Is Weighty Makeup Automatically the Most Luxurious?

Posted on November 10, 2025 by ghekate

*The D&G Blush, ABH Highlighter, VBB Lid Lustre, and PML Quad are not pictured here, but they will be discussed in this post.*

After the bombshell that was dropped regarding the Louis Vuitton Beauty line and their prices, I started to think about which items in my collection were the most expensive, which ones I thought had the prettiest packaging, if the prettiest was actually the most luxurious looking, and which ones had the most weight. I was surprised to discover that so few items fit into all of these categories.

I was happy to see the people I follow enjoying their La Beauté Louis Vuitton products, but some felt they needed to justify their reasons for making the purchase beyond just stating, “I wanted it, so I got it.” Across the board, customers who thought the items were or were not worth buying seemed to at least come to the consensus that the price (besides paying for the brand recognition), was largely due to the packaging. The lipstick components were said to be fully metal, along with the bespoke metal packaging of the eyeshadow quads. “You could hurt someone if you hit them with this,” was stated more than a few times by various people.

How a product looks and its weight are my top two criteria for feeling like the item I own is luxurious. Looks are subjective, but weight can be measured and precise. I started to think about the heaviest packaging in my collection (proportionate to its size dimensions) in order to answer the question…are these automatically the most lux?

Lisa Eldridge Rouge Experience Refillable Lipstick (68 grams)

In order to highlight how great this packaging is, I need to do a deep dive into comparing it to another brand. Please, bear with me on this, especially if you’re a fan of LV. I don’t judge anyone on how they spend their money, and this is just me working out why I am perfectly satisfied with Lisa’s lipstick being the height of luxury for me.

Lisa Eldridge took great pride explaining in her launch video how her refills were mono material, made of 100% aluminum and could therefore be recycled without degrading once repurposed, unlike the vast majority of other brands’ refills that have mixed metal with plastic.

According to Google: “You cannot usually recycle a lipstick refill that has both plastic and metal components together, as most curbside recycling facilities cannot separate the mixed materials and are not equipped to handle small, complex items.”

There is plastic inside the forever case by Lisa Eldridge, as this has a click closure, but she wanted the actual refills to be sustainable.

I cannot compare the LV lipsticks from personal experience, but it is my understanding that the refills are all metal as well and come with plastic caps that can be removed when recycling. The lipstick cases have an aluminum shell and brass detailing, but the magnetic closure that is so satisfying to use (and adds to the weightiness of a product) keeps it from being recyclable as well.

Summarized from Okon Recycling: Recycling magnets is technically possible, but challenging as it involves disassembling the magnet and removing any non-magnetic materials. However, there are some magnets that cannot be recycled.

So, it sounds as if both LV and Lisa Eldridge have cases that aren’t realistic to recycle but have refills that are fully recyclable. The LV lipstick case has a lot of expensive details like the product names and logo being etched in, the monogram flower-shaped refill bottom, etc. Lisa Eldridge has her logo etched at the top of the cap, allows the customer to personalize the base of the case with their initials etched in (up to three letters), and the case shape had to be custom made as well. Perhaps some prefer the sleeker LV design while others appreciate the vintage inspiration of Lisa’s more.

LV’s Lipstick Case + Refill is $160 and the refill alone is $69.
Lisa Eldridge’s Lipstick Case + Refill is $63 (engraving price included) and the refill alone is $30.

Sure, LV’s refill costs the same amount as other high end and luxury lipsticks in their completed form, but considering the details I listed above, is the LV case really $100 better that other brands’ cases, particularly Lisa Eldridge?

It can’t come down to the actual lipstick formula, because that’s part of LV’s $69 refill price.

At the time that I bought the Lisa Eldridge lipstick, I felt it was incredibly expensive. It is still the most expensive lipstick in my collection, based on what I paid and not the retail price. I rationalized my purchase because of the sustainability aspect, all the custom elements, the personalized touch, and how heavy it felt.

Taking branding completely out of the equation and thinking about the components alone, I do feel like this product by Lisa Eldridge is among the most luxurious out there, and I am no longer gritting my teeth at the price.

It would be nice if I liked the lipstick formula more, but there is some hope for me! I wrote a comment on Instagram that the brand responded to, and while the Velvet formula won’t be put in the refillable form, there might still be the possibility of the Lucents that I enjoy so much!

There are other things they’ve been “working on” that has taken years, such as making the empty eyeshadow palettes available for purchase alongside the eyeshadow singles, the return of the liquid blush in better packaging, etc. So, I’m prepared for this to take a while to happen.

If I can get the Luxuriously Lucent Lip Colours and/or Baume Embraces as refills, I will definitely get more use out of mine!

Olivia Palermo Beauty Eyeshadow Palette (226 grams) and Lipstick (79 grams)

Whenever I think about heavy makeup packaging, the Olivia Palermo Eyeshadow Palette immediately comes to mind. I’ve had it for years, yet I’m still not sure how I feel about the pattern, and I’m not sure what it’s technically called (perhaps wicker, woven link, basket weave, oyster strap, etc.). It just makes me think of the types of patterns I’ve seen for watch straps, which isn’t too terribly off track. Apparently Olivia drew inspiration for the packaging, “by a vintage Art Deco bracelet she was given for her 21st birthday.”

The eyeshadow palette has a magnetic closure and mirror, which further increases the weight, on top of the fact that the packaging is metal.

Although I’m not sure if they could have created a different pattern that I would like more, I can say it’s at least cool, unique, and easily recognizable. Plain flat gold is always beautiful to me, but this packaging looks different from any other I’ve seen. Well, almost. As of a year ago, Hatice Schmidt released a refillable lipstick range called, “The Gift,” with a case inspired by jewelry and the pattern reminds me of a curb chain/Cuban link style. So, there are at least two jewelry inspired components from brands that I know of.

I bought the Olivia Palermo lipstick at the reduced price of €32 (originally €40) from Niche-Beauty, and the eyeshadow palette for $28 (originally $58). I’ve discussed how I procured the eyeshadow palette in a past review, but it was during the time that I started working on this post that I felt the compulsion to finally get the lipstick. I have checked in on the brand on and off over the years, waiting for them to release additional products. Earlier this year, I saw a notice on the official website that the beauty products would no longer be sold and that they were turning the website into an influencer style page (oliviapalermo.com now redirects to her affiliate shopmy page). I assumed that meant the brand was shutting down, especially since I’ve only heard two beauty reviewers reference the brand one time each within the last three years. However, I was shocked to see the products appear on the Douglas website in either August or September, and then I saw them at Niche-Beauty as well. I don’t know if Olivia has better sales in Europe, or Germany specifically. I’m not even sure if she still has products available elsewhere in the US.

I felt Lisa Eldridge’s lipstick deserved to be in the post, but Olivia Palermo’s lipstick is the only one in my collection that is heavier. OPB’s lipstick is less expensive, but it isn’t refillable and the central part of the lipstick component is made of plastic. The outer packaging is what makes this seem so fancy.

Regarding the eyeshadow palette, it definitely screams luxury. It isn’t something you want to carry around in your purse or travel with it. Olivia wanted the old Hollywood glamour look and feel to her products, so this is something that you would want to keep on a vanity.

This is by far my most luxurious palette, and though it doesn’t have some of the additional premium features of the LV Quads, it makes me feel a lot more content about my collection and avoid FOMO. If I want heavy eyeshadow packaging, I certainly have it with this product!

Westman Atelier Beauty Butter Powder Bronzer (112 grams)

This is my golden pebble! It is tiny in size but mighty in weight!

Chantecaille is another brand with nicknamed “pebble” packaging, but theirs is plastic, thin, and it doesn’t feel substantial, even though they cost the same amount!

I bought my WA bronzer at 20% off, so the title of most expensive bronzer in my collection belongs to Hermes, even though I only bought the refill. Had I paid for the compact too, that wouldn’t have helped it to feel more luxurious than the Westman Atelier bronzer, considering Hermes’ thin plastic packaging.

This has a tiny mirror that I don’t use, and a magnetic closure. The brand has highlighters and face powders in this same style of packaging. I haven’t used their cream sticks or drops, but they don’t look as luxurious to me. The only other Westman Atelier packaging I have handled are the powder duos, which are certainly substantial and pretty to look at, but I don’t think it compares to this gold compact.

When it comes to the prettiest bronzer packaging, I think of Gucci’s and Charlotte Tilbury’s powder one, even though they are much lighter in terms of their size. However, I would never call something that’s a solid gold color ugly. So, it may as well be my most glamorous bronzer.

Fara Homidi Essential Bronzer Refillable Compact (106 grams)

This compact is about the same size and weight as the Westman Atelier Butter Bronzer. The amount of product from FH is 3.5 grams and the amount of product from WA is 8 grams. That is close enough to accounting for the 6 gram difference when I weighed the two products, which is why I’m still including it in this post.

Aesthetically, I find the Westman Atelier bronzer to be more appealing. Shiny things get me. However, I still think Fara’s is classy and pleasing to hold in the hand. Her other products come in red and blue packaging of the same weight. I don’t like the red, but the blue is very eye-catching. If the next product she releases is in purple or green packaging, it just might surpass WA’s as a favorite compact for bronzers.

D&G Cheeks&Eyes Match Blush (91 grams)

I have plenty of blush packaging that is bigger than this, and therefore heavier. However, for this small size, this is very heavy! Nothing really comes close to the weight, but I have to say that Gucci’s powder blush packaging is quite nice too, even if it’s lighter. Visually, I like Gucci’s more as well. In fact, I have a lot of blushes that aren’t luxurious feeling, but I love them anyway (such as YSL’s Make Me Blush Bold Blurring Blushes and Too Faced Cloud Crush Blushes).
So, this is one of the few categories where my heaviest blush might be the most luxurious, but it isn’t necessarily my favorite packaging. I do like it a lot though!

I have to add that this packaging feels like a mixture of plastic and metal components. I believe there’s something in the base of this compact adding weight artificially, especially since it doesn’t even have a magnetic closure. It has a push button instead.

Victoria Beckham Beauty Products:
Matte Bronzing Brick (166 grams), Eye Wardrobe (116 grams), Cheeky Posh (37 grams), and Lid Lustre (41 grams)

Similar to Olivia Palermo Beauty, VBB has a certain aesthetic that they maintain across most of their products. I like the horn brown/tortoise pattern, and it can be fashionable, but I don’t automatically associate it with luxury because of how many cheap products I’ve seen made in tortoiseshell style. The gold colored trim helps to elevate the look of the packaging, but it is the weight and feel of these components that make them undoubtedly luxurious.

The Bronzing Duo and Eyeshadow Quad are among my heaviest based on size. The Cheeky Posh blush is small and doesn’t have that much extra weight, but I figure that’s because the component isn’t refillable like the other two. I’m including it because it has the same style of packaging as the others, and I still feel bougie when I handle it.

I rarely buy single eyeshadows, so I don’t have much to compare in terms of weight. The prettiest I own is probably the Charlotte Tilbury Hypnotizing Pop Shots, but those have lightweight plastic packaging and they are powders, which I don’t believe is fair to compare. It would be interesting to see how the glass packaging of Charlotte’s Eyes to Mesmerise stacks up, but I don’t own that.
I no longer have the glass packaging of Maybelline’s 24 HR Color Tattoo, but the best I’ve got is Melt’s Gel Liner (47 grams) and a MAC Paint Pot (56 grams).
I like glass as a component material, but it’s not uncommon to find for eye products. The Lid Lustre packaging has an elevated look compared to MAC’s, for example. The Melt Cosmetics Gel Liner that has the gold lid and butterfly print around the rim with the glass base is prettier to me, while also being slightly heavier. However, the font for the brand logo makes it look less sophisticated. I don’t think eye related categories of makeup follow the trend of weight indicating how luxurious a product will look and feel.

