3 September 2018
Happy Labor Day ladies, gents and fabulous others!!
I’m excited to present some highlighters for make up Monday! Early/mid August I got my Bitter Lace Beauty highlighters- and shortly after J.Cat You Glow Girl in White Goddess from Amazon (a very agreeable 8$ product). That brand gets good reviews and I just couldn’t not get it because I’m a needy bitch. ANNNNND- most recently Vanilla Quartz from Becca cosmetics. (it’s a baby one!)
FIRST: Bitter Lace Beauty
Bitter Lace Beauty also went through a fairly damaging move for them where the moving company damaged a lot of their personal belongs and product. I took that as an excuse to pick up Grey Stuff (Yes- from Beauty and the Beast- ‘try the grey stuff it’s delicious!’)- which I knew I was likely to not reach for frequently- but it IS fun- and limited editions so I snapped it up. I also picked up Mirror Mirror- which is a marbleized silver/gold highlighter that I felt like would work really well for regular use.
As usual, I was pleased with their packaging- they have a lovely printed box that has their label on the outside- which if you are fussy about ordering packaging that shows what you ordered, then maybe pass or have it sent to a safer home. I also don’t think anyone in my neighborhood is crazy about stealing make up so for me-it’s okay. It does make it tough when the husband is home and he gets all my packages and he knows exactly what it is in that case. WHOOPS!
There is a nice holographic card, 2 layers of tissue and bubble wrapped slips of packaging for the pans of highlighters sit. FYI- you just get the pan. nothing else. so you do need to have some sort of Z palette in which to store them but this helps keep the cost down- AND reduces unnecessary packaging- AND keeps drawers at home at bay in terms of clutter.
Honestly- I admit- I am a sucker for a printed box on the inside- they just look- SO FUN.
I have one other one of their highlighters and it’s a little bit more chunky and has more fall out than I would care for, it’s also more of a white ice color than a gold/champagne so it’s tough to directly compare them- but I think I already prefer Mirror Mirror more- it’s softer to the touch- little less fall out and is a far more wearable for me.
Pictured below are the two pants and swatches on my arm- top row mirror mirror is on the top- and grey stuff is on the bottom.
Above are the finger test swatches- I try not to press incredibly hard- just enough to pick up product and I’m very pleased and surprised by the product I picked up. You can see Grey Stuff appears to have picked up way more product on my fingers in the bottom picture- but as you can see on my arm- Mirror Mirror packs way more of a punch than Grey Stuff. Not that I’m comparing apples to apples- but you can see the drenched color application of Mirror Mirror. Grey Stuff is a tough color to try to produce for a wearable product so I’m not mad that it’s a little lighter- I’m guessing playing with it I’m likely to use it more on my lid or for specialty work. It just makes me a little too dead when I wear it- but I sort of knew that headed into this so I can’t be mad.
Some of these are discounted till they sell out and some are still full price- or slightly discounted. Mirror Mirror I purchased for 10$ and Grey stuff retails for 18$ and both are approximately 20$ for 6 grams/0.21 oz of product. And they are currently running a labor day sale FYI 😉 wink wink- nudge nudge
As a side note-I have swatched and tried Rewrite the Stars and if you get a chance to put THAT on your list- definitely do it- it’s STUNNING. I almost purchased it- but I wanted to try something new- if I want to use rewrite the stars- I can always put a call in and toddle down to Virginia to use it. *tee hee giggle giggle*
NEXT: J.Cat’s You Glow Girl
Kathleen Lights used one or more of these J.Cat highlighters on her channel- and I went ahead and ordered it on Amazon: J.Cat’s You Glow Girl Winter Goddess. I can’t talk about the shipping packaging because my husband had opened it and set it on the counter for me by the time I arrived home. The packaging itself plastic and feels pretty much at the price point- it feels cheap- and feels like something I’d pick up at the drug store or the dollar store. (fair warning) But it’s not bad and not lose or wobbly -it just feels like plastic and isn’t heavy or friendly in the hand. Each different color highlighter has a different baked pattern and the lid has a different printed pattern on the cover, a nice touch. These retail for 8-9$ for 0.8 oz of product.
