Just a few years ago, the term “bronzing drops” wouldn’t have meant much to anyone. But then, in 2018, Drunk Elephant introduced its D-Bronzi Anti-Pollution Sunshine Drops, a hybrid product meant to be mixed into one’s moisturizer for a bronzy glow. The product was also infused with skin-care ingredients including peptides and antioxidants.
Since then, there’s been an influx of bronzing-drop launches, with about a dozen this year alone from brands at every end of the spectrum: E.l.f. finally entered the conversation with a $12 option, and Glow Recipe released its Watermelon Glow Niacinaminde Hue Drops Sun Glow Serum, building on the success of the brand’s older, bestselling Watermelon Glow Niacinamide Dew Drops.
For Glossy, Launchmetrics exclusively ranked the top five buzziest bronzing drops of the bunch in May, based on media impact value (MIV). A proprietary Launchmetrics metric, MIV tracks the impact of influencers, print media, celebrities, official third-party partners and a brand’s own media channels.
Based on its research, Launchmetrics found that E.l.f.’s version, which launched in April, took the No. 1 spot, while Drunk Elephant’s 2018 launch — now popular with an entirely new Gen Alpha cohort — ranked No. 2. Glow Recipe’s aforementioned product took No. 3, while Iconic’s Instant Sunshine Bronzing Drops landed in fourth place. Finally, Tula’s just-launched Bronze Boost Glow Bronzing Drops landed in fifth.
“Bronzing drops meet the demand for versatile, high-quality products that can serve as a simple yet effective alternative to makeup products,” said Alison Bringé, CMO at Launchmetrics. She noted that bronzing drops can be used on their own, mixed into skin care or as a base for other makeup.
Other recent entrants into the bronzing drops category include Revolution Beauty, Caliray and Milani. Brands including Pacifica, Indeed, First Aid Beauty and Tarte also offer versions of the product. Price points vary, with Revolution matching E.l.f.’s $12 price point. Meanwhile, Pacifica’s drops sell for $16, First Aid Beauty’s are $28, and Tarte’s are $35.
Bronzing drops have been a buzz-worthy category. Back in February, Glow Recipe’s version began going viral before they were even launched: Creator Aysha Harun leaked them via a TikTok post and, within about two weeks, the video received 3.2 million views and 27,000 saves.
“Our community was the genesis of both our e.l.f. Skin Bronzing Drops and ‘Peculiar Behavior’ ad spot. Bronzing Drops has been the most requested item from our community — you could say that our community was going wild for it. We couldn’t leave that on the table, so we crafted an ad that reflected the abundant enthusiasm we knew our community had for this groundbreaking skincare-color hybrid innovation,” said Laurie Lam, E.l.f.’s chief brand officer.
E.l.f. tapped actor Jameela Jamil to star in “Peculiar Behavior,” which features Jamil acting as an anthropologist and studying the behavior of bronzing drop-obsessed people.