One thing about VBB packaging that does take away from the experience is the issue with the closing mechanism. I heard this was a problem in the past, and I never had an issue with my Bronzing Brick, but my eyeshadow quad doesn’t always stay shut when I snap it closed. Sometimes it’s fine, but other times it likes to pop back open with the slightest touch. I haven’t heard about anyone else having an issue with the quads, so perhaps I’m unlucky in getting one of the few faulty ones.

Pat Mcgrath Mothership Palettes (392 grams) and Eyeshadow Quads (122 grams)

All the previous components I’ve discussed had metal or a mix of metal and plastic packaging. The Mothership Palettes are fully plastic, but they are quite hefty in weight. The palettes are big for only holding ten eyeshadows, but that black shiny lacquer with the gold bottom still look lux to me. My Victoria Beckham and Olivia Palermo palettes are the only ones I can recall from my collection that aren’t made of plastic or cardboard. In fact, the Victoria Beckham Eye Wardrobe quad is only six grams less than a Pat Mcgrath quad, but Victoria’s compact is almost half the size!
I still chose these PML products as the next heaviest in the luxury category, though I have to admit that I have some lightweight quads that look fancier because they are gold colored. For example, Tom Ford (the trim technically), Guerlain, YSL (trim), Prada (mixed gold and silver), Lisa Eldridge, etc.
I find it difficult to equate weight with luxury in the eyeshadow category because of how many bulky heavy palettes brands have released over the years. So many of Jeffrey Star’s earliest palettes, Plouise, and Glamlite’s Food palettes were huge. I also recall when Stila had the Luxe Eye Shadow Palette in Happy Hour, which was a similar weight and size to the Mothership Palettes, but I bought it for $36. I can’t remember what the full retail price was, but it cost nowhere near the same amount as a Mothership.

So, I’ve come to the conclusion that weight doesn’t automatically equate with luxury in this category either. However, because of how uncommon it is to find hefty quads and palettes that are reasonably sized (Olivia Palermo, Victoria Beckham, and Pat Mcgrath), the ones that are weighty feel extra special to me.

Beekman 1802 Milk Tint SPF 43 Tinted Primer Serum

I didn’t want to include skincare, but this technically falls under the makeup umbrella. If I count it as a primer, it might be the heaviest I ever owned (even heavier than the glass bottle of Rituel de Fille Thorn Oil). Beekman’s looks like ceramic, but it’s colored glass.

I have to say “might be the heaviest,” because I don’t recall how it compares to the Guerlain L’Or Radiance Primer (now called the Guerlain Parure Gold 24K Radiance Primer), which is definitely the most luxurious looking primer I ever bought. The look of the Beekman product doesn’t appeal to me at all, but I was so impressed by how it felt in the hands. I had to leave it behind though because it was so heavy that I didn’t want to bring it back in my luggage.

If this counts as a skin tint, then it’s a lot less special. Plenty of brands make glass bottle complexion products. That’s why I didn’t include any true foundations or concealers in this post, because the prettiest bottles in my collection tend to look and weigh around the same.

When it comes to heavy primer packaging being the most luxurious, I have to say the Guerlain primer squashes that theory.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Smooth Blur Bronzer (112 grams) and Glow Seeker Highlighter (125 grams)

This bronzer is larger than the one from Westman Atelier, but it weighs the same. The reason I decided to include it anyway is because it’s still substantially heavier than the remaining bronzers in my collection. Plus, the highlighter component is a similar size and even weightier.
I cannot think of a single highlighter I own that comes in heavy packaging, other than this one.

I have noticed over the years that ABH has gradually been upgrading the packaging of most of their products. Their two most recent mascaras felt like either super heavy plastic or a mix of metal and plastic. The Smooth Blur Cream Contour Stick has a brushed gold colored metal cap and additional gold details. The Smooth Blur Matte Bronzer and Glow Seeker Highlighter have a magnetic closure and they feel quite substantial in the hand. I’m impressed with the packaging and find it to be quite pretty, but this is still another example of how weight doesn’t necessarily equate with a luxurious look. This packaging feels so much more substantial to hold and interact with than pretty much all others in the drugstore, mid-range, and high end categories. It feels like it should cost more than it does, and it looks appropriately high end to me, but not quite broaching luxury territory. I still think the Gucci Bronzer packaging tops it, despite it being lighter in weight, because it looks classier overall. As another example, MAC’s Sunstruck Bronzers look so beautiful, even though they are in lightweight compacts as well.

Final Thoughts

Based on my own personal collection, I’ve confirmed that in certain makeup categories, the most luxurious packaging is the heaviest. At the same time, I have many other products with a timeless and elegant look to them that are lightweight and made of plastic or other inexpensive materials. Essentially, the weight of a product enhances the luxury experience, but it does very little to elevate plain looking packaging. The best example of this is the Beekman 1802 Tint.

If I can get an Olivia Palermo palette that retails for $58 and feels ultra lux, but I can also buy a limited edition plastic Chanel quad for $86 and still feel like that’s luxurious as well, would that be considered silly? Should I be raising my expectations for all luxury brands?
At the beginning of this experiment, I would have said yes. However, I now see that if Chanel, Dior, Gucci, and other designer brands used higher quality materials, their products would likely fall in the LV Beaute range of prices (if not more). Some examples of that are the Chanel 31 Le Rouge lipsticks in the glass case, Dior Rouge Premier Lipsticks with the ceramic case and “formula infused with 24k gold,” along with the Guerlain Rouge G Exceptional Piece lines. There is only so much a person is willing to pay for a product from a luxury brand if the materials are the same as a mid-tier brand. So, that keeps designer brands from going overboard with their prices. There are also advantages to using lightweight materials, such as them being more convenient to take on-the-go for customers or makeup artists with large kits, sitting at attainable prices for aspirational shoppers, thinner packaging contributing to less waste of materials and sustainability efforts, etc.

So, when I really think about it, I wouldn’t be able to buy as many products in the luxury category if the components were more expensive to make or if they were made from higher quality materials. In fact, the majority of the products in this post were purchased with some kind of discount. Of course, I would love to have all my luxury goods in weighty packaging, but if that means I would have to accept those products being less likely to go on sale and/or accepting that the prices of them would double or triple, I am unwilling to do so.

The Dior Powder-no-Powder is one of my favorite makeup products of all time, yet the most I was willing to spend was €45 (essentially just paying full price) to get my name etched onto the compact. If I had the opportunity to buy it in a gold colored compact with a magnetic closure or some stunning limited edition pattern for €100, I don’t think I’d be willing to do that. This tells me that despite a product having a holy grail formula that is unable to be duped, I still have my limits. Some makeup will just never be worth it to me to buy, past a certain pricepoint, no matter what it’s made of. That means I cannot use the product’s weight, materials (including formula), or looks to justify a super high spend amount. However, I know that when a product gets hyped up, it can be much easier for me to consider crossing that price threshold if I can make a case for it being top tier from every other angle.
I bought one of the Chanel Boutons quads directly from Chanel because so many influencers were told by their SAs that the collection would be extremely limited, and I feared missing out. Less than one month after launch, I found the quads at multiple retailers for a minimum of 30% off.
FOMO works similarly to getting caught up in the hype of a product. I sometimes make purchasing decisions that I normally wouldn’t.

This is why I decided to make this post. I know there are others like me who enjoy luxury makeup and don’t have the biggest budget to work with. There are those who will be tempted by the exclusivity of a certain new beauty line and would normally not even consider getting anything at those prices, but the hype may be wearing down that resolve.
To those that want to be talked out of buying makeup at $100 or more…just remember that luxury makeup with fantastic formulas and high quality packaging can be found at a lower price. This post is full of examples of this. If one brand is out of your price range, you might be able to get similar products from another prestige brand. Other amazing and beautifully packaged products are just around the corner.

I hope this topic has been interesting, and even helpful.

Thanks for reading!

-Lili ❤

2025 Charlotte Tilbury Instant Look in a Palette

Posted on October 20, 2025 by ghekate

I’ve been using the Hollywood Instant Look in a Palette (in Dreamy, Bronzed Beauty) sporadically over the past two weeks, so I feel ready to share my thoughts.

Before we start the review, I’d like to highlight the fact that Charlotte Tilbury used to have annual face palette launches, but they were usually not deep-skin friendly. The photos below are of the three darkest palettes the brand created until this year. I didn’t end up buying the one on the left because of how light it looked on tan reviewers I saw on YouTube. I didn’t get the one in the middle because I feared none of the cheek products would work on my skintone, especially since I was darker in 2021. I didn’t buy the one on the right because I rarely reach for blush and highlighter palettes. A face palette doesn’t feel complete to me without at least a blush, bronzer, and highlighter together.

**Photo Credit**: **CharlotteTilbury.com**

In 2023 and 2024, the brand took a break from making larger face palettes, so I’ve been waiting at least six years to finally try one! That’s why, despite my pledge to quit buying face palettes, I made this exception.

I wanted to acknowledge this history because I have always been critical of Hourglass for their limited shade selections in Ambient Edit Palettes, yet I haven’t said nearly as much about the Charlotte Tilbury ones. I think it’s because as much hype as Charlotte Tilbury powder products get, it’s never to the level of Hourglass. So, I was far more disappointed when I could not use an Hourglass Palette vs one from Charlotte Tilbury.

Starting with the eyeshadows, the 1 Brighten shade is described as a warm tan with silver shimmer. On my skin tone, the tan color is only visible if I apply it wet (as seen in the photo above), and technically on top of a darker shadow. So, if I just tap it on top of my lids without dampening it, only the silver particles show in a scattered-effect-topper kind of way.

2 Enhance is described as warm copper with pink shimmer. As seen in the second pair of eye looks, it is difficult to tell the difference between the two shades on my lids. In real life, if I put Enhance on one eyelid and Brighten on the other, my eyes wouldn’t be closed long enough for anyone to be able to spot the difference. So, I can’t help but feel like I got a duplicate eyeshadow in this palette. I don’t mind having what amounts to one topper shade, but to have two out of three is a bit disappointing. That being said, they’re at least pretty. If I want a sparkly and slightly less scattered look, I reach for Enhance instead of Brighten. It is also true that I can get a slightly pinker look when I dampen this eyeshadow shade, or much pinker when I use the blushes on my eyes too.*

*If you’re concerned about whether or not the face products are considered eye safe, based on your government’s regulations, I recommend checking the official Charlotte Tilbury website and ingredient lists for information regarding that. I have not looked into this, and have tried them at my own risk.

Regarding fallout, applying the shimmer eyeshadows damp ensures that I don’t have too many particles under by eyes by the end of the day, especially if I also use the Nyx Glitter primer. Plus, I get the bonus of these methods intensifying the amount of sparkle that’s on my lids.

3 Smoke is described as a rich burgundy matte. It is indeed dark enough that I can be satisfied with creating eye looks using only this matte and one of the shimmers. I don’t like how rounded my natural eye shape is, so I prefer to use at least three eyeshadows to create a high contrast look with a sculpted outer corner in an almond shape that detracts attention from how rounded my upper lash line is.

