0

E.L.F. ILLUMINATING PALETTE REVIEW & SWATCHES

Recently, the e.l.f. Illuminating Palette ($6 at elfcosmetics.com) came back after a hiatus over the summer. When it first debuted in June, it was called the Ambient Palette and it disappeared pretty quickly leaving a lot of people upset and speculating that maybe they didn’t have enough stock to fill the orders they received. But if I had to guess, my theory is that they had to pull it because the name was too similar to another famous “ambient palette”… and the reason I’m thinking that is that now that it’s back, it has a different name but the palette is exactly the same. But I could be wrong! So not only will I be reviewing this palette on its own, but I’ll also compare it to the Hourglass Ambient Palette to see if this is a possible dupe. Let’s get started! 

The e.l.f. Illuminating Palette comes in a box, and when you open it up, the palette itself is a square shape with a matte black finish on the top and shiny plastic on the edges and bottom. The bottom of the palette actually looks unfinished because you can see the outline of the pans, but I discovered that you can actually pop them out and swap them into different e.l.f. palettes that you own (such as the blush palettes).

Inside, the e.l.f. Illuminating Palette has a large, full-size mirror which is such a great thing to have and four illuminating finishing powders.

These shades aren’t overwhelmingly shimmery, they’re much more subtle than your average highlight, so right away, that makes me think of the Hourglass Ambient Lighting palette!  I tend to use the Hourglass powders more liberally than I would use a more shimmery highlighting powder and I’ve been using this e.l.f. powders in the same way.
The top left shade is a white shade with a slight yellow tint to it, while the top right shade is a pale pink. On the bottom left, is a beige shade and on the bottom right is a golden bronze shade.

These swatches may be a little hard to see because they sort of blend into my skin tone especially the middle two. But these are very pigmented, finely milled and soft and they blend beautifully into the skin. Everyone will likely use these in different ways, depending on their skin tone, but here’s how I’ve been using them: 
The brightest shade on the top left is the perfect setting powder for my concealer underneath my eyes. I also take it up into the inner corners of my eyes to brighten the whole area. 
The light pink shade has a little bit more shimmer and is great for highlighting my cheekbones when I just want a subtle, lit-from-within look as opposed to a full-on highlight. 
I use the bottom left beige shade (which reminds me so much of Hourglass Dim Light) all over my face as a finishing powder. It’s the least shimmery of all the shades in this palette, so I can do that without looking like a disco ball. It’s close to my own skin color, but just adds a hint of glow and warms up my cool skin just a little without completely changing the color.
I haven’t really found a use for the bronzy shade yet since pulls a bit orange on me. I’m so cool-toned, almost every bronzer tends to look orange against my skin. But even if I can’t use this shade, I can’t complain. The other three work beautifully on me and this palette is a bargain. 

So how does this compare to the Hourglass Ambient Lighting palette…is it a dupe? 
Texture-wise, they feel a bit different than the Hourglass powders. When I swirl my finger into an Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder, it feels dry, but not in a bad way…the powder is very compact so there’s no crumbling or fallout at all and they’re super pigmented. 
The e.l.f. Illuminating powders, on the other hand, are super soft and buttery but also have a tendency to crumble a little bit and cause fallout. Still, they are very pigmented (just slightly less so than the Hourglass powders). 
Neither one is better or worse for me because the end result is still very similar. I just wanted to make you aware of the different textures, but for me, it’s mostly about the end result. If I can get similar results from a $6 vs a $58 palette, I’ll deal with a little bit of fallout! 
Again, I’m sorry if these swatches are hard to see on my skin, but I was surprised to see how close these shades are to the Hourglass Ambient powders!

When compared to the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette, the beige shade on the bottom left looks just like Dim Light, which is supposed to create a radiance that balances cool and warm tones. The pink shade on the top right of the palette looks very similar to Incandescent Light, which is an opalescent pearl shade to brighten your complexion.
The bronze shade on the bottom right looks a lot like Radiant Light to give your skin a sunkissed look. The only shade that doesn’t have a match in the Hourglass Ambient Palette is the lightest shade on the top left of the e.l.f. palette.