Once you pop the lid on it and get to the product – it’s soft to touch and not nearly as hard as I expected (JOKES)- baked products are definitely not my favorite, so pleasantly surprised at how much product I picked up and that the the surface was so soft. A lot of baked product have that shell surface that make it impossible to use right off the bat and you have to scrap it off but this seemed soft and ready for application right out of the gate.
Now this is kind of a bizarre color- it’s pulling that gold/green color in the pan that some times is white golds. And I confess the lighting was a bitch the morning of these pictures. But ultimately it pulled way more gold than white- which was great- because- all white highlighters tend to not do so well on my skin ton.
Based on the swatches alone- I think it’s a beautiful shade and a very lovely product- I am already not sold on it working for me based on the swatches- but the product itself has a really lovey finish and application on the skin right of the bat. I was surprised at how nice the pictures are with this product applied- I feel in real life it’s pulling the wrong direction on me so I probably won’t reach for it regularly. Shown below is just a basic easy day look I did with minimal make up and this product popped on the cheeks and my brow bone and a little on the nose. It’s much more subtle in pictures than I was expecting- But I’m going to play with it some more and share more pictures of the product when it’s been built up or applied wet.
Ready to report back on Winter Goddess- this is NOT a highlighter I use alone. it just doesn’t do good things for me as a solo product. BUT- I found it packs a beautiful punch on top of a gold highlighter- my favorite combo right now is to top it off over DNA Cosmetics highlighter Paradise- which is a soft diffused gold glow that is great for every day or layered up to really pack a punch. The combo of those two- just stunning. It’s a GREAT product for the price point- I wouldn’t steer anyone away from purchasing this if they needed some glow on a budget.
NEXT UP! BECCA COSMETICS
A little while back I was splurging on a trip to Sephora and they had little Becca mini’s at the check out line (DAMN YOU SEPHORA!) and they had the new shade Vanilla Quartz and Champagne Pop (which I have in full size) – I hadn’t quiet gotten to the line yet-so I went back and swatched it-and then grabbed it on my way out. It’s kind of a pale golden color I think (lord only knows with those awful florescent lights in that store) what it truly looks like. I have to be real with you all- I really like Becca highlighters- I can’t and won’t say they are my absolute favorite- I don’t think I could actually make that kind of call- like gun to my head “this is my ride or die”. because- I’m AN ADDICT. I just love highlighters too much to make that choice. BUT. when I travel I almost always travel with one from Becca. ANNNNNNND now that I’ve said that out loud as it were I *may* go back and pick up Champagne Pop in the travel size- it is one I love and reach for a lot and having a travel size would really come in handy for all the travel I do.
Moving on- this was purchased in store- so no shipping packaging to review- it comes in a small box- and inside is the highlighter. Pretty simple. I love the packing of the product- THAT is one of my favorites- they have a soft metal/rubber thing going on- and it’s VERY friendly to touch- it just feels good in the hand. The mini is the same as it’s big sister in that it’s disc shaped- looks a bit like a UFO- which makes me smile. They just open and close with a soft click. The mini doest have a nice clear mirror like the larger ones do.
And as usual it’s buttery soft and a delight on the hand.
It swatches well and applies beautifully.
I’ve taken swatches compared to the other’s I have so you can compare if you have any of the other Becca highlighters for reference. These little mini ones retail for 19$ for 2.40 grams (0.085 oz) vs the full size which are 38$ for 8 grams (0.28 oz).
And as you can see- it’s got a really nice glow.
I don’t see myself reaching for it ALL the time since it’s a wee bit ice colored- but it is nice. I feel like despite all my highlighters- I still reach for something with a gold/pink tone to it- rather than the white/ice colors. I don’t really care though- because like an addict any drug of choice will do when you need a fix- so I’m certainly NOT taking it back if that’s what you silly kittens were thinking! If you like more white/ice/silver colors- this is DEFINITELY a nice “neutral” day wear version- its’ flexible- layers well and is pretty.
Hope you all enjoyed today’s selection of highlighters- let me know if you have some favorites or you have tried anything new or have questions about any of the products above!
I have some new products coming our way to review for the next make up Monday as well as Part II of the Bellydancer’s Guide to Brushes! (Catch Part I if you didn’t see it already!) Till next time fearless readers!
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