I get decent pigment from this shade, though I still have to build it up a little to be satisfied. Layering and blending with it is fine, but not super quick. Basically, this isn’t an amazing eyeshadow quality, but it’s nice enough. I at least don’t have issues with patchiness. For those wondering, I use the Lisa Eldridge Liquid Silk Eyeshadow as my main eyeshadow base.

I have attempted to create eyeshadow looks using the bronzer and blushes as well, but they are not deep enough to give me the depth I require in my eye looks. I have to end up using Smoke or reaching for a different palette to finish the look.

So, if I include the brown bronzer as a blending out or softening shade, the face powder as a brightening shade, the raspberry-pink matte blush and shimmery glow blush as ways to intensify the pink elements of eye looks, the Smoke shade for dimension, and I use the two shimmers damp, I’m content enough with the variety of pink and purple eye looks I can create.

Moving on to the face products, I thought it was a good opportunity to show the differences between the Flawless Finish powder shades.

The swatches look quite stark and ashy, but all of these work for me under my eyes. In fact, Tan looks the best suited for me in the swatch, but I rarely use it on its own because it darkens the look of my under eye concealer if I’m using one that’s already a skin-tone shade.
My go-to combination has been to use a mixture of Medium and Tan together. When I’ve used Light Peach, it has been for its color-correcting elements, lightening a blush, or if I’m in a hurry and don’t feel like reaching for a different powder shade while I already have this palette open. This also applies to when I’m using the Soulmates Duo, which is where Light Peach (it may also be referred to as Flawless Peach) was first debuted by the brand.
It’s the same great quality I’m used to from the permanent line of face powders.

As for the Tan-Deep shade in the brightening formula, I bought a mini for color-correcting purposes once again. I have only used it once, so I don’t feel comfortable posting a full review. However, I wanted to at least demonstrate how it looks for anyone curious.

I have a bigger Charlotte Tilbury post I’ve been working on for a while, so if there is any information I need to update, I will post about it at that time. That post might not be ready until next year though. There are a lot of other reviews I’d like to complete first.

Next up to discuss is the bronzer. When I heard it was the shade Tan, I was a bit disappointed because that shade has never worked for me in the past. However, the one in this palette does faintly show up!

I wish I still had my older version of Tan to be able to compare it to the new one and see if there has been a slight color change. The reason I think it’s possible is because it’s stated on the website that this bronzer is actually a new powder formula. So, maybe the brand made this version the tiniest bit darker. Maybe it’s not actually darker, and is just easier to see because it’s a warmer tone of orange that stands out more on my skintone. The third possibility is that I might be lighter now than when I was in Florida, so I have no idea if the older powder version of Tan would work for me by now. The cream version of Tan has always worked though.

Shade match aside, I do believe there is a difference between the old powder bronzer and new one. My powder version of Deep is fairly old by now, so I don’t know if that could account for the new one feeling the tiniest bit softer and creamier, whereas the older one has a more powdery consistency. The older one had a beautiful airbrushed finish, which also accounted for a more obvious makeup look. The newer one has a more skin-like finish, which I would normally consider a great thing. However, I reach for Charlotte’s bronzer specifically when I want a slightly heavier glam look. The airbrushed blur is what made it stand out from most of my bronzer collection. As nice as this bronzer finish is now, it’s not as unique.

The reformulated version matches the quality of many of my high-end and luxury products, which makes it a great addition to this palette. The blendability is nice. I have no issues with longevity. So, I wouldn’t go out of my way to reach for a different bronzer if I’m already in the process of using this face palette. This difference might just effect whether I would buy an individual compact of the brand’s reformulated bronzer if they do end up launching them, considering it wouldn’t be giving me something different from what I already have from Hermes, the older Dior bronzer formula, etc.
Powdery airbrush type of bronzers I love are by Victoria Beckham, Gucci, Vieve, etc. It’s just that Charlotte’s ranked above all of them for this specific look. The new formula is still good, but I would want it when I’m in the mood for a different makeup style (like neutral or natural).

Moving onto blushes, I don’t think Charlotte Tilbury has expanded their permanent powder blush range since the addition of Pillow Talk Intense in 2020. There have been limited edition powder blushes, but it’s interesting that the brand’s focus for the past several years has been to extend the options of Beauty Wands and various cream formulas. The limited edition powder blush shades intended for those with medium, tan, and dark skin have been just different enough for me to justify owning them all. However, I can understand some of the frustrations I hear my fellow makeup lovers talk about regarding the options. People are ready for something distinctly different, and not just in liquid or cream form.

Blushes are still currently my favorite category of makeup, although eyeshadows are getting close to reclaiming their former position. So, these blushes were what I was the most excited to try. When I saw 6 Cheek Matte Blush in person, I was nervous because it reminded me of YSL’s Berry Bang that I got in August. However, I was very happy that I find Charlotte’s to be a prettier tone on me. It’s pigmented, soft, and buildable. To have a little more control of the matte blush and get it to have as light of a layer as it appears in the demonstration photos above, I used the Sonia G Soft Cheek Brush.

This blush lasts all day without fading. It also doesn’t look too matte for my dry skin, although I prefer to add a little of 7 Cheek Glow Blush on top to make my cheeks appear a bit more supple.

I was surprised to see that the Cheek Glow Blush is the only one not inside a pan. It feels like a gelee or slurry formula on top of plastic netting/mesh. Some products like this can be hard pressed, but this one is not. I have no issues getting enough product onto my brushes, but since it’s not as pigmented as the matte blush, I like to cut to the chase and use a brush that’s a bit denser and picks up more, like the Hakuhodo G6440.** One other brush I’ve been loving with it is the Bisyodo B-P-03 Perfect Fit Powder Brush.* I haven’t written an official review for it yet, but I want to share the fact that it lays down these blushes so well and it’s great to blend with. Despite being large, I can dip the lower angled portion of the brush onto the surface of the blushes, and then when I blend, there is a portion of the brush that doesn’t have product on there. So, I can diffuse the blush without packing on additional product in the process.

*DISCLOSURE: Every link (in this Bold Blue Font) is a regular non-affiliate link. The brush link (in this Bold Black Font With a Blue Background) is the only affiliate link in this post. This means I would get a commission from anyone who decides to make a purchase from CDJapan after clicking my link. Athough chances are slim that anyone who has used my links in the past will see this message in a post that isn’t dedicated specifically to Japanese Fude, I still want to show my thanks and appreciation. As someone with such a tiny blog, it’s still a shock to me whenever I see that someone has used my link, or even to just see the number of people who have clicked them. Thank you very much. ❤

**Side Note: I feel compelled to point out that when I bought the Hakuhodo brush almost a year ago, it was listed at 19,000 YEN. Between Black Friday discounts and the shipping fee via shopping through Fude Bobo, I ended up spending a little less than that on the brush, and it still felt like quite the splurge for a brush of that size. Four months ago, Hakuhodo raised their prices again, so this brush costs 26,000 YEN now! As much as I love this brush, I cannot recommend Hakuhodo anymore at these prices.

Returning to the subject of the glowy blush, one downside is that it emphasizes texture a little bit. It’s not as intense or metallic looking as certain shades of the brand’s Blush Wands can appear, but it could still be too much for some people’s makeup preferences. Also, this blush shade shows up enough on me to consider it a usable standalone blush, but I find it more practical to regard it as a blush topper. It’s shiny enough to add glow like a highlighter, but the tone matches so well with the blush that I feel it doesn’t stands out enough or draws enough focus to my cheeks like a traditional highlighter would. So, I prefer to add the Cheek Glow Blush to the apples of my cheeks and/or the top of my cheekbones, but still apply a real highlighter on top to finish the look. Perhaps I would feel differently if my undertone wasn’t golden, since pink highlighters don’t pass for natural on me.

The YSL All Hours Couture Palette in Golden Oasis still feels new to me, so it’s natural to want to compare these two products. In USD, YSL’s face palette contains three blushes and three highlighters for $85. Charlotte’s face palette contains three eyeshadows, two blushes, one face powder and one bronzer for $69. The differences in Germany were much smaller as it’s €72 for YSL and €69 for the Charlotte Tilbury palette. I essentially liked half of the YSL palette, but would only really use two blushes (and I already owned one of those two). With the Charlotte Tilbury palette, I can use everything in multiple ways and I like all of the shades. I can finish a good portion of my makeup by whipping out this single palette. I like it more than the YSL and more than the Nars Hot Escape Cheek Palette. I still stand by my thoughts that the ones from YSL and Nars could be good in particular circumstances, and what I actually paid for them was a pretty good deal. This one just turned out to be even better.

I don’t believe it’s recency bias if I consider this to be among my most useful face palettes: Hindash Beautopsy, Sephora Microsmooth Multi-Tasking Baked Face Palette, Hourglass Ambient Edit Palettes, and now the Charlotte Tilbury Instant Look in a Palette. Considering the fact that I don’t like to use any of the others on the eyes, this palette has that edge. Hindash’s still has my best contour color, Sephora’s has a true highlighter, and Hourglass’ has a glowy bronzer option. So, I like and use these on different occasions. I believe the reason I would end up getting a lot of use out of the Charlotte Tilbury palette is for convenience. It’s just easy to have so many usable pretty products in one palette, which is the whole appeal of having a face palette in the first place.
I am glad that this one turned out to be such a good purchase!

That’s everything for this week. Thank you for reading!

-Lili ❤

Ilia Soft Focus Blurring Blush Review

Posted on October 6, 2025 by ghekate

This is the first product I’ve ever purchased from Ilia. Nothing they made interested me until the release of their limited edition Ethereal Baked Face Palettes.* I didn’t buy one though because I didn’t like the packaging and I wasn’t a fan of the blush shades in the Deep palette. It would have cost $59 for four products (albeit smaller sizes), which on paper is a better deal than $36 for a single blush. However, if I didn’t like the formula, I would have technically wasted more money.

*Ilia brought back the face palettes in the US. They are still listed as limited edition, so I think they are planning to follow the Hourglass method: releasing curated palettes with powders in smaller sizes for the holidays, but having larger and more expensive individual powders in a permanent range.

Ilia Soft Focus Blurring Blush in Wonder

Because this is a baked blush, I can’t help but want to compare it to Hourglass. Hourglass has blush finishes that are matte, shimmery (mica-sheen), more shimmery (with some larger shimmer specks), and high shine (practically metallic and could double as a highlighter or blush topper). The finish of Ilia’s blush is most similar to the subtlest of Hourglass’ blushes with a sheen, but Ilia’s has much more obvious mica that gives a pearlier look and it’s a little more reflective (but not enough to look metallic). I heard that most of the shades in this range have the cool-toned sheen except Pulse.

When I rub my finger into an Hourglass blush, it feels firm even though the powder itself is soft. When I rub an Ilia blush, there’s a hollow feeling as if it could fold under the pressure of my touch if I press too hard.
There is only one other product I own that feels like this, and it’s the Fenty Demi Glow Light-Diffusing Highlighter. That one was actually prone to arriving to people broken during shipment and I recall even seeing a small crack in the first round of promo photos that were released. I don’t think the Ilia blushes are quite that fragile, but I handle mine carefully just in case.

These photos demonstrate how the blush looks in cooler lighting vs warmer lighting.

