When it comes to budget makeup, I really like W7 as a brand and I’ve liked everything I’ve tried from the brand so far. W7 create a lot of ‘dupe’ products, where they release products which are copying the design and or product of an higher end alternative, but for considerably less.
I’ve tried a lot of W7 products, and whilst I’ve really liked what I’ve tried, I can’t say that everything is up to the same standard as the original product so they’re not always dupes.. just similar.
When I saw the new W7 Hollywood Bronze and Glow, I knew I had to try it as its very obviously ‘inspired’ by the Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze and Glow, except the W7 version is £3.95 and the Charlotte Tilbury Bronze and Glow is £49. I bought mine from Xtras, but they no longer have it in stock but there are lots of eBay sellers you can purchase it from.
The W7 Hollywood Bronze and Glow is packaged within a bronze, plastic, rectangular palette with a clear panel in the lid. The packaging looks and feels very cheap, and I’m really not a fan in all honesty. Inside the top of the lid, there is a very thin, rectangular mirror which is so pointless as you cannot possibly use it to help you apply the powders.
The powders are divides into two, just like the Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze and Glow, and the powders have an almost starburst design again just like the original. I like the design of the powders, but I think they could have done a better job on the outer packaging.
Now I don’t own the original Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Bronze and Glow so I cannot comment on how they compare from personal experience, but I’ve scoured reviews for swatches to check for comparisons. Both the bronzer and highlighter inside the W7 Hollywood Bronze and Glow are shimmery which you can see from the swatches about.
The Hollywood Bronze and Glow’s bronzer has a satin sheen to it rather than a shimmer like this powder, and is a warm medium brown shade. The bronzer in this W7 Hollywood Bronze and Glow is very orange, and warm; much too orange for my pale skin sadly, but it has a strong golden shimmer which I actually think is beautiful, but it looks very muddy and unattractive on my skintone.
The highlighter inside the W7 Hollywood Bronze and Glow is a warm champagne shade with a peachy tone, and a lot of obvious shimmer particles. I wish the shimmer of the highlighter was a lot finer like the shimmer in the bronzer, as it’s so much prettier on the skin as the shimmer in the highlighter is quite chunky.
Overall, I think this is an OK bronzer and highlighter duo but it’s not amazing and I’ve tried much better budget bronzers and highlighters, and it’s definitely not worthy of being called a ‘dupe’ as it’s definitely not a dupe.