as over foundation as it did not lift up my base. It stayed on nicely for eight and a half hours before fading noticeably.

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

Top Dupes

View Swatches View All Dupes

Chanel Original (P, $50.00) is more shimmery, lighter, glossier (95% similar).
Charlotte Tilbury Gorgeous Glowing Beauty #4 (LE, ) is more shimmery, lighter, cooler (95% similar).
Kaja Shady (P, $24.00) is more shimmery, lighter, glossier (95% similar).
Fenty Beauty Butta Biscuit (P, $32.00) is more shimmery, lighter, cooler (90% similar).
Dior Warm Sunrise (004) (P, $48.00) is lighter (90% similar).
Tom Ford Beauty Terra (P, $68.00) is less shimmery, cooler (90% similar).
Hourglass Golden Bronze Light (LE, $52.00) is more shimmery (90% similar).
Fenty Beauty Inda Sun (P, $30.00) is less shimmery, lighter, more muted (90% similar).
NARS Laguna (P, $38.00) is less shimmery, cooler (90% similar).
Too Faced Pineapple Paradise (Bronzer) (PiP, ) is more shimmery (90% 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, Mica, Candelilla Cera/Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax/Cire De Candelilla, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Tocopheryl Acetate, Pentaerythrityl Tetra-Di-T-Butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate, Talc, Bht, Iron Oxides (Ci 77491, Ci 77492), Blue 1 Lake (Ci 42090), Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891).