I find the finish to be a little blurring, though only as much as a luminous product can be. I use my airy delicate brushes with it, and one tap or two picks up the perfect amount of product to cover a cheek. Wonder is a very pigmented blush, but because it’s so easy to blend out, I can still use denser brushes if I want. It’s just easier to control if I use something like the Sonia G Soft Cheek or Chikuhodo Z-8 with it.

What really makes this blush stand out is the tone. There are a few vibrant shades in the range, but most are desaturated colors, which was just the kind of thing I’ve been looking for. Breathless is the shade that drew my interest in this launch, but I feared that between the mica and color depth, it would probably look ashy on me. Wonder seemed like a darker version of that shade, so I picked it, and I am convinced that no other color in the current range could have suited me better.
That being said, I could not figure out why I wasn’t in love. It’s pretty, flattering, and long-lasting on my skin. There’s no fragrance and it’s supposed to last two years (which is great coming from a brand that touts itself as being “clean.” I could find no faults with the formula, yet there were times I would apply it to my cheeks and think BareMinerals Kiss of Rose would look better.
It wasn’t until I watched Alicia Archer’s video about Terracotta Tones that I realized Wonder being more of a pink-rose terracotta instead of an earthy orange/red type of terracotta made all the difference in the world. It’s a very pretty shade and it doesn’t look bad on me, but it’s that tiny bit less flattering.

I tried to pull a few shades for comparison that I thought might be most similar to Wonder. Ironically, the closest is Kiss of Rose, and I can see how that little bit of extra warmth makes me like it more.

So, unfortunately, this didn’t work out so well for me purely based on the color. However, the formula is nice enough that I still recommend it to anyone interested in this range of blushes. In fact, if the brand comes out with a true terracotta-brown shade or some other color I love (that also has a warm sheen), I would very likely buy it. It’s $10 less than Hourglass Ambient Lighting Blushes for the equivalent amount of product as well, though the light plastic and mirror-less Ilia packaging probably contributes to a large portion of that lower price. Some people might think it looks too cheap for the price, and I can understand that feeling. For me, the compact color and the shape of it is pleasing enough to make up for that because components shaped like bars of soap are very satisfying to me. I’m not sure why!

I hope this review has been helpful. Thank you for reading!

-Lili ❤

Hourglass Swan Palette and Dusk Quad Reviews

Posted on September 18, 2025 by ghekate

Today’s post will be a review of the Swan Palette and Dusk Quad, plus I will show some mock ups of the DIY custom palettes I’m considering making using the Ambient Lighting Powders.

I already reviewed the Fox Palette, so if you wish to see more details about that one, please click HERE.

If you’d like to see even older Hourglass Palettes, I have a list HERE with the links to all of them.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit – Unlocked- Swan (in Deer Packaging)

The Swan Palette comprises of Color Palette 2, generally known to be geared towards those with medium skin. I will admit the reason I bought another palette after Fox was because I could not let that beautiful Deer Packaging go. I like the original Swan design, but I felt an even stronger pull towards the Deer. So, I needed to put something inside it. I contemplated going for the Fox color story again, but I thought it might be more helpful for review purposes for me to choose Swan’s Color Palette 2 and see just how many shades I could get away with using. Plus, the blushes all looked pretty. So that’s what I did, and it’s not the first time either! I own the Owl Palette from 2023 that holds the Leopard color story, and I’ve gotten a surprising amount of use out of it!

DIM LIGHT (Finishing Powder) – This is one of the most frequently repeated shades among the Ambient Edit palettes, but thankfully only my second time getting it. It’s the lightest finishing powder Hourglass makes that I can pull off if I use it lightly, and if I’ve stayed out of the sun enough. At the moment, it’s a bit too light for me to wear with my regular foundations, but I have been successful in using it to lighten some of my foundations that are too dark or too orange right now.

In my review of the Fox palette, I mentioned that the quality seems better than it has been in the last few years. The powders feel softer and less dry. Out of curiosity, I felt my older Dim Light Powder from the Leopard Palette compared to the newer one, and this year’s feels the tiniest bit silkier. When I swatch them, the shades are identical, but when I rub them into my skin, I can see slightly more of a cast from the older powder. I hope my photo helps, but it’s a bit difficult to try and demonstrate the results from a sheer finishing powder on the skin.

This change probably won’t make much difference on someone with a light skin tone, but it works out better for me. Realistically though, I’m going to stick to using Eternal Light or Desert Light instead. So, Dim Light might be ignored by me when I open this palette.

GOLDEN HOUR (Highlighter) – This is a new shade for Hourglass and I feel it is one of the more refined highlighters they’ve made. There’s no avoiding that this is quite beaming, but it doesn’t look as crazy on me as I expected. In swatches, it is clear that Golden Hour is lighter than Divine Strobe Light, but it blends into my skin so well that I feel I can pull off Golden Hour even better.

Darker highlighters are obviously going to look better on me, so I don’t foresee myself using Golden Hour very much. However, it’s nice that I could if I wanted to. Since the quality is great, I think most people who like intense highlighters will be happy with this one.

*This photo demonstrates my best efforts at applying a sheer amount of Golden Hour to make it work. It is incredibly easy for it to look beaming and intense if that’s what I wanted.*

NATURAL BRONZE (Bronzer) – It’s no surprise that this doesn’t work for me as a bronzer. I can just barely see a cool-toned tinge on my skin in person (it’s invisible in photos). Hourglass finishing powders can be used as bronzer, so the reverse is true as well. However, because Natural Bronze leaves a slight grey tone on me, I cannot use it for either purpose. I’m fine with that considering it’s the only truly unusable powder for me out of six.

One of the complaints a lot of people with a lighter skin tone have is that Hourglass bronzers tend to lean too warm/orange. So, I wonder if this particular color will make the majority of customers happy. It is apparently not a new shade, but I don’t know where else it has been.

LUMINOUS CORAL (Blush) – I really like this color! It is a little darker than Ethereal Flush, and warmer than Coral Haze, which makes it my favorite of Hourglass’ coral blush shades! It’s vivid enough to pop on my cheeks without looking clownish and it doesn’t require too much effort building it up.

SUNSET FLUSH (Blush) – This blush has the Nars Orgasm effect on me: a slight tinge of pink may be seen when I face forward, but a gold sheen is all that shows when I turn my head towards the light. I could use this as a highlighter, but I prefer how it looks as a blush topper for Luminous Coral and Mauve Fusion.

MAUVE FUSION (Blush) – Although this blush is lighter than Amethyst Haze from the Fox Palette, it has enough pigment to look extremely bold with enough layers and a dense brush. In swatches, Mauve Fusion looks fuchsia-pink and Amethyst Haze looks magenta-pink. On my cheeks, Mauve Fusion looks like a normal pink blush. I still think it’s pretty, and between the two, I do think Mauve Fusion looks the most purple on my cheeks. However, I find Mood Flush to look like a truer mauve. Perhaps Mauve Fusion will look different on other people with a different undertone than mine (and a different ratio of color marbling in the blush).

Overall, the Swan Palette colors work pretty well for me. Luminous Coral and Golden Hour were my favorites, but Luminous Coral, Sunset Flush, and Mauve Fusion combined are the real standouts.

As much as I like this palette, I don’t love any of the powders enough to say that I’d have been missing out if I skipped getting Swan. However, I don’t regret my purchase when the goal was to have Deer Packaging, and I ended up with five usable products to boot.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit Quad – Dusk

As you might already know, Hourglass released five curated quads in May 2025, plus the option for US-only customers to choose 4 out of 24 Ambient Lighting powders to put in a custom quad.
In my Window Shopping Hourglass post, I said the smartest move would be for me to wait and see if any of the shades I want will end up in one of the deeper holiday palettes I planned to buy anyway. This was my plan, but I kept thinking about the Hourglass Barney’s Volume III Palette that had my two most sought after shades (Lucid Glow and At Night in the “edit” size), and how it was never restocked. So, that compelled me to get the Dusk Palette in its final restock, which sold out a minute after I ordered it. Considering At Night did not make it into this year’s holiday palettes, I really don’t regret my decision. Plus, I got a discount on it.

I’ve had this quad for quite a while, but I figured the start of the holidays would be the best time to review it.

SUBLIME FLUSH (Blush) – I knew this blush would look cool-toned on me, and potentially ashy. Sometimes this shade doesn’t look too bad on me if I mix it with other blushes, but it’s really not for me.

MOOD FLUSH (Blush) – I have to build up this color quite a bit, but I love this blush. It’s a duplicate shade for me, as I already own and depotted one out of the Sculpture Quad, but that just means I can keep one in two different custom palettes of my own making.

OASIS GLOW (Blush) – I knew the chances were high that I couldn’t use this as a blush on my skin tone. I wanted this shade as a subtle highlighter, and that’s exactly how I’ve been able to use it.

AT NIGHT (Blush) – I own this in the full-size, but wanted it in the smaller Ambient Edit size to be able to put it in custom palettes. I love the one that came in the Dusk Quad because I have a larger section of deep red marbling, making it easier to get more of that dark color and less of the tan-beige color. This means it’s even deeper and requires less building up, so I’m very pleased.

I have been content to leaving this quad as is, as a blush/highlighter palette. However, with the additions of Fox and Swan, I’m feeling even more of an impulse to rearrange one or even two Ambient Edit Palettes!

Have I Achieved Creating the Perfect Palette Yet?

**2015** – Ambient Lighting Edit Palette, **2016** – Surreal Light Ambient Lighting Edit Palette, **2017** – Ambient Lighting Edit Volume 3 Palette, **2018** – Ambient Lighting Edit Volume 4 Palette and Unlocked Ambient Lighting Edit Palette, **2019** – Ghost Ambient Lighting Edit and Ghost Ambient Lighting Blush Quad, **2020** – Sculpture Ambient Lighting Edit Palette and Sculpture Ambient Lighting Edit Quad, **2021** – Ambient Lighting Edit Universe and Ambient Lighting Edit Universe Unlocked, **2022** – Butterfly, Elephant, and Tiger Ambient Lighting Edit Unlocked, **2023** – Jellyfish, Leopard, and Snake Ambient Lighting Edit Unlocked, **2024** – Dragon, Evil Eye, and Lotus Ambient Lighting Edit Unlocked, **2025** – Deer, Horse, Swan, and Fox Ambient Lighting Edit Unlocked.

With this year’s launch (and my purchase of the Dusk quad), I have procured nearly every shade from Hourglass that I’ve wanted from the beginning of the launch of these palettes until now. Iridescent Coral is the only one missing, but it would likely be another highlighter shade on me, so I’m giving up on it.

I have experience depotting and rearranging these myself, which is great considering the brand still hasn’t made that option available to those outside of the US. I could continue to wait for this to happen, but there’s no telling when they will roll it out internationally, when they will use 6-pan palettes instead of quads, whether the palettes will be made of tin instead of plastic (which is more ideal for depotting without ruining the packaging). So, I am feeling a bit impatient when I see that creating my perfect palette is now within reach! My biggest obstacle at this point would just be procuring the right magnets and trying to depot the powders old-school style without my Z-Potter.

Below is a mock up of the first concept palette I decided upon, which I gave the name Panda for no reason other than to wish it into existence. I’d love a Panda design in next year’s Hourglass Palettes!

