I am late to the highlighting trend…but better late than never! I don’t really know where the trend came from, but it is one that I find really pretty. Highlight is just so pretty to look at in photos! That is also because I really love sparkle and glitter.
For my birthday, I decided to treat mahself to one of the best, if not best, highlighters there is- the Anastasia Beverly Hills Glow Kit! This is one of the most popular glow kits on Youtube and Instagram, and for good reason, as you’ll soon find out.
What it says (Taken from Sephora): A set of six metallic powder highlighters for intense luminosity. The powders feature intense payoff and the ultra-fine milled formula won’t leave any shimmer particles when removed. The effect is a smooth, even glow that lasts.
I decided to get the Ultimate Glow Kit set rather than the Glow Kit because I’ve been wanting a highlighter for a while… so why not go big or go home right? I hardly ever buy things for myself so I wanted it to be a nice treat. Last time I ended up getting the smaller Kat Von D shade & light eye quad, I ended up returning it for the larger palette because the value was better.
The packaging is nice and sturdy, with a subtle glitter on the outside. Even though it is cardboard, it feels durable. Inside, there is a large mirror with the ‘A’ symbol.
You can see the extra fine grains of glitter in each shade that are responsible for the beautiful result. Most shades in here were variations of bronze/gold, with the exception of the shade ‘snow’. The most flattering shades for my skintone were ‘white sand’ and ‘amber gold’, both in the middle. ‘Golden dawn’ was a bit too yellow for my skin tone.
Application: As the description on Sephora says, I found that application was very smooth and did not have any shimmery fallout. With highlighters, it may be hard to see in certain lighting and if you don’t move tilt your head. While applying this with my face straight from the mirror, it was hard to see the shimmery effect. But once I tilted my head, I could definitely see the highlighter.
Wear: Throughout the evening, I did not notice any smudging or fallout. It sat nicely on top of my foundation the entire evening.
In the pictures, I am wearing a combination of ‘white sand’, ‘amber gold’, and ‘hot sand’ on my cheeks. For my nose and cupids bow, I am wearing ‘white sand’. Sorry for lack of DSLR pictures but you can still see the highlight with iPhone quality 🙂
I really love this highlighter, and I have to agree with all the great reviews. It goes you a beautiful, lasting and luminous glow.
- Gives you a beautiful glow that lasts
- No shimmery fallout
- Some shades are pretty similar (mostly variations of bronze)
Yay!
Product purchased by myself. Opinions are own.
Many of LUSH’s face masks are fresh face masks, which means they need to be used in under 2 weeks and kept in the fridge all the time. I’m not the type of person to finish a product in 2 weeks, which is why I went with the Mask of Magnaminty (was having a hard time deciding between this or Cosmetic Warrior, which is also good).
The texture of the mask is pretty thick and reminds me of thick oatmeal. As with all LUSH products, the ingredients are almost all natural and you can pronounce them. I always feel really good ethically when using LUSH products because they have an awesome working culture/environment and just overall really great company policies/practices.
Another thing I love about this mask is the scent. As the name suggests, it has a clean, fresh and minty smell. After using this, my skin feels instantly refreshed and soft. It’s weird how it also improves my mood temporarily, but I guess facials/relaxing beauty routines do have that effect on us beauty lovers!
In September, I attended the Estee Lauder media preview and was exposed to many different Estee Lauder foundations. There was also a super pretty foundation bar that showcased many of their foundations!
What it says (Taken from Sephora):
Application: I was a bit wary of the bottle packaging ever since trying the Covergirl Clean Foundation, which also comes in a glass jar.
Wear: Throughout the day, I was expecting the foundation to smudge off. But, I was really surprised at how flawless it was even after 7-8 hours! It did not require a touch up, and my skin gets pretty oily. I removed the foundation at night after ten hours of wear, and it still looked pretty good!
I love trying to explain beauty products in simpler terms here on my blog. The term ‘Castanea Arcadia’ is very fancy sounding, isn’t it? I have to admit I didn’t know what either of those two words meant until I started writing this post!
The night cream is very rich, and has a thick texture to it. After I wash my face at night, my skin is a bit on the drier side. I apply this cream right before I sleep and give myself a mini massage and rub it into my face.
The day cream has a texture that is a lot lighter than the night cream. Since both the jars look the same minus the wording, I accidentally used the night cream one time and it felt too thick for a day time moisturizer.
You can see the difference in texture in the picture above. The one on the left is the night cream, which looks and feels thicker.
I’ll start off with the Estee Lauder foundation bar, which features five of their different foundations. How pretty is this table? I seriously LOVE it, and the flowers make me so happy.
Okay, now back to actual information hahaha! This is the Double Wear Nude Cushion Stick. What’s cool about this product is that there is a sponge applicator at the top, as you can see.
This is the luxury line for Estee Lauder, Re-Nutriv. We all oooh-ed and ahhh-ed over the scent, texture, and ingredients of these luxury products.
Here are the new shades for the Pure Color Envy line! Inside these lipsticks are a new Optical Pearl Blend, which transforms lip shape with a unique prismatic optic blend for amplified lips.
This season comes the Modern Muse Le Rouge Gloss! This is a sexy, fierce, and bold take on the previous Modern Muse perfumes. It really does smell sexy, if that makes any sense? LOL.
The second perfume launching this fall is by AERIN. AERIN is a line created by Estee Lauder’s granddaughter. This is the AERIN Tangier Vanille. As the name suggests, there is a strong vanilla scent, which I found very warm and comforting. Is it strange that I want to describe it as a delicious scent due to the vanilla and chocolate scents that I detected? Haha!
Last but definitely not least, is the Pink Ribbon collection. The Pink Ribbon Collection is a breast cancer research foundation founded by Estee Lauder. Each of the products in this collection have a pink ribbon to signify that part of the proceeds go towards breast cancer research.