Overall, I’m really impressed with this palette and have found it to be a great alternative to the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette. I can use the e.l.f. palette in the same way and it’s a fraction of the price! I definitely recommend getting this one if you can, and depending on your skin tone, you can use it in many different ways.

0

NEUTROGENA HYDRO BOOST HYDRATING TINT & CONCEALER REVIEW

I recently picked up the new Neutrogena Hydro Boost Hydrating Tint and Hydrating Concealer at CVS and I have to say…I almost didn’t buy them because they were really pricey for drugstore products ($17.79 for the foundation and $15.79 for the concealer). Thankfully, Ulta has them for a few dollars cheaper.
I don’t even remember the last time I bought anything from Neutrogena because they don’t launch products all that often and when they do, nothing is really jumping out at me to make me want to buy them.

But that particular day, my skin was really parched (as it alway is when the temps drop and the heat is running non-stop) and I was feeling frustrated with my usual foundations looking cakey and clinging to dry patches like they always do this time of year. I guess the promise of a foundation that could plump and hydrate my skin for 24 hours with hyaluronic acid sounded pretty darn great at that moment so I took the plunge and purchased both the foundation and the concealer.
Keep on reading to see my thoughts!

Let’s talk about the Hydrating Skin Tint first…

Neutrogena’s hydration-infused, weightless water-gel Hydro Boost Hydrating Tint plumps skin and boosts hydration while providing natural-looking coverage.

Benefits:

• Moisturizes and plumps skin for 24 hours
• Doesn’t settle into fine lines
• Boosts hydration for 24 hours for more radiant, smoother skin over time
• Better for your skin than wearing no makeup at all – makeup your skin better, even after you take it off
• Oil-free, non-comedogenic
• Weightless, no makeup feel
• Non-greasy

This costs $14.99 at Ulta and comes in ten shades. It’s packaged in a glass bottle and at first I thought it was going to be the kind you just pour out into your hand. Thankfully, it has a large doe foot applicator (just like Tarte’s Shape Tape) which makes it easy to apply.
The formula feels very creamy at first but as you blend it into your skin, it starts to break down and feel like you’re applying a cooling watery serum to your face! It just sort of melts in and disappears leaving a very natural skin-like finish that’s not dewy or matte…it just looks like you don’t have anything on. It gives more coverage than a tinted moisturizer but not enough to call it medium coverage either. For me, it’s enough for every day wear and if I need more coverage under my eyes or around my nose, I’ll just use the concealer. 
The first day I wore this, I checked my skin in the mirror after about an hour and was so impressed with how great it looked…even better than when first applied! My skin looked plumped up and smooth, fine lines almost non-existent, and I looked younger overall. Not only that, it lasted all day…I couldn’t believe it was still going strong by the evening because usually hydrating products break down faster than more drying matte formulas.

Overall, I loved how it made my skin look and feel hydrated all day long…that’s quite a challenge in the middle of winter and it really exceeded my expectations.
Now on to my Hydro Boost Concealer review…

Neutrogena’s Hydro Boost Concealer has a non-greasy, lightweight formula that glides onto skin providing silky-smooth, natural-looking coverage.

Benefits:

• Unique hydrating core designed to instantly quench skin
• No cakey finish
• Better for your skin than wearing no makeup at all – makes your skin better even after you take it off
• Oil-free, non-comedogenic
• Ophthalmologist tested: safe for sensitive eyes and contact lens wearers

The Hydro Boost Concealer ($12.99 at Ulta) comes in five shades and is a twist-up stick formula with a hydrating core, similar to Benefit’s Fake Up. I’ve been using Fake-Up for the past few months and while I love that it doesn’t get cakey, I also find it to be kind of heavy and greasy. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Neutrogena Hydro Boost is actually a lighter version of Fake-Up!