CONCEPT PALETTE: “PANDA”

Eternal Light (Finishing Powder) – Lotus, Permanent Shade
Solar Glow (Highlighter) – Fox
At Night (Blush) – Dusk Quad, Permanent Shade
Mood Flush (Blush) – Sculpture and Dusk Quad
Mystic Flush (Blush) – Snake
Solar Bronze (Bronzer) – Snake

When it comes to choosing the best shades for me, as a person with a medium-deep skin tone, I think I’d put Eternal Light in any palette to be on the safe side of working for me, but Desert Light poses a very tempting second option.

There are plenty of pretty highlighters from Hourglass that I can make work, but the newest one from Fox is the clear winner. Solar Glow would be in any version of my ultimate palette, but if I made a second custom palette, there are a few blushes I use as highlighters that I’ve come to enjoy enough to put in the running.

My two bronzer contenders are Solar Bronze and Solar Fusion with one being my best shade match and the other being similar to that with an added sheen. At times, Solar Fusion will be too light, so the Solar Bronze would need to be in my alpha palette (Panda).

At Night is one of my favorite blush shades of all time, so a perfect palette would be incomplete without it. Mood Flush is typically my second favorite. It works alone as a subtle blush, but also pairs well with At Night. Mystic Flush is the most pigmented and easy to blend of the medium-dark pinks, so that’s typically my third blush option, but Sunset Glow is such a similar color that I go back and forth as to which I like more.

Desert Flush, Luminous Coral, and Ethereal Flush are the next ones that grab my attention the most from the blush swatch photo in the Luminous Coral review section. Truth be told, I haven’t been wearing Desert Flush because I’ve gotten more sun this year and that shade is really only usable for me when my skin is at its lightest. Luminous Coral is brand new, so I’m not fully committed to moving it around. Ethereal Flush is one that I keep forgetting about since it’s in my palette with lighter shades (Owl).

Speaking of lighter shades, Mood Exposure also shows up as a solo blush, depending on the time of year, but I also like using it to calm down punchier blush shades. So, I could see myself adding it to a custom palette as well.

Mood Exposure on the cheeks.

It wasn’t until this week that I started to question whether I should put all of my favorite Hourglass blush shades into one palette considering At Night and Mystic Flush can sometimes look alike. I need to have blush variety, but the colors should be the ones I wear most often. I considered placing Canyon Heat instead of Mystic Flush for the greater difference between shades, but ultimately left it as is.

The more I look at the Panda Concept, the more interested I am in making it.

CONCEPT PALETTE: “RABBIT”

Mood Exposure (Blush) – 5 Holiday Palettes, Permanent Shade
Lucid Glow (Blush as Highlighter) – Fox, Ghost Quad, Sunset Quad, Barney’s Volume III
Desert Light (Finishing Powder) – Fox
Luminous Coral (Blush) – Swan
Canyon Heat (Blush) – Fox
Bronze Fusion (Bronzer) – Fox

Since Desert Light and Bronze Fusion were close to matching my top picks, and Luminous Coral is the best of the corals, I decided to create a second mock up called “Rabbit.” The majority of shades in this one are from Fox, and while I might’ve been content to leave that palette as-is, rearranging them might help me get even more use out of them.

Lucid Glow and Oasis Glow are my top two blush-as-highlighter products from Hourglass, but Lucid Glow has more shimmer impact, so it won out. I did contemplate putting Infinite Strobe Light, but it’s just easier to keep Lucid Glow within the Fox Palette to minimize the amount of depotting I have to do.

For a similar reason, I’m leaving in Canyon Heat. It’s too new for me to know if it can top my other favorite blushes, but I’m still looking to have variety. This is the best of the oranges.

I could use Mood Flush a second time, since I have two now, or Sunset Glow to act as a duplicate for Mystic Flush, but I want to see how well this arrangement can do first.

It’s a little ironic that Mauve Fusion and Amethyst Haze didn’t make it into either of my theoretical custom palettes, considering they were the two blushes I was the most excited to see this year. They both have the potential to rise up the ranks though. I just need more time with them.

At this point, I can finally say that I don’t need additional Hourglass powders. I have all the shades I want. However, it’s not even about the powders anymore. I enjoy collecting them and whether I end up loving or hating the offerings, it’s one of the most exciting makeup events of the year for me to talk about with other makeup lovers. So, as long as the brand doesn’t do anything cancel-worthy next year, I will likely buy another palette. I will just try my hardest to limit it to one and not two!

That’s all for today! Thank you for reading!

-Lili ❤

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit Fox Palette

Posted on September 15, 2025 by ghekate

In my post called Window Shopping the Hourglass Custom Quads, I came to this realization:
“The more I think about it, the more I realize having a quad isn’t necessarily what I want. A palette with one finishing powder, one highlighter, one bronzer, and three blushes sounds like heaven!”

So, Hourglass is off to a great start by having the Fox palette, the darkest of this year’s holiday offerings, meet those exact specifications. In addition, this palette contains 5 new shades and the only repeat is Lucid Glow, which I don’t own and have been trying to get my hands on. Fantastic!

Today’s post is going to follow my usual format when discussing Hourglass products.
First will be the review with comparison swatches included, next will be the assessment as to how well the brand has done this year, and lastly a list of things I wish to see in the future.

I received this product early because I purchased it prior to the official launch (shortly after the links were available online), and I paid for express shipping. However, I also ordered the Swan Palette (in Deer packaging) via standard shipping. It arrived too late for me to include anything but comparison swatches in this week’s post, but I will publish the review as a bonus post as soon as it’s completed. A review of the Dusk Quad will be in the Swan post as well. If you haven’t already, be sure to click follow to be notified by email whenever a new review is out!

DISCLOSURE: I am not affiliated with this brand. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I used two random influencers’ codes that I found online (via Retailmenot) to get 10% off my orders.

Anyone who wants to see a list of links to my past Hourglass reviews can find them HERE.

What We Got

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit – Unlocked- Fox Palette

IMPORTANT NOTE: Any Hourglass powders that have a swirl/marble/veining can differ in color from palette to palette. For example, Lucid Glow could look lighter and yellower or a darker coral-pink than mine depending on how much of each color is present in the blush. Amethyst Haze can look more of a plum-purple if it contains less of the shimmery pink. So, even though I am sharing swatches, mine may look different compared to what others have.

SOLAR GLOW (Highlighter) – I finally have a perfect highlighter from Hourglass! In terms of shade, last year’s Gilded Strobe Light from the Lotus Palette was everything I wanted, but the strobe formula tends to enhance texture more than I like. For some reason, this new one does not. Gilded Strobe Light is a golden shade with the same color depth as Solar Glow, but Solar Glow has warm yellow-gold veining along with marbling that looks identical to Gilded Strobe Light. Although Solar Glow is described as a “golden bronze” on the website, the yellow veining keeps it from having as much of a golden-orange tone as Gilded Strobe Light. So, the color stands out a little more on my skin, but it’s still in the right color family for me.

The shade match, plus the level of shimmer refinement makes this not just the best highlighter I own from Hourglass, but the kind of highlighter I like in general. Infinite Strobe Light from the Snake Palette was also a decent shade match, a little less reflective than the typical strobe highlighters, and it is slightly darker than Solar Glow. Divine Strobe Light from the Tiger Palette worked too, but neither than one nor Infinite Strobe Light became favorites. With Solar Glow, I can use my best brushes to get the exact level of shine I want, as it blends easily into my skin.
The shine doesn’t fade or dull down as the day goes on, nor does it have any other longevity issues.

I have swatch comparisons below, and a photo with me wearing the highlighter is in the Canyon Heat section.

LUCID GLOW (Blush) – If I wear this like a blush, I can see a faint peachy-pink tinge (the brand describes it as coral) on my cheeks. However, I feel this looks the best on me as a highlighter when paired with Amethyst Haze. Although Lucid Glow is a warm shade, the pink tone still manages to compliment the cooler pink-berry color of Amethyst Haze better than Solar Glow, which is even warmer.

Lucid Glow also makes a great blush topper for Canyon Heat. I prefer to wear a radiant blush the majority of the time, so the sheer color from Lucid Glow doesn’t alter the color of Canyon Heat that much, and just adds the glow.

I see this color as the warmer version of Iridescent Rose, a shade that Hourglass has put in at least 4 palettes by now. It’s around the same depth as Lucid Glow, and the brand calls it a warm rose, but it has a pearly-mica type of sheen that makes it appear cooler toned on me. Perhaps Iridescent Rose would look even better with Amethyst Haze on those with a cool undertone, but Lucid Glow helps to bridge the gap in making that shade work on me. Therefore, I don’t mind having this in my palette, even though I don’t wear it as a standalone blush.

*The lightest blush from the Lotus Palette, Desert Flush, is still darker than Sunset Flush from the Swan Palette and Lucid Glow from the Fox Palette.* *The Lotus Palette continues to be the darkest Ambient Edit Palette thus far.*

DESERT LIGHT (Finishing Powder) – The performance of all Hourglass finishing powders are the same on me, as long as the shade isn’t too light, which then makes my skin look dry, textured, and ashy. These powders are lightweight, sheer, easy to blend, have minimal ability to lock in makeup, and minor blurring capabilities. So, choosing between them comes down to whether or not there is visible shimmer and if the shade is a good match. The palest one I can wear from Hourglass is Dim Light, but it can slightly lighten my foundation if I am too heavy-handed. Desert Light is darker and warmer, so it suits me even better. It is technically still lighter than my skin tone, but I could only tell by applying a heavy swatch to my face. When rubbed in, the slightly brightened area did not look unnatural. So, it’s no surprise that using a normal amount on my face works well as a finishing powder.

My closest match, especially right now, is Eternal Light. Eternal Light is the tiniest bit darker than my skin tone (again only detectable when swatched heavily), but applying a normal amount looks perfect. I always have to preface that the Eternal Light shade from the Ambient Lighting Palette Trio in Volume III had noticeable gold specks in it, but Eternal Light from the Ambient Lighting Edit Unlocked Lotus Palette does not. This is why I prefer Eternal Light from Lotus and that’s the one I consider to be my best finishing powder shade from Hourglass. This new one, Desert Light, contains gold shimmer again, but the particles are far tinier than the Volume III trio. So, I don’t mind the beautiful sheen and the brightening effect. Desert Light is particularly well suited to calming down a “loud” blush, like Amethyst Haze, plus it adds a little warmth. I just have to be careful using it in my bronzer zone because it can make Bronze Fusion look even more subtle than it already is.

CANYON HEAT (Blush) – This is finally an orange blush I can get behind! Past orange blushes from Hourglass were metallic, to the point of seeming more like highlighters, and were just too saturated for my liking. Canyon Heat is more of a slightly muted terracotta with a soft matte finish. The earthy orange-brown hue is quite flattering. It shows up on me, but a little more pigment could have made this blush better able to suit those who are darker than me. This is probably going to be too light for some people I know.

I find it interesting that of the three blushes, this one has the least amount of sheen. However, it still contains Mica, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, and Boron Nitride as the first three ingredients. There is a possibility that other people could have a stronger sheen in theirs than mine. Then again, the Desert Light finishing powder also has those top three ingredients, but still has even less of a sheen than Canyon Heat. In any case, Canyon Heat is not flat matte, but isn’t shimmery like the other blushes either.

I like Canyon Heat, but I need more time with it to decide if it can surpass my older favorites.

