I have fairly pale skin naturally so, especially in winter, I like to give my complexion a lift with make-up products. Along with foundation, I find a bronzer to be essential for this task. I have tried quite a few products from Boot's 17 range as this is quite an affordable range, yet the products seem to be of good quality.

I bought a pot of bronzing pearls from 17 for £4.99 and they are available in two shades - light and medium. I opted for light as my skin tone is light and I didn't want the bronzer to be too obvious. Looking at the balls in the pots, the two shades are quite similar but one of the shades of the balls (there are 3 different shades in each pot) is a lighter colour in the light pot. The balls are quite small and the pot well filled, so the bronzer is pretty good value for money.

I use a bronzer brush to apply and found this could be quite messy. The balls are so small they get caught up in the bristles quite easily and can lead to a streaking effect on your face if you do not remove these all before application. They can also be scattered from the pot easily as the pot is quite small in comparison to the bronzing brush so this tends to flick them over the sides.

The actual colour of the bronzer is good, slightly darker than I had expected but still fairly natural. I do feel cautious when applying though as I have found if I apply any more than a dusting, it can get quite dark and obvious very quickly. One application lasts all day and it can easily be layered for more dramatic evening wear.

Overall, this is an ok bronzer - pretty good value for the price paid. I probably find powder rather than pearls suits me better and gives a more natural effect, but this is personal taste. When the pearls become crushed up a little with use and a powder residue appears, this becomes easier to use. I probably will not purchase again because I found them difficult to apply to give a natural effect.