It glides on so smoothly and doesn’t cake or settle into fine lines, but the best part is that it’s very lightweight and non-greasy. It does a nice job of covering minor darkness under the eyes and a little bit of redness I have around my nose. I’m not sure that it’s going to cover major dark circles but you can certainly add a few layers of this with no fear of it caking up. It brightens my under-eye area nicely and pairs really well with the foundation because it gives a very natural “your skin but better” look.
Swatches: 
Here are the swatches on my hand (which is really dry and chapped, sorry about that guys!). I ended up getting the third-lightest shade in the foundation (Buff) because CVS only had four shades available. It’s slightly too dark for me, but it works fine because it’s a sheerer formula. I chose the Fair shade in the concealer which is the lightest color they offer and it works well, despite being a bit yellow for my pink undertone.

Final Thoughts:
Overall, if you have dry or mature skin I think you’ll love the new Neutrogena Hydro Boost Skin Tint and Hydrating Concealer as much as I do. I don’t know that this line will work well on oily skin types as they’re marketed toward dry skin and I think that’s who will benefit the most from these products.

What do you think? Have you tried either of these yet? I’d love to hear about it in the comment section below! 🙂

0

LAURA MERCIER FALL IN LOVE FACE ILLUMINATOR COLLECTION REVIEW

When I went to the Sephora VIB Rouge sale last Saturday, I had every intention of buying the new Urban Decay Naked Illuminated Trio but when I swatched it, I was really disappointed…it was all glitter and no color with a dry texture. Then I spotted the Laura Mercier Fall in Love Face Illuminator Collection ($58) and was instantly impressed by the soft, creamy texture of the powders and the finely milled, shimmery (not glittery) finish. So even though this little palette cost as much as the entire Too Faced Chocolate Shop set, I couldn’t resist splurging on it.

Now that I’ve had it home for a few days, do I love it as much as I did when I first bought it? Read on to hear my thoughts…

The Fall in Love Illuminator Palette comes in a leopard-print plastic compact that’s really chic and simple. There’s no writing or logos at all on the front side and the back has the shade names, weight information, and country of origin which is Italy.

Inside are Laura’s four illuminators, and they’re about a third of the size of the full-sized versions, which are $44 each. These work out to about $14.60 each, which ends up being $58.60. So cost-wise, you’re not really saving anything but it’s not overpriced either.
In fact, I rarely ever hit pan on a highlighter so for me, buying full sizes can be a waste of money. I’ve always wanted to try Laura Mercier’s highlighters so I felt like this was the perfect way to try all four shades without spending $176 on the full sizes.

The four shades included are:

• Indiscretion- Warm rose gold highlight
• Addiction- Gilded Gold Highlight
• Devotion- Cool Highlight
• Seduction- Soft Bronze Highlight

Unfortunately, I should have known by looking at the palette that 3 of these shades would be too dark for my fair skin, but I was temporarily blinded by the beautiful texture of these…and the fact that I’ve always wanted to try Laura Mercier’s Face Illuminator formula. I suppose I could use them as eyeshadows, but I’m honestly debating whether to keep this or not. I probably won’t use it that much for myself, but as a blogger, I feel like I should have this in my collection to do comparison swatches in the future. So I’m kind of up in the air about whether I should bring it back.

As I was swatching the shades, I thought I noticed some similarities between these shades and a few of the shades in the NYX Strobe of Genius palette. So I pulled that out to do some comparison swatching (speaking of comparisons…haha!).

As it turns out, there are no perfect matches but I was able to get pretty close with three out of four shades! The Laura Mercier shades go on a little bit richer and deeper but once they’re sheered out on your face, you can’t really tell the difference.

Overall, if you own the NYX Strobe of Genius palette or have fair to light skin, you may want to skip this one. But if you’re looking for a luxury highlighting palette to give as a gift (or to splurge on for yourself), this is a great choice. The formula is excellent and it’s a much less expensive option than buying all four of the full sizes. I feel that these will last a long time since a little goes a long way and the pans are still a pretty generous size.