AMETHYST HAZE (Blush) – Hourglass has a few mauve blushes (Mood Flush and Mood Exposure), and they released a deep-pink berry blush called Rose Heat from Universe Unlocked in 2021, but Amethyst Haze and Mauve Fusion are the closest they’ve gotten to making a purple blush. Amethyst Haze is like a magenta-berry and is one of their darkest blushes, alongside Red 0 from the Lotus Palette in 2024 and Rose Heat from the 2021 Universe Unlocked Palette. Mauve Fusion from this year’s Swan Palette is a slightly lighter, cooler, and less pigmented version of Amethyst Haze. I consider it to be a fuchsia-pink. Mauve Fusion has a touch more blue tone, while Amethyst Haze has a little more red.

I’m always happy to see a dark blush option from Hourglass, and that it’s less pigmented, making it easier to work with than Red 0. Amethyst Haze is also only moderately metallic, so I think it has a pretty finish.

BRONZE FUSION (Bronzer) – This bronzer isn’t as light as Lustrous Bronze Light from the Leopard and Elephant Palettes, but it’s just barely dark enough to show up on my skin while the last of my summer color is clinging on. Solar Bronze has been my correct bronzer shade up to this point, but what Bronze Fusion has going for it is the fact that it’s the darkest shimmer/glow bronzer Hourglass has made so far.

The foundation shades I wear most of the year are Nars Light Reflecting Foundation in Caracas (but in some formulas, like Sheer Glow, I wear Macao), Hourglass Ambient Glow Foundation 13.5W, Danessa Myricks Yummy Skin Serum Tint in 11, and Chanel N1 in BD91. I should theoretically wear BD101, but I make BD91 work even outside of winter. I used to mix BD91 and BD121, but BD121 is too orange.

Why this is important is because I can see the bronzer on me when I wear BD91, but when I wear a full face of BD121, I can only see the warmth the bronzer adds in person. The sheen is subtle to begin with, but even harder to see in photos. So, once again, I find myself liking a product that will unfortunately be unusable for a lot of makeup lovers that have come to expect the “Color Palette 3” of the holiday palettes to be deep-skin friendly.

How well this continues to show on my skin throughout the year will determine whether it’s above or below Solar Bronze as my favorite.

When it comes to using these powders on the eyes, it’s once again something I’ve done for review purposes, but will rarely do in my everyday life. It’s similar to how I dislike using Hindash powders on my eyes, but love them on my face. They just look so dull on me as eyeshadows.

How Did Hourglass Do This Year?

*My Tiger Palette in the top left contain two blushes from the Butterfly Palette.* *My Owl Palette contains the color story of Leopard, but I swapped out one blush for Mood Flush. My Leopard Palette has contains the color story of Snake.*

Regarding the Fox Palette specifically, I think Hourglass did a fantastic job in catering it to my preferences. I’m thrilled about that for myself, but it’s a step backwards from being inclusive towards those with deeper and richer skin than mine. There are four options this year, if we count the Sephora-US exclusive Horse Palette. Considering that one has all repeat shades, I’m willing to overlook it, but I understand why some of the people I know are disappointed that Fox is their only option and that they can only use half of the palette.

Staying on the topic Fox, I feel that the quality is better this year. The powders feel slightly less dry. The shimmers are more refined. The choices to make most of the shades warm-toned suits me well. One of my biggest complaints with how they used the marbling “miscelare technique” in the past was to combine a color with beige, effectively ensuring the combination would turn into a medium value color at the darkest. As fascinating as the swirls look, I would have rather Hourglass make dark palettes with solid colors (like they did in Lotus) to ensure there aren’t huge shade discrepancies among the same palettes. Lucid Glow isn’t new, so I’m lucky mine had enough pink veining to be wearable. Amethyst Haze and Bronze Fusion look solid from afar, but they are actually the combination of two dark colors on each tile. I believe even the Solar Glow highlighter has the subtlest bit of marbling between dark warm gold and bronze. I’m happy they’ve done this successfully for the darker powders.

Although the depth of the colors could be be improved, I feel like Fox has the most cohesive and complementary options for those in the warm-toned Tan to Medium-Deep skin category. For example, with the Lotus Palette, I felt that I was forced to use the two blushes together to create a middle-ground color because the two had such a huge difference in depth. The person who could rock the lightest blush alone wouldn’t be able to use either of the two highlighters. In Fox, I can use Lucid Glow in various ways with both blushes, and technically by itself. The highlighter, bronzer, and Canyon Heat blush are beautifully warm and clearly go together. If I feel Amethyst Haze is too dark or too cool, I can fix both issues once I put the finishing powder on top. I can also use all three blush shades to create the perfect medium toned neutral flush on the cheek that isn’t too muted or too bold and isn’t too shimmery either.
The only downside is that I have to be careful using the entire face palette together since the combination of Lucid Glow and Desert Heat can tone down the vibrancy a bit too much. Some examples of this are in the photo below, but I would realistically only use 4-5 shades at a time.

I’m still gathering my thoughts about the Swan Palette, and I don’t own Deer, but it seems Hourglass intended for Deer to suit those with fair skin who want not only light Ambient powders, but ones specifically formulated to require building up. Both Han Beauty 101 and Theresa is Dead seemed less than pleased by the Deer Palette, even though it was intended for people like them. It really highlights the fact that it’s not enough to match someone’s skin tone depth. Preferences play a big part, which is why being able to customize these palettes in the future is so important. Hourglass makes a lot of money off people (like me) who buy more than one palette, but they also know fatigue is starting to set in. The limited availability of custom quads was likely a test, and I hope the customers passed that test.
Also, regarding Deer, Han Beauty 101 said that she has used the palette enough times that she’s getting more pigment now, especially having switched to a denser brush. So, perhaps that’s something to keep in mind for those who want to buy Deer.

I think the amount of repeat products Hourglass put in the palettes are acceptable (Deer – 3, Swan -2, Fox -1, Horse-6), because I view Horse as no different than the Owl Palette from 2023 that didn’t have a Color Palette attached to it. Besides the holiday palettes with special packaging, Hourglass releases a few repeat palettes and trios each year anyway. They just don’t get talked about as much and disappear off their website just as quickly as they arrived.

Overall, I’m quite happy with Fox. Usually it’s the blushes that have me the most excited for the holiday palettes, but this year it’s the highlighter, finishing powder, and bronzer. I think this is a good addition to my collection, which is quite the relief considering I am supposed to be cooling it on buying face palettes. It’s nice to know the hefty price was worth it.
I didn’t get all holy grail shades, but many of them have become second favorites instead.

Future Wishes

I liked the animal options this year. The new artist they hired, Sasha Unisex did a great job. After all, a good portion of my decision to buy a second palette was for the packaging.
I am still hoping and wishing Hourglass will commission a Panda and Rabbit in the future.
Since we’ve had non-animal ones like the Barney’s cover, Evil Eye, and Lotus, I would go crazy for a star/moon/celestial design. I’d also love to continue on the mythological train and have a phoenix, mermaid/siren, unicorn, etc.

I’m still hoping Hourglass will take the two colors within At Night to be mixed into one solid color, with an increase in pigmentation. If they made a solo blush out of the darker of the two colors in At Night, I think that would be pretty great too.

Hourglass makes a lot of pinks and berries, but I’d love a red-brown similar to Pat Mcgrath’s Paradise Venus or Benefit’s Terra. Perhaps the reason Hourglass has zero true red blushes is because they don’t use carmine. Red 0 from Lotus was still an ultra deep pink. I would just like to have less pink and orange, and I’m still hoping we’ll get darker nude blushes that will look natural on someone with dark skin.

The creation of a rich dark bronzer is still on the wishlist for so many people. That would be great to finally see next year.

Sometimes I create mock ups of what my perfect Hourglass Ambient Edit Palette would look like, if I was in charge of the arrangement. It was easy to decide my top two finishing powders, bronzers, and highlighters, but I have been so indecisive about the blushes that I decided to cut that portion from today’s review. I think I will try to include it in the Swan post instead. So, if you’re interested in seeing that as well, please visit my blog again soon!

That’s all for today! Thank you for reading!

-Lili ❤

YSL All Hours Couture Face Palette in Golden Oasis

Posted on August 18, 2025 by ghekate

YSL continues to be one of those brands that I allow to be an exception to my Project Pan rules! I want to be much stricter with my face palette purchases, and this technically is one, but I don’t consider a product to be a true face palette if it doesn’t include a bronzer as well. There is a shade called Bronzed Dunes that is worn all over the cheek like a blush in the promo photo, but it is technically a highlighter. Therefore, this is just a blush and highlighter palette.

This product contains the following shades:

93 Restless Rose
02 Hypnotic Honey
77 Hallucinating Pink
44 Nude Lavalliere
54 Berry Bang
22 Bronzed Dunes

Size Comparison

Before we move onto the review, I just wanted to show a size difference in the photo above between the face palette, eyeshadow quad, and blush. I don’t own the individual highlighters or bronzers, but I believe those compacts have more of a square shape than the rectangular eyeshadow quads.

In my opinion, this palette is still small enough to be suitable for travel, but also contains pans large enough for small and medium sized face brushes to fit in them.

The Blushes

None of the blushes in this palette are new to the brand, but Nude Lavalliere and Berry Bang are new to my personal collection. I thought both shades were pretty, but I half expected them to not look as nice on me due to them leaning on the cool toned side vs my very warm undertone.

It’s true that in certain lights the Nude Lavalliere blush can look frosty on me and too purple if I build it up heavily. However, when I wear a light amount, I think I’m still able to pull off this color. The mauve-purple veil over the yellow-orange tone in my skin has a pink effect.

As for Berry Bang, it ends up looking warm on me, and my guess as to the cause is because of how little product I use, which allows my undertone to dictate how the color looks overall. One heavy application is all it takes for it to look cool toned again. Berry Bang is the most pigmented product in this palette, so I have to be careful in choosing airy brushes to work with it.

The satin-finish blushes are pigmented as well, but because less of the product gets picked up by my brushes, I still have to build them up a little. This is because the blushes are pressed harder in the pans of the face palette compared to what they are like in the single compact form.

Another difference I noticed is that the base color of Restless Rose from the palette is actually a little lighter and cooler toned than the single. However, that shade still has a golden shift, so it continues to look moderately warm on the cheeks.

Golden Oasis seems to lean cooler than the name suggests, between this version of Restless Rose with a cooler base, the mix of pearly and warm yellow tones of Hypnotic Honey, the purple and pink shimmer within Hallucinating Pink, and Nude Lavalliere’s pearl-colored shimmer and mauve tinge. Still, it’s technically a mixed temperature palette.

I’ve noticed no other differences in performance between the single blushes and the blushes in this palette. They’re still long lasting and blend well, even when multiple blushes are layered together to create a custom shade.

I have to acknowledge that I have heard some people say these are patchy and don’t blend well, whereas the vast majority say they are a favorite or even their holy grail blush.
While differences in opinions are normal, these are so polarizing that I wonder if there are different factories involved, and batches from one facility turn out better than others. I’ve noticed the people who say they are patchy tend to be located in the US and tend to have oily skin. I have no other explanations and can just say my experience with the blushes has been great, though I do prefer YSL’s satin formula over the matte ones.

More photos of Restless Rose, plus Peachy Nude and Nocturnal Nude can be found HERE, along with photos of Rose Haze and Spicy Berry HERE.

