Away We Glow Illuminating Powder in Crushed Rose by NYX

Disclaimer: I purchased this.

I picked up the NYX Away We Glow Illuminating Powder ($10) in Crushed Rose back in August, and I've got to admit feeling a little ambivalent about it. On the one hand, it's so pretty to look at and I love that each of the shades is large enough that you can use them individually if desired.

When all four colors are swirled together, the result in the swatch is a peachy pink shimmer that is right up my alley, and the highlighter shade on it's own is quite lovely. So why am I feeling ambivalent?  They just do not really register on my face and lack that skin enhancing quality that I look for.

I'm not really sure why they are calling this an "illuminating powder" and marketing it as a highlighter as opposed to a blush (it's in the highlighter section on the nyx web site).  Three of the powders are matte and definitely look more blush like than anything to me.

So I dunno. It's not a bad product and I really want to like it more than I do. I tried it again today to see if my initial impressions were off, and applying a generous amount of all four colors swirled together gave a shimmery light golden wash on my checks, so maybe it truly is a highlighter.  That will teach me to read the marketing lingo a bit more closely next time. You can see an unblended dab of the highlight on the tip of my nose :-/

In other news, Hurricane Nate left me with lots of sticks to pick up in my backyard, but no loss of power or damage to anything, for which I'm grateful. Hopefully that will be the last of the hurricanes for this year!

Makeup Geek Highlighter in Daybreak

Disclaimer: I purchased this.

My first venture into Makeup Geek eyeshadows and highlighters came when I noticed a sale featuring some of their damaged products. I decided to take a chance on five shadows and the highlighter in Daybreak, and I'm glad I did! Today I'll be showing you Daybreak.

Honestly, I can't tell that Daybreak is damaged beyond the back label being crooked and two slight lines in the powder near the bottom of the compact. Considering the regular price for the highlighters is $20 and the damaged sale price was $9, I feel like I got a bargain.  

Daybreak is described as a soft peach with a reflective, luminous finish best suited for medium skin tones. It looks darker in the pan than it wears so I'd say it works for fair skin as well, or at least it does for mine. I think it's gorgeous.

A little goes a long way, but if you wanted a straight out metallic shine, you could probably get it with Daybreak. I prefer a softer, more luminous glow, which is easy to achieve with just a soft back and forth with my brush. If I want an even softer glow, I'll put Daybreak on before my blush, and then use my blush to buff it out. Lovely either way, and I'll be reaching for Daybreak a lot this summer!

Pure Nude Be My Highlight by Essence

Disclaimer: I purchased this.

I've had the Be My Highlight baked powder highlighter ($4.49) by Essence since fall of last year, and I've got to say I love it. If you are a fan of natural looking, luminous, glow from within types of products, then this is a winner.

Essence is such an affordable brand, and while not everything I've tried works for me, I've had luck with their blushes, lipsticks, and now this highlighter. There is some powder kickup, but when applied to the skin the finish is a gorgeous satin shimmer that does not emphasize skin imperfections.

This is the highlighter I reach for when I know I'll be in meetings and interacting closely with people all day. I tend to go more low key neutral in those situations, polished as opposed pop, if that makes sense. On days where I know I'll mainly be working in my office, I get a bit more daring. But still relatively neutral :-)

I noticed that Essence products are currently buy 1 get 1 at 50% off at Ulta, making them even more of a better deal. Seriously, the Pure Nude Be My Highlight puts products that cost 7-8x more on notice.  

Genuine Glow Highlighting Creme for Face and Eyes in Bare Blush

Disclaimer: I purchased this.

This is a product that seems to be flying under the radar, as I really have not seen much posted about it. Which is a shame, because Estee Lauder's Genuine Glow Highlighting Creme ($20) is quite lovely!

Available in three shades, Gleam Glow, Sweetest Thing, and Bare Blush, I opted for Bare Blush as it seemed the lightest option of the three. Online swatches were few and far between so it was really a toss up, but fortunately Bare Blush has not left me disappointed. These twist up cream pens are touted as a "highlighting wash of color", and Bare Blush has a slight pink undertone with just enough icy shimmer to give it impact without looking frosty or metallic when blended out on the skin.

The applicator is a twist up pen with a soft cushion on the end. I find the size of the cushion is just right if I want to touch it to the corner of my eyes, as it will leave a small dot of the cream that I then tap on with my fingers. I also tap it along the tops of my cheeks, down the bridge of my nose, on my brow, and on my cupid's bow to highlight all the usual places. It does not interfere with my foundation and using my fingers to smooth it out has given me the best results.

God knows I did not need another highlighter, but I'm happy to have this in my collection. It has a 4.8 out of 5 star rating on the Lauder site, and I think it's definitely a hidden gem if you don't mind a click pen applicator. Fortunately, this one is working well to date, as I don't have a problem with product gushing out.

I'd say the biggest drawback is that you are getting a mere .11 ounces for your $20, but the amount I use is also quite small, so I would imagine this will last me quite some time.

Wet n Wild Megaglow Highlighting Gold Bar

Disclaimer: I purchased this.

