Pale Products and More

From the few Hourglass powder products I've used, I know that I love this brand. Awhile ago I got this powder in the shade Incandescent and loved it so much I bought this shade as well.

It retails for $38 for .16 oz; for comparison Becca Pressed Skin Perfector is $38 for .28 oz and Stila's Heaven Hue Highlighter (review here) is $32 for .35 oz. The shade Iridescent is "an illuminating pink powder imparting a soft highlight." It is supposed to be a natural highlight and can be built up. I have a review on the shade Incandescent here.

The shade Iridescent is pink toned when applied to the cheekbones. I find it swatches pretty peachy as well as when its applied to my inner eye. It also swatches so shitty and looks like absolutely nothing! You can see the product on my finger and how it almost looks matte.

kick back in bottom of pan

It kicks up a lot of powder when you swirl your brush in it, much more so than the shade Incandescent. This does apply nicely to the face, gives a subtle glow than can be built to moderate, but not blinding by any means. It doesn't emphasize texture and looks very smooth on the face.

Overall I like this powder but I don't love it. I really liked it when I first picked it up, but retrying it after my cream product binge of the last few months has left me decidedly lukewarm on it. It looks nice on the skin, but if I'm going to wear powder products I definitely reach for several other powder highlights before this one, even the shade Incandescent before I wear this one.

I own the Physicians Formula Butter Bronzer and also a Butter Blush (reviews here and here) which I love (okay I don't love the bronzer as much as I did at the time of that review but I digress), so when I heard they came out with Butter Highlighters I was so excited!

They retail for $10.99 for .17 oz.; to compare the Wet N Wild Megaglow is $4.99 for .19 oz and Maybelline Master Chrome is $9.99 for .24 oz. It claims to be lightweight, blendable, and long wearing. Its got murumuru butter just like all the other butter products they have. I ordered mine from Ulta online and it came shattered sadly, but it still works so whatever.

I've been eyeing the Rms Beauty Living Luminzer ever since I got into my balmy highlighter phase, but was holding out for some reason. I decided that I had no reason to put it off any longer so I said fuck it and here we are.

It retails for $38 for .17 oz; compared to other balm highlighters, the Ciate London Dewy Stix (review here) is $26 for .17 oz., and the Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Poured Creme Highlighter is $38 for .19 oz. It is said to give a "translucent, dewy finish" without being "sticky, greasy, or glittery". Literally sounds like exactly what I'm about.

I've tried applying this both with my Real Techniques sponge as well as just my fingers and I actually like both ways, and don't see either being better than the other. It goes on very easily and blends even easier. It also doesn't fuck with my foundation/concealer at all (which the Ciate stick can do a little).

It doesn't emphasize texture at all and definitely isn't greasy or glittery. It is ever so slightly tacky, but I wouldn't call it sticky. It eventually does dry down throughout the day, but the shine stays. The downside is it can take makeup off if you're not careful, I accidentally took off part of my brow tail the other day when applying it to my brow bone. That's nothing a little more attention can't fix though.

I used to stay far away from golden toned highlighters, but lately have been more willing to try them. That's why I picked up the elf Baked Highlighter in Moonlight Pearls. They have another shade that's pinkish that I want to try out too, but I figured I'd try out this one first.

This retails for $4 for .21 oz; for comparison Essence Pure Nude highlighter is $4.49 for .23 oz and the Nyx Duochromatic highlighters are $7.99 for .21 oz. This is supposed to give you a "radiant glow" with a "sheer wash of shimmering color".

Now its pretty well known amongst the makeup community that if you want to get any pigmentation from this product, you need to scrape off the first layer. And that was the case for me, before scraping it off I barely got any product when swatching, but after it performs much better.

Moonlight Pearls is a golden tone with no glitter and a really nice sheen.

When I picked up the Stila Heavn's Hue Highlighter in Transcendence, I swatched Kitten and really wanted that one as well. I thought Kitten might be a tad dark so I didn't get it, but I kept swatching it very time I went into Ulta after that so eventually I gave in.

Time to review one of my all time favorite products in my all time favorite category of makeup: highlighters. Obviously that would be the Etude House Secret Beam highlighter! I bought this on a whim when hauling some skincare from Jolse.com because mama can't say no to a highlighter.

It retails for $7.44 on Jolse for 1.6 oz. To put that in perspective, the Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector comes in 1.7 oz for around $40. Just let that sink in. (and for a more accurate comparison, a drugstore highlighter of similar price, the Nyx Duochromatic Highlighters are $7.99 for .21 oz).

Now, I wasn't really expecting much when I purchased this. Strobing/highlighting/whatever term you want to use-ing is EXTREMELY popular in the Western world, but in Korea, its not as much of a focus. They tend to like glowy skin overall, and prefer highlighters that are a cream/liquid that give a more natural, lit from within look. So I expected this product to give a nice subtle glow, and not be super intense.

My local Ulta usually only has two shades of their illuminator in store, neither of which would work on my skin tone. So when I saw this pure white one online I obviously had to order it, being the highlighter hoarder that I am.

The Ulta Illuminator in Brilliant Diamond retails for $10 for .28 oz (seems to be the standard for most highlighters). Its described as a white, luminescent pearl that is "easily blendable", and which will make "even the driest skin look supple and dewy".

There's actually a lot of kickback in the pan with this product, but its not dusty or dry in the least. Its a white pearl color, just as described; I appreciate it not having any champagne or gold tones to it.

let's not talk about that eyebrow tail

Hi Hi okay today I have a review for a highlighter! If you know me you know I love highlighters and will literally never stop buying them no matter how many I have. I'm always on the hunt for more because I have a highlighter problem if I'm being honest. Pretty early on in my highlighter search I came across the Physicians Formula Mineral Glow Pearls in the color Translucent.

This retails for $13.99 on Ulta for .28 oz of product (for reference the Becca highlighters are the same amount for $38). Its supposed to give you a "glowing complexion" and "perfectly even skintone", the latter being a weird claim for a highlighter if you ask me.

As far as packaging its pretty standard for Physicians Formula, and by that I mean its not very attractive and a little cheap looking. But it has yet to break on me or anything like that. You do get a brush with it, but I've never used it.

For Christmas I had asked for this little gift thing from Too Faced, I think it was called You Glow Girl. It had little mini versions of their blush, highlighter, and bronzer, and came with a mini brush. I had always been curious about these products, but never enough to actually buy them in full sized versions.

Which brings me to this review on the (mini version) Too Faced Candlelight Glow Highlighting Powder Duo in Rosy Glow. This shade is the "cooler" version (I use that term loosely as this is a golden highlight).

It retails for $30 for .35 oz, but like I said, I have the mini version.

It can be applied very subtly or built up to a nice glow. Whether you use only one half, or mix both, you always get a very gold tone (even when only using the pink). It does flatter my cool skin though. It slightly emphasizes texture, but I have yet to find a highlight that doesn't.