In case anyone is wondering, I do not have plans to buy the three newest individual shades (Hot Mauve, Chili Crush, and Mischievous Magenta). Chili Crush is tempting, but I have enough red blushes. Hot Mauve is super appealing, but too close in color to Rose Haze, which is the only YSL Blush I bought that I have since decluttered. It showed up on my skin, but was still lighter than I prefer to wear on myself.

The Highlighters

Hallucinating Pink (not to be confused with YSL’s other pink highlighter called 03 Rosy Sand) and Bronzed Dunes are the new highlighter shades. 02 Hypnotic Honey already exists, but it’s new to my collection.

*YSL Candy Glaze #14 Scenic Brown is on the lips.*

*Restless Rose is also used on the eyes in the left photo. Nude Lavalliere is on the eyes in the photo on the right.*

I’m going to keep this section short because there isn’t much to say. Hallucinating Pink makes for a pretty shimmer on the eyes, but it’s too noticeable in shimmer size and color on my skin tone. I’m sure it looks better on those with a cool undertone. Pink highlighters rarely look good on me.
Bronzed Dunes has the same particle size as Hallucinating Pink, but because it’s closer to my skin tone, it looks more natural. That being said, Hypnotic Honey still manages to look smoother than Bronzed Dunes in most face photos and even the swatches. I prefer the Bronzed Dunes color, but Hypnotic Honey looks better to me.
At the end of the day though, none of them are a favorite. I was curious about YSL’s formula, which is why this palette was so appealing. This palette’s retail price is €72 (some websites in Germany had it at 20% off instantly, making it close to €58. The highlighters alone are €62. So, it made way more sense to buy this full palette if I wanted to try out multiple shades. At several retailers in the EU, the highlighters can be found around €40-€45 during sales. The blushes are often between €30-€36. So, the palette is still a better deal, though maybe not in terms of cost per gram. I haven’t done that math.

I don’t regret my decision to buy this palette. I just wish I liked it more so that it wouldn’t go to waste in my collection. I will always choose my top eleven highlighters over the ones in this palette, plus my new number one (Prada). As for the blushes, Nocturnal Nude and Restless Rose are my most used, but it would be so much easier to grab my single compact of Restless Rose over this large palette.

Using the Blushes and Highlighters as Eyeshadows

Beyond having two functions already, or technically a third if you have a light enough skintone to use Bronzed Dunes as a shimmery bronzer, I’ve also used this palette several times on my eyes (as seen in the various face photos throughout this post).
I haven’t read up on whether these blushes and highlighters are technically eye safe, and whether they are or not depends on the regulations of one’s country anyway. I can only say that I have used them, for the sake of curiosity, and they work fine for me. For those not wanting to take chances regarding eye safety, I recommending asking the brand and/or researching that information.

Hallucinating Pink works more like a topper eyeshadow. Restless Rose and Nude Lavalliere had to be built up for the sake of getting full opacity. And even though Berry Bang is a dark pink/raspberry color, it’s too bright to create depth. If I put Berry Bang in the outer corner and have Hypnotic Honey more in the center, I can create a gradient from light to dark. However, Berry Bang pops so much on my skin tone that there is still a forward illusion instead of a receding one. So, I can only be satisfied when I use a darker eyeshadow with it (such as the darker colors from the Victoria Beckham Eye Wardrobe in Victoria).

My Reason For Buying This Palette

I must admit that YSL not launching the limited edition Burning Desire quad in Germany instilled some FOMO into me, and I did not want to miss out on something again. This is the real reason I couldn’t talk myself out of buying this palette.
That Burning Desire quad is available in the UK via Selfridges, but “due to changes in regulations,” Selfridges is not allowed to ship food and cosmetics to the EU. There was a brief time (I believe in 2023) that cosmetics were temporarily blocked from shipping to Germany, but that was lifted before the end of that year. The return of this no-food-and-cosmetics ruling has been ongoing since sometime after February 2025.

I can rationalize my purchase from the angle of wanting to own one of their highlighters and the benefit of getting two colors which I could theoretically even combine to create a better shade match on myself. Factoring in the two blushes I wanted, but only withheld buying because of the risk of them not looking great on me, this makes four products I got for a significantly lower price. The quality is great. The packaging is appealing. All of these things are the reason why I can recommend this face palette to anyone who really wants it.

So, I can rationalize the purchase, but the reason I can’t justify it is because I knew beforehand that the highlighters were going to be too shimmery for my taste. Some reviewers keep calling them “smooth” but I saw enough discussions about them having visible sparkle to know that I should have stayed away. There are so few sparkly highlighters that I like, and even those I still almost never wear past the review process.
As for the blushes, liking them isn’t enough to make me want to wear them as many times as would be needed to feel like I wasn’t being wasteful. I just got caught up in the excitement and fear of missing out.

Because this product isn’t just called the YSL Face Palette, and has the actual name Golden Oasis, I fully expect the brand to release additional face palettes in the future. There are currently fifteen powder blushes, so they still have enough additional shades to release a blush-only palette if they wanted. I doubt there will be powder bronzers included, unless those would be the new shades to expand the range. So those that don’t find Golden Oasis appealing enough could like the next one instead.

Hopefully, you’ve found this review helpful.Thank you for reading!

-Lili ❤

Are Face Palettes Worth It? Ft. Nars

Posted on August 11, 2025 by ghekate

This post is a review of the Nars Hot Escape Palette, but I think it’s also a good opportunity to discuss how much value (if any) face palettes truly add to a makeup collection. I didn’t include any face palettes in my Project Pan, since I didn’t think I had an overconsumption issue in that category, but my ever growing Hourglass collection has made me feel the need to reconsider this. In addition, my Project Pan was centered around trying to use my absolute top favorite makeup items, and so few face palettes would have even ranked high enough to be included.

Nars Hot Escape Cheek Palette in (Version III) Medium Deep

In the last few years, I’ve begun to think that face palettes aren’t something I should be buying, considering how infrequently I use them. The reason I made an exception for this Nars palette is because I thought the blush shades looked quite pretty and I have never tried a true Nars highlighter before. I have technically only used pale shimmery blushes from Nars as highlighters that came within their blush palettes, so I’ve been curious about the potential differences.

The highlighters from the Hot Escape palettes are what tempted me the most because shortly after this launch, Nars had also released their Light Reflecting Luminizing Powders. I wanted to try those as well, but I feared Ophelia would be too light and Total Eclipse might be too dark. Skinny Dip from this palette looked like it was right in-between those two and would be a closer shade match for me. I also assumed the formulas would be the same between the Light Reflecting Luminizing Powders and the highlighters in the Hot Escape Cheek Palettes because Volumes 1, 2, and 4 share the same names (Ophelia, Electra, and Total Eclipse). As it turns out, the highlighter formulas are not the same and the colors don’t seem to be correct either! Ophelia as an individual highlighter is the fourth darkest color and is a light bronze tone. The “Ophelia” from the Hot Escape Palette looks more like the shade Heavenly and is described as an opalescent pink. It’s even in the lightest palette to boot. So, I’m not sure why Nars would do something so confusing. Perhaps it was not intentional and an employee made a mistake when preparing the names for the packaging labels.

The confusion doesn’t stop there. Even though the ingredient lists are the same for the bronzers, I noticed Laguna 06 in the Hot Escape palette seemed much lighter than the individual shade I have in the mini size. I hope the differences are clear enough in the swatch photo below.

The thought crossed my mind that my mini could be darker because I’ve had it for longer, but the surface of mine is actually still lighter than normal because of how often I mixed Laguna shades 05 and 06 because of how red toned 06 was from the start! So, my mini of 06 will look even darker than the new one once I use it a few more times solo.
I don’t know why these two are different, and can only suspect they were made in different facilities even though they both say they’re made in the USA. It’s also possible Nars decided to tweak the shade a little in the palette, which doesn’t seem farfetched considering what they did with the Ophelia highlighter.
I actually don’t mind the new 06 bronzer being lighter and less red because it suits my complexion better. The quality and performance seems to be about the same as well. It’s still a buildable formula and long lasting. I wish it wasn’t quite so matte though.

Starting with the blush called Obsession, I think it’s a pretty color, but it having a matte finish is preventing me from liking it more. As much as I’m attracted to blush colors by Nars, and like them, them looking slightly dry on me is always the reason I don’t fall in love with them. It’s something I could never make sense of considering MAC’s matte powder blushes look similar to the Nars ones, yet the MAC blushes melt better into my skin and somehow just look more life-like and healthier. I have to say, Obsession still looks better on my skin than some of the Nars blushes I’ve used in the past. So, this isn’t quite a favorite, but I am happy enough to have it.

Night Swim turned out to be a little more berry toned than I expected, which is a color category I can be very picky about. Because it’s a lighter berry, that helps me to like it more, as I feel deep colored blushes can age me. It certainly doesn’t look drying due to the shimmer, but the reflect is a little metallic, and I’m not really a fan of that. It’s not enough to make me dislike the blush, just that it prevents it from being a favorite. I think I still like this color even more than Obsession!

My skin tone and everything else (except the blush) is more color accurate in the photo with the pink shirt. It was a cloudy day in my grey shirt photo, so everything looks greyer and cooler, but the blush color is more accurate.

The Skinny Dip highlighter is a suitable color for me, as I suspected it would be. My favorite highlighter brush picks up quite a bit of product, so I have to be careful how much I apply because a little goes a long way. In terms of intensity, it already reaches medium with the amount my brush picks up, so I don’t try to layer it further. It’s already a lot more than I’ve been wearing lately, outside of testing days.

The blue shirt photo is more color accurate for Obsession and Skinny Dip, but I wanted to show how the photo turned out on a cloudy day to better help show the difference in Night Swim’s cloudy photo.

Skinny Dip is not as refined as my Hindash, Charlotte Tilbury, or Prada highlighters, but it still has small enough shimmer particles to keep me happy. I don’t like when highlighters have shimmer specks large enough to look like glitter or when they’re spaced out too much and it looks more like accidental fallout rather than intentional. This highlighter is smooth enough to avoid leaving a stripe and blends nicely. The glow it gives isn’t that metallic either, though I suspect the newest individual ones could be. Overall, I’m quite pleased with this highlighter. This and the blush Night Swim are my favorite two products in the quad.

Because I can use all four colors and I like them all, this has a higher percentage of success rate among my face palette purchases. It also helps that I got it on sale for 33 Euros ($40 USD). However, I don’t know that I love it enough to reach for it over my individual makeup favorites. So, this might not have been a good purchase for me after all. I can at least recommend it as a good quality product for those that enjoy Nars cheek powders and past palettes, even if it’s something I personally could have skipped.

Returning back to the subject of whether face palettes are worth it, I have to state that I first of all consider a face palette to be a product with at least one highlighter, blush, and bronzer. So, duos, blush palettes, and something that has for instance only a highlighter, bronzer, and face powder is one that I don’t consider a true face palette. I don’t always use contour or face powders in a makeup look, but I almost always wear blush, highlighter, and bronzer. This is why I clasisfy face palettes this way.

I own more face palettes than is pictured above, but they are the only ones I considered worth bringing with me or buying once I moved. I would like to point out one of the palettes is custom and the one from Lethal Cosmetics used to qualify, but I prefer their highlighter and blush quality, so I replaced the bronzer with another highlighter.

The first point in determining whether a face palette is worth it is remembering the rule of thumb that the more shades it contains that suit someone, the more it’s worth. It is rare that I like every single face product in palettes, or that I can even use all of them. If a palette doesn’t have magnetic pans or a way to make it easy to mix and match for more options, it makes that product pretty much permanently imperfect. That limits how often I want to reach for it.
If there are premade, but customizable options, I have to consider the price and quality to determine if buying 2 or more palettes to create one perfect palette is really worth it.

The second thing to consider is whether there is even a single face palette that has quality that I consider a holy grail.
It’s one thing to have all usable products in nice shades, but can they even compete with my single blushes, highlighters, and bronzers as individual singles? Plus, there are some brands that use cheaper formulas in multi-functional palettes and sets (i.e., Too Faced holiday items allegedly). So, you might pay less than what the premium products would individually total up to, but it’s not a true deal if the quality is lower.
An example of this is when I had a few Tarte holiday sets containing mini blushes in a different formula versus their specifically labeled “Amazonian Clay” mini blushes set. The random blush formula was nice, but couldn’t compare to their claim to fame Amazonian ones, so I eventually decluttered them.

Within the Hourglass Ambient range, the At Night blush and finishing powders were once holy grails for me, but nothing else of theirs comes close. I wish the bronzers had a stronger sheen and the highlighters tend to be pretty, but have either too large of shimmer particles (even medium size is a lot to me) or too strong of a metallic reflect. There was a time that I considered their finishing powders to be unique, until Nikki told me about the Candleglow Sheer Perfecting Powders from Laura Mercier. As of late, the Ilia Soft Blurring Blushes (and I’ve heard even Kosas Baked Blushes) are giving Hourglass a run for their money.
Still, I do use my Hourglass palettes a fair amount specifically because they are near-holy grails in terms of formula and because I depotted and rearranged many of them. I know I wouldn’t reach for them enough if not for these two factors combined. Proof of that is the fact that I still left some of my palettes behind in the US.

I have four other blush and highlighter palettes from Nars (one of them is unreviewed), yet I still chose to keep a few of my individual Nars blushes instead of bringing those with me. I find that to be quite telling.

The Sephora Collection Microsmooth Multi-Tasking Baked Face Palette contains all beautiful colors, but the matte blush and bronzer are a little too matte and dry looking for me since moving to a different climate. That’s the main reason I don’t use it anymore.

The MAC Effervescence Extra Dimension Face Compact has baked gelee powders with shimmer or sheen, so my only excuse for not using it as soon as it was back in my possession is that I was in the midst of my Project Pan. It has only been a week since I started using it again.
The Sephora and MAC palettes have the highest chance of being favorites again because every shade in them work on me and have the kinds of tones I like.

Although I don’t consider the Hindash matte powder products to be more amazing than many of my matte blushes and bronzers, the brand makes my favorite and most used contour that’s within the Beautopsy palette. Plus, it’s really the tones and convenience of the powders being so multi-functional that causes me to continually reach for Beautopsy, especially when traveling. However, I haven’t stopped wanting to swap around Beautopsy and Monochromance shades to turn it into a perfect palette. Even if I did so, the next thing I would yearn for is to have a powder highlighter in that pan size, because that’s something I’m still missing to consider it a true face palette in my mind. So, this is why I haven’t bothered to depot and rearrange them yet.

My custom magnetic palette filled with face products also gets used a fair amount, specifically because my number one bronzer is in there. If I added my Prada highlighter and a MAC blush, I might seriously use that multiple times a week!
But this highlights my realization about face palettes: Every powder in there has to be a perfectly suiting tone for me, plus in a formula that is an absolute favorite.
So, I will have to either make my own custom face palette out of products from various brands in order to have one that I’ll use a ton, or I’ll have to commit to only buying new face palettes matching very high criteria in order for them to feel worth it.

I have come to this realization, but two things are in the forefront of my mind.
The first is that in the midst of working on the initial draft of this post, I technically already bought another face palette (the YSL All Hours Couture Face Palette), but it’s more of a blush/highlighter palette for me. So, it technically doesn’t count?
The second is that I am absolutely going to buy the Hourglass Ambient Light Fox Palette when it launches for the holidays. I have already established that this isn’t a holy grail formula, yet I am so hellbent on creating (through depotting) my ultimate Hourglass palette to somehow make it feel like I have finally reached perfection, which would finally make them all worth buying in my mind. In reality, I should quit while I’m behind, but this is a guilty pleasure of mine. I guess I can continue to make an exception for Hourglass.

Those are all my thoughts on face palettes, plus the Nars review. I hope it has been helpful!

-Lili ❤

Blush Sticks ft. Charlotte Tilbury and ABH

Posted on August 4, 2025 by ghekate

So many brands are releasing blush sticks this year! I wasn’t supposed to buy any, as I mentioned in my Project Pan, but Dior, Charlotte Tilbury, and Anastasia Beverly Hills made me cave! I am determined for these to be the last ones I buy, because I’m more of a powder girlie!

Charlotte Tilbury Unreal Glow Blush Sticks in Peachy Glow and Cherry Glow

I have no problem with Peachy Glow showing up on my skintone in person, but between my lights, cell phone, and the shiny finish, it’s harder to detect in photos. It’s at least visible in the picture where it’s unblended on my cheek. If I’m not wearing foundation, and I blend this color to my bare skin, it looks a little pearly and ashy. So, Peachy Glow doesn’t work as well on me on minimal makeup days.

*Fully blended (less light) vs less blended (and more direct light)*

Cherry Glow being the bolder color can be built up heavily, but I like how it looks when sheered out. It’s seamless on the skin, as most cream blushes are. This blush dries down to the point where it isn’t sticky, but I can still feel moisture on my cheeks.
If I don’t set this with powder, it looks a bit faded within six hours. It is still there in the eight hours the brand promises it will last, but what’s left is the barest flush of color. By 12 hours, there is nothing but mica/shimmer particles visible. The actual color is gone. Also, the dewy wet look disappears at some point earlier in the day. I would rather set my face with powder and top it with a highlighter, or use a glowy setting spray to bring back a dry kind of shine, so I don’t have to deal with a partly dewy cheek. Every touch to my cheek transfers when unset with powder, which is annoying.

*Normal application vs light/sheer application*

When set with powder, the remaining luminosity eventually disappears too, but at least it’s dry, transfers less, and holds more color on the cheek by the end of 12 hours.

The blush sticks look so glowy that it makes adding highlighter seem unnecessary. I use Charlotte Tilbury’s Unreal Skin Tint as a highlighter. Adding the skin tint on top doesn’t make a big visual change in that moment, but since the shine of the blushes disappear on their own, having the tint on top makes a difference in the span of the whole day.

These blush sticks can be used on the lips, but they have a creamy surface, not a hydrating one. I can see the cracks of my dry lips underneath, along with my discolored spot since I can’t build the color to become fully opaque. Cherry Glow is better at hiding the flaws than Peachy Glow, but this is no surprise since it’s a darker color.

Because they launched so closely together, I can’t help but compare this to the Dior blush stick.
It seems like the majority of people have the opposite experience as me because Dior’s actually dries down on me without powder, unlike Charlotte’s. I like the packaging of both, but Charlotte’s is cuter whereas Dior’s feels more lux.
I don’t know if I would like Dior’s non-pearlescent blushes more than Charlotte’s, but the shine from Dior’s Candy lasts longer. Peachy Glow only looks wetter in the beginning.
Ultimately, I prefer the Dior formula, excluding the Dior Lip Addict scent someone thought was a good idea to add to the blushes. It is so off-putting!

This release from Charlotte Tilbury is nice, but it’s not a must- have product. It has less of a chance of becoming a staple in my collection than Dior’s blush stick.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Cream Blush Stick in Peach Caramel

This product has been out for a long time, but I waited ages to get it at a discount over 20 percent! The reason it was important to me is because I knew there was a chance it wouldn’t show up on my skin. I heard the colors in this range were not the most pigmented, that they were less saturated than many on the market, and that the orange-brown tones could blend in too much with my skin tone. This all turned out to be mostly true. Although I can see the blush on my cheeks, it’s very difficult to spot in photos. Ultimately, taking a picture of it unblended with a winter foundation shade on was the best way to see at least something on my cheeks!

What this has in common with Charlotte Tilbury’s blush is how long it lasts. Even though the ABH Blush Stick is less emollient and dries to a powdery finish, I can still feel it on my cheeks, it still transfers a little (on top of a hydrated base), and can fade. The finish is also matte. It lacking creaminess makes it stiffer in terms of spreadability, though it still blends out smoothly. I think ABH has prettier colors because they are more skin-native, but they are also severely lacking in depth. Peach Caramel is the deepest shade! At least Charlotte has options for those of us darker than tan.

When I have very saturated blushes from other brands, I have tried pairing this blush with them in order to help tone things down, but I was unimpressed by most of the combinations. The differences in the finish leads to them sometimes not blending together as smoothly.

Conceptually, I like that there is a brush on the other end of the stick (like the one from Makeup by Mario), but the surface area size is so small and doesn’t blend as well as my full-size brushes. So, it’s only useful if I wanted to bring this on-the-go and I was in some weird situation where I didn’t have access to my usual makeup tools.

Because this blush isn’t intended to be glowy, I have lower expectations, which this at least meets. I think it’s a nice formula, but not that special in the blush stick category. I think I even prefer Makeup by Mario’s Soft Pop Blush Stick over this one, but I could be biased because of how much I was in love with the shade Earthy Pink. If this blush was a little deeper and showed up better, I might be singing a different tune.
Within the realm of cream blushes as a whole, the ABH Cream Blush Stick is not something anyone needs to run out and buy. Both this and Charlotte Tilbury’s look completely different on the face because of their finishes, but they receive the same grade from me.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog post.

-Lili ❤

Surprising Makeup Hits and Misses ft Rare Beauty, Glossier, Dior, and More

Posted on June 16, 2025 by ghekate

I visited the US in April and was reunited with the rest of my makeup collection, along with all the things I shipped there during 2024. Those products consisted of Japanese brushes that I didn’t want to pay extra customs fees for, reward point and gift card redemptions only applicable to US sites, products only sold within the US, etc. I had older makeup I still wanted to bring back to Germany, but I needed to decide which of the newer ones were worth coming along too. That’s how the idea for this post began! However, some of the makeup I brought back will be discussed in other posts, and I added some of my newer makeup purchases to this review instead.

Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Matte Bouncy Blush in Worth

It was difficult to photograph this color accurately because it looks darker in the pan than it actually is. I own the liquid version of Worth, and have reviewed it before, but I left it in the US. Since the liquid is sheer, I wasn’t surprised that I also needed to pack on a lot of this cream-to-powder version to get it to show up on camera.

I’ve been into subtle and/or nude blushes lately, so I expected to love this. I tried pairing it with so many different things expecting that perhaps my foundation shade mattered or that the undertone was clashing, that the color of my eyeshadow looks could be throwing it off, etc. I just wasn’t enjoying wearing it. The answer I settled on as to why that was the case is that it’s matte. I knew it would be from the name, but I’ve used shimmer-free creamy and bouncy type of blushes before that still had a natural emollient gleam to them from just being a cream product. Examples of this are the MAC Glow Play Blushes and Armani Neo Nude Color Melting Balms. Even within the Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blush line that comes in dewy or matte finishes, the matte one still has some life to it. So, I wasn’t expecting this blush to have zero shine, especially from a product that has Synthetic Fluorphlