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It’s two hours past midnight and Bentley is curled up in a ball sleeping right beside me (loudly if I may add, who knew a dog as small as him could snore so loudly). Meanwhile, I’m glued to my laptop ready to finish this entry before the sun is up.

I’ve wanted to compare these bronzers for you ever since I bought a box of Benefit Hoola. Nars Laguna was my second choice, and for a long time I couldn’t pick between the two. After all they’re both what most girls call their Holy Grail bronzers.

So I did what any confused shopper would do and looked at the price tags. Hoola was cheaper, so Hoola it was. I used it a lot, loved it, and finally hit pan on it. As a replacement, I now regularly use the Nars Laguna Bronzer. I thought it would be interesting to share a good comparative review of the two just in case, like me, you’re curious about which of them is a better purchase.

The iconic, award-winning Laguna Bronzer gives your skin a glow with a touch of shimmer. Sin/Casino is perfect for deeper skintones. Sin Blush is a highly pigmented, soft, sheer powder in cool berry with golden sheen. Casino Bronzer is a rich brown with golden shimmer that adds warmth to your skin. Together, they deliver a soft, sunkissed look. Casino is great on darker skins for a bronzer and for you would work good for a contour I think I would definitely swatch it up and see. Laguna would definitely be too light its more for the Fair to light medium, while Casino is medium to dark skin tones.

Nars came in its usual sleek iconic packaging, in which every Nars owner knows — will be covered with makeup smudges after a month. But even then I still like it over Benefit’s cute quirky boxes, just out of preference. Those boxes scare me. I trained my hands to handle it very carefully, in fear that it might tear off into two pieces (it didn’t by the way).

Just out of curiosity, which packaging do you guys prefer?

From afar, both bronzer shades look like twins. But up close, you’ll spot the tiniest specks of gold within the Nars Laguna Bronzer. I worried that they might turn my T-zone awfully shinny. But when the Laguna is on my skin, I barely notice any shimmer. Instead, it translates into a beautiful glowy sun-kissed tan.

Benefit Hoola Bronzer though, is a plain matte bronzer. It can easily be understated beside the golden Nars Laguna, but Hoola has it’s own special tricks as well. It can imitate how shadows would look like on skin (it’s quite intense on the swatch but when blended its beautiful), which makes it the perfect bronzer for sculpting that Kim Kardashian facial contour (or a slightly less intense contour than hers). I like to swipe this on my jawline to slim my face down a bit.

Quality wise, they both make me so proud for lasting an entire day. Although, of course, after a very long while they will fade and will require a little retouching. You can build up their color from the lightest touch of bronze to a darker shade. But Hoola can go a few more shades darker, which is why your skin tone will also play a role in picking between the two bronzers. In most cases I believe light-medium skintones will benefit more with Laguna, while medium-dark skintones will look best with Hoola.

Even though Nars Laguna and Benefit Hoola are both excellent bronzers, they aren’t really that alike. Laguna for me is the best bronzer to warm up my entire face. It adds this beautiful light golden tan to my skin. While Hoola, is the perfect bronzer for contouring (and to be honest not as flattering to use all over the face). Don’t get me wrong though, I can still use Laguna for a light contour too, but Hoola does the job a lot better.

If I had to choose just one bronzer, I’d pick Nars Laguna just because I use it more often. Plus, I can easily go through my makeup routine without contouring my face. But if I didn’t have to choose, having both bronzers is a really good treat. They work so well together. If you want something for contouring grab yourself a box of Hoola, but if you want a bronzer to warm up your face go for Laguna. Hope this post was useful for you. What’s your favorite bronzer?

NARS Cosmetics has just announced the launch of the limited edition Long Hot Summer Collection. The upcoming range is created exclusively for NARS boutiques, and it features two limited edition palettes, three iconic lip glosses, and two blushes. Everything is designed to help you get a perfectly bronzed summery look. Francois Nars recommends to complete the look with the satin black Audacious Mascara and Minorque Kohliner for enhancing your eyes.

NARS Long Hot Summer Eyeshadow Palette is priced at $48.00. The palette is presented in a matte black case decorated with NARS insignia. Its mirrored lid opens to reveal the following shades:

• Long Hot Summer I - Shimmering cream
• Long Hot Summer II - Bronze taupe
• Bellissima II - Matte grey brown
• Long Hot Summer III - Shimmering copper
• Long Hot Summer IV - Shimmering warm brown
• Bengali - Rich chocolate brown

NARS Laguna/Casino Bronzing Duo is presented in a dual-chamber compact. Its left slot features Laguna bronzer, which is a diffused brown powder with golden shimmer. The right chamber is filled with Casino, a diffused deep brown powder with golden shimmer. The Bronzing Duo retails at $42.00.

In addition, NARS Cosmetics adds to its 413 BLKR portfolio. This time, NARS introduces the limited edition 413 BLKR Cheek & Lip Palette. The palette features the town pink with a glowing gradient of sheer, blendable blushes and iconic Laguna Bronzer paired with the essential fuchsia 413 BLKR Velvet Matte Lip Pencil.

NARS Long Hot Summer Collection is available from June 1st2016, at NARS boutiques and narscosmetics.com.

Products mentioned in article

Nars Laguna M Casino Museum

Marina Milojević

Marina Milojević is a senior editor at Fragrantica. She’s been a member of the team since 2010. Marina writes for BeautyAlmanac and Luxois, ...(more)

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