Saie Sun Melt Cream Bronzer Review

I’m a powder bronzer girlie at heart but Saie’s Sun Melt Bronzer might just have convinced me to make the switch to cream formulas!

I’ve tried a couple of beauty products from Saie and have so far loved each one, so I felt pretty confident that their cream bronzer would be a hit too. But I’m picky with bronzers and it takes a lot for a cream bronzer to impress me.

Keep reading to find out just why the Saie one has quickly become a go-to in my everyday makeup routine…

Who is Saie?

Saie (pronounced ‘say’) is a clean, sustainable beauty brand that – in the words of its founder – is all about ‘feeling good and doing good’.

Feeling good – Saie’s formulas are free from parabens, sulfates, synthetic fragrances and many other controversial ingredients.

Doing good – Saie is carbon neutral, plastic negative and Leaping Bunny certified. They also have their own robust recycling scheme, in partnership with Pact Collective, which means hard-to-recycle packaging can still be properly recycled.

Now, I’m still not 100% sold on the clean beauty trend. ‘Clean’ is an unregulated term after all. But I don’t think there’s any harm in trying to avoid ingredients that are potential irritants or hormone disrupters. And Saie seems to do this in a sensible, productive way.

Ingredients

I always check the ingredients list for the skincare products I use, but for some reason I’m not quite as strict on it with makeup!

I tried to change that in 2023 and, before buying, I made to sure to review the Saie bronzer for ingredients that usually break me out. I was pleasantly surprised to see that there weren’t any. In fact, the ingredients list looked pretty amazing!

Standout ingredients include:

• Colloidal oatmeal – has skin-soothing, anti-inflammatory properties
• Glycerin – a humectant that draws moisture into the skin
• Grapeseed oil – a plant oil that’s rich in vitamin E and fatty acids
• Bentonite – a type of clay that absorbs excess oil

Fragrance is on the ingredients list but it’s right at the bottom, and it’s not synthetic, so it shouldn’t be an irritant for most skin types!

Shade range

The Saie Sun Melt Cream Bronzer is currently available in six shades: Fair Bronze, Light Bronze, Medium Bronze, Tan Bronze, Deep Bronze and Dark Bronze.

I believe it originally launched with just four shades, and Fair Bronze and Tan Bronze (two new neutral shades) were released early last year.

You can find your shade match using this handy little test on the Saie website. But if you already know what you’re looking for, the undertones (taken from the brand’s Instagram page) are as follows:

• Fair Bronze – neutral undertone
• Light Bronze – warm undertone
• Medium Bronze – warm undertone
• Tan Bronze – neutral undertone
• Deep Bronze – warm undertone
• Dark Bronze – cool undertone

As you can tell, most shades run warm but I do love that Saie expanded the collection to contain some neutral shades too. I felt that Light Bronze would look a bit orangey on my skin tone, so I’m glad I held off buying until Fair Bronze came out!

I’ve swatched Fair Bronze below so you can see how it applies on pale skin. It’s still sort of on the warm side but I do think it looks quite natural on! I’ll speak more about how it blends in the next section…

Application

The texture of this bronzer is one of my favourite things about it. It’s super creamy, so not only can you pick up product with any tool you want (brush, sponge, fingers, etc.), you can also diffuse it with very little effort at all.

My favourite way to apply the Saie cream bronzer is with a brush. It helps to dab the product with the brush a couple of times then buff it onto the back of your hand to remove any excess. This prevents any thick bands or streaks appearing when you blend it into your face.

Saie has their own Big Brush, which is an ideal pairing for this bronzer, but any dense brush will work! I really like the Real Techniques Soft Sculpting Brush because the angled head makes it easier to blend the product into the contours of my face.

Finish & wear

Saie’s cream bronzer feels so lightweight on and has such a lovely natural finish. It’s velvety but not in a silicone-y way. And it’s creamy enough to blend without streaks, but also firm enough to stay in place throughout the day.

I like that you can sheer this out for a really fresh, lightly bronzed look or build up as much colour as you want for an intensely sun-kissed vibe.

This has decent longevity too. I find that by the end of the day it does wear off a little but a top up of powder bronzer quickly brings my skin back to life.

Overall thoughts

This has to be one of my favourite cream bronzers I’ve tried to date. Being quite fair, I always struggle to find cream bronzers (well, just bronzers in general!) that are a good fit for my skin tone.

Most products aimed at pale skin are on the cool side, but I’m not really a fan of cool-toned bronzers or contour sticks – they just don’t look right on me!

This Saie Bronzer, however, is such a great neutral shade. It adds warmth to my face without looking orange (as many bronzers do) and it feels so light. Some cream bronzers have a tendency to feel heavy or sticky, but this one doesn’t at all!

Where can I buy the Saie Sun Melt Bronzer?

You can get this bronzer directly from the Saie website. Saie actually sell a Sun Melt Duo which includes both the cream bronzer and The Big Brush. This is a great way to save a bit of money if you were looking to buy the brush anyway.

If you’re not too fussed about the brush, you can buy the bronzer by itself from Cult Beauty.

Have you tried the Saie Sun Melt Cream Bronzer yet? If not, what’s your favourite cream bronzer? I’d love some suggestions 🥰