Hi friends!
We’re talking drugstore vs. luxury makeup in today’s post. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you may remember that I picked up the beloved and well-rated Butter Bronzer from Physician’s Formula last summer. I did a full review on it which I’ll link below, but <spoiler> I really, really liked it. Well, fast-forward almost a year and there’s a new kid in town. A few weeks ago one of the brand-new Fenty Beauty Sun Stalk’r Bronzers came into my life, and <spoiler> I’ve also been loving it!
I love a good drugstore/luxury mash-up, so I thought I’d do a comparison post on how well each product performs both in terms of application & wear. Are they dupes? Alternatives to one another? Read on to find out!
Read this: Review: Physician’s Formula Butter Bronzer
THIS POST CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS, MARKED WITH AN ASTERISK. FIND OUT WHAT THAT MEANS HERE.
FENTY BEAUTY SUN STALK’R BRONZER IN SHADY BIZ
INSTANT SUN-SOAKED GLOW THAT LASTS.
BLENDABLE, BUILDABLE, TRANSFER-RESISTANT.
A longwear, transfer-resistant bronzing powder in 8 groundbreaking shades, each carefully curated to bring all skin tones to life with an instant sun-soaked glow.
I have the shade Shady Biz, which is categorized as a light shade with warm undertones on Fenty’s website. I completely agree with that description. It really pops against my pale, cool-toned skin, so I do have to be a bit careful when building the pigment up. This is a completely matte bronzer that retails for $30.00.
Physician’s Formula Butter Bronzer in Bronzer (top swatch). Fenty Beauty Sun Stalk’r Bronzer in Shady Biz (bottom swatch).
PHYSICIAN’S FORMULA BUTTER BRONZER IN BRONZER
Ultra-luxurious bronzer, infused with Murumuru Butter, delivers a radiant Brazilian goddess glow! Incredibly creamy and soft texture combines the best features of a powder and cream bronzer, to deliver a lit-from-within tropical glow unlike any other.
I have the shade Bronzer, which I would categorize as a light shade with neutral to cool undertones. Physician’s Formula has since brought out more shades, but Bronzer is an absolutely perfect shade & tone for me. Unlike the Fenty Beauty bronzer, the Butter Bronzer (which retails for $15.99*) has a satin-finish on the skin but it’s incredibly subtle. Check out the swatch comparison above – the Fenty Beauty is definitely warmer, while the Physician’s Formula is neutral/cool.
Clockwise: Fenty Beauty Sun Stalk’r Bronzer in Shady Biz, Joah Beauty Large Powder Brush, & Physician’s Formula Butter Bronzer in Bronzer.
FENTY BEAUTY VS. PHYSICIAN’S FORMULA – APPLICATION
Both of these bronzers are quite similar to me in terms of application. They’re both smooth-textured powders that are extremely buildable and blendable on the skin. I use the Large Powder Brush* from Joah Beauty to apply these products. It’s a super soft and highly affordable brush that disperses color really seamlessly across the cheeks.
I want to make a note here that I usually apply these powder products directly on top of very dewy bases, and still there is no skipping or patchiness with either formula. Very impressive.
However, I would say that the Fenty Beauty Sun Stalk’r is slightly more pigmented than the Physician’s Formula Butter Bronzer. I have to build up the Butter Bronzer a bit more to get the same saturation of color that the Sun Stalk’r can achieve with less product.
Fenty Beauty Sun Stalk’r Bronzer in Shady Biz applied on left cheek. Physician’s Formula Butter Bronzer in Bronzer applied on right cheek. This was taken right after application.
FENTY BEAUTY VS. PHYSICIAN’S FORMULA – WEAR
I generally wear my makeup for anywhere between 8 to 11 hours, depending on the day. I’ve worn both of these bronzers together on the same day (one product per cheek) a couple of times, and I can say that both products are still present on my skin after a full day’s wear. However, I have noticed more fading with the Physician’s Formula than the Fenty Beauty over time.