Wet n Wild has been hitting it out of the park when it comes to highlighters this year.  In fact, two of my favorite highlighters are from them: the MegaGlo Highlighting Powder in Precious Petals, and now the Holly Gold-head MegaGlo Highlighting Gold Bar ($3.99).

I was lucky enough to snag both at my local Rite Aid, which was pure luck considering there were only a few on the display.  Good news regarding Precious Petals:  it is now availabe on Wet n Wild's site if you would like one. I don't know if it's just a second run of a limited edition product or if it's permanent, but I would jump on it if you missed out the first time around.

Seriously, how pretty is this thing? I've been using it for over a month now and it ranks up there with any of my higher end brand powder highlighters. The soft yellow gold shimmer can go either bold or delicate depending on how much you use.

It makes a great eyeshadow color as well, and I've been enjoying it as an inner eye brightener or to add a pop of gleam to the middle of my lid.

The top swatch is the gold bar, while the bottom swatch includes the peachy star portion as well. The difference is slight, but the peach does had a bit of warmth to the gold. I love the colors captured in the sun, and find the powder is finely milled and gives such a nice sheen to skin.

Hopefully Wet n Wild will realize that making the Gold Bar a permanent item is in everybody's best interest. I'm definitely glad I was able to get my hands on one!

Warm Nude Shimmer Strip All-in-1 Palette by Physicians Formula

Disclaimer: I purchased this.

I still seem to be in "collect all the highlighters" mode, so I decided to try Physician Formula's Custom Shimmer Strips All-in-1 Nude Palette.  It can be used on both your eyes and face, and I quite like it!

The shimmer strips are rather pricey for the drugstore (~$13-$14), so I waited until there was a 40% off sale at Rite Aid.  There are two versions available, Natural and Warm, but I went with the slightly darker Warm Nude.

These worked quite well as both eye shadow or a face highlight, and I like that you can focus on different squares or rows of the palette to vary the intensity of color.  Of course, just swiping your brush across the entire palette gives a lovely overall glow when used as a highlighter.

I would say wear time as an eyeshadow (with primer, always, for my oily lids) was about 8-9 hours with some fading.

As a highlighter, I felt like the product had faded and broken up a bit by the end of the day, so I would only rank it as about average in wear.  Warm Nude does give a nice glow to the skin without emphasizing skin texture. Definitely pretty!

Precious Petals Megaglo Highlighting Powder by Wet 'n Wild

Well would you look at this.  A drugstore highlighting powder from Wet 'n Wild that I've been reaching for every day since I got it a few weeks back, even over some other favorites from much more expensive brands.  

Not only is Precious Petals gorgeous to look at and reminiscent of much higher end brands, it also applies smoothly with minimal powder kick-up, perhaps due to it's talc free formula?   Shimmer can be built up from glow-from-within to high beam by applying layers. For the arm swatches, you are looking at 3 layers and a resulting high beam shimmer.

The color of Precious Petals is what I consider a soft champagne pink.  It's slightly pinker than BECCA's Opal, although in the same ballpark. I have one other limited edition highlighter from Le Metier de Beaute that is close in color, Trompe l'Oeil. 

Both Opal and Trompe l'Oeil kick up much more powder in comparison, although they both apply beautifully.  Precious Petals is right up there with them, however, which is saying something considering it's $4 price tag. 

Too bad Precious Petals and it's sister Crown of my Canopy are limited edition! I tried to pick up the darker Crown of my Canopy once I realized how nice Precious Petals is, but they were all gone, gone, gone.  Within a few days, actually, and I'm already seeing listings on ebay with prices just shy of $30.  Crazy.  Good.

My Parisian Pastels: All-Over Illuminating Powder Cubes by Lancôme

Disclaimer:  I purchased this.

Lancôme's My Parisian Pastels ($59) is one of my favorite of the spring releases that I've picked up.  A surprise hit, actually, as these were not really on my radar prior to purchasing.  After using them daily for over a month now, I'm sufficiently impressed.

The pretty tin contains 9 shimmer cubes that can be used as eyeshadow, blush, or highlighter wherever you decide to place it.  Spring has seen the release of so many pretty highlighters that I'm a bit overwhelmed, but I'm really enjoying these because of their versatility.

Each cube is housed in their own little plastic cube, complete with individual tops (not shown). While you can swirl your brush across all of them, I've been lifting out my cube of choice to use the individual colors. Even though the cubes are smaller than the size of an average blush, I've not found it hard to pick up color with a brush and make them work as blush toppers and highlighters.

My favorite way to where these are as eye shadow toppers, however, as the softly colored shimmers compliment so many different looks.  The soft gold #2 and nude with pink shift #8 have seen the most use from me, since I've been favoring more nude/neutral eye looks for spring. I've labeled the pics where I remember which shimmer cube I was using. For most of these looks, I used cream eyeshadows as a base with the shimmer cubes on top.

Shimmer Cube #9

Shimmer Cube #8

Shimmer Cube #8

Shimmer Cube #2

Shimmer Cube #2

Quite happy with these, and glad I took the plunge! While $59 is on the higher side, I can see myself using these a lot, so no complaints here.