Some Powder Highlighters - Comparisons

Sunday, September 10, 2017

Did you see the Fenty Beauty release? It's pretty hard to ignore at the moment, I realized that the brand had done an incredible job at saturating social media when I saw FB products on three different accounts' IG stories in a row. I'm very tempted by both Killawatt Highlighter in Trophy Wife and Metal Moon but pretty committed to a no-buy (ok, like 75% committed). I'm swatching some highlighters that I already have in the hopes of talking myself out of a purchase. For now.

I love powder highlighters, though the enlarged pores on my nose do not. Lately my cheek texture has improved to the point where I feel pretty comfortable wearing a sheen of some sort almost every day. My highlighter collection has grown considerably over the last few months.

In the sun.

Left to right. Kevyn Aucoin The Celestial Powder in Candlelight, Tom Ford Solar Exposure, Tom Ford Moodlight 01(top), Tom Ford Moodlight 01 (bottom), NARS Foreplay Palette (gold) shade, NYX Twilight Tint, NYX Lavendar Steel, NYX Synthetica.

In the shade.

While these pictures give a good sense of the undertones of each shade, they don't really show how sparkly/shimmer/metallic these shades really appear to the eye.

Though seemingly the most subtle on camera, Tom Ford Moodlight (top) is probably my favorite (and at $82, undoubtedly the most 'spensive). It's a super fine scattered dimensional white gold sparkle. The other Tom Ford highlighter, from the Solar Exposure palette is also a frequent wear, that one is more frosty beige. The Kevyn Aucoin Celestial Powder in Candlelight is a more subdued, with a pearly base that is way more forgiving for skin texture, but also more powdery in appearance.

The three NYX Duo Chromatic Illuminating Powders are a lot of fun. Synthetica with the peach base/gold shimmer is the only true duochrome, the other two shades that I have are more like interfering sheens. I like how they are buildable but the texture is also very user friendly. As is the price for each shade, $7.99.

I guess I already have a yellow gold highlighter, in my NARS Foreplay Palette. I gave it a ton of use at the start of the summer, but this shade has formed this slick top over the pan. I'm definitely holding off for now on those Fenty Beauty highlighters, but they might be harder to resist when Sephora sales start in the fall.

What are your favorite powder highlighters? Is there a certain grade of shimmer that you like?

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