Please keep in mind: a) I have dry skin that tends to hang onto makeup quite well, and b) I was not testing these together in warm or humid weather conditions. Both of these factors could affect wear differently on you, just FYI. (So far the spring in NY has been generally cooler than normal, sadly.)
VERDICT
Do I think the Sun Stalk’r Bronzer and the Butter Bronzer are 100% dupes for each other? Definitely not. Firstly, the finishes are different (one is matte, the other is satin). Secondly, the application is slightly different (the Sun Stalk’r builds up pigment faster). Lastly, the wear is slightly different as well (the Butter Bronzer fades quicker).
Do I think they are great alternatives to one another? Yes, absolutely. Despite their differences, the overall effect of these two products are very similar on the skin. I personally love both of these products and will continue to use both for the foreseeable future. But if you’re looking to buy one over the other, it all will simply depend on what you’re willing to spend at checkout.
Read this: Drugstore alternatives to Charlotte Tilbury’s Hollywood Flawless Filter
Have you tried either bronzers from this post? If so, what do you think? I’d love to know!
xo, Erica
PIN IT!
It could be that since you don’t need as much of the Fenty bronzer that you might be getting more bang for your buck if you can achieve a similar look with less product. Your reviews have opened my mind towards non-drugstore products more and more. I find that I go through the drugstore products much faster because they just don’t seem to do their thing as well unless you use more product. With that being said, I really do like the cooler tone bronzer shade that the Physician’s formula has 🙂 and I think it would go better with my current skin tone better as well. I think my next purchase might be one of the Sephora eyeshadow collections.
I didn’t check how they compare in terms of the amount of product they hold, but that would be interesting to analyze. I honestly really like both products, because I like having both a cooler-toned bronzer & a warmer one. If you have lighter, cooler-toned skin I really would recommend the Physician’s Formula. You really can’t mess up the application, which is great!
I haven’t used a lot of the Sephora brand shadows, so you’ll have to tell me how it goes!
I had a bad experience with bronzer in the past and I’ve stayed away from them since. It was a cheap bronzer from Walmart, though so that could have been the problem. 😀 You can’t tell much of a difference between these two. The color looks great with your skin tone!
Thanks so much Michelle! It’s always so hard to tell from these photos, but in person you could see one shade was slightly warmer than the other. But honestly no one is looking at my face that closely to tell, I realize!
When I’m first starting out with a new product, I go drugstore first just to see if I like it or not. I was always so scared of bronzer for years and years, but now I realize you just have to be a savvier shopper with it and understand your skin tone.
I was thinking of you yesterday. I watched a man talk about the really expensive make up and explained how a lot of make up is owned by the same company. He said buying from a drug store is as good as the fancy places because it is pretty much the same. I was totally shocked!
Sure a lot of this stuff, both drugstore & luxury, is made in the same factory but I don’t think that necessarily means the formulas are the same. If you’re a real sleuth and look at the ingredient lists on products you’ll see. Key ingredients may be the same, but the further down you go in the list things start changing.
At the end of the day, I think you just have to decide what kind of experience you want when you buy beauty products, and how much you’re willing to spend for that experience. I think A LOT of luxury makeup can be duped at the drugstore, so if you don’t care about pretty packaging, or more comprehensive ingredients, etc just go to the drugstore. That’s what I normally do myself most of the time!
They both look like great bronzers! Very similar in color if not in texture….very pretty !
They are both lovely, yes! ❤️
I would so make the splurge on the Fenty instead! Both look nice on your cheeks though. 🙂
The Fenty is so beautiful! I say, go for it!
I haven’t tried anything from Fenty yet and while I definitely want to, I think I’d more go for the Physician Formula Butter Bronzer because I like my bronzers a little more subtle 🙂
Julia // The Sunday Mode
Both are beautiful bronzers but if I had to pick between them, I’d probably go for the Physician’s Formula since the undertone matches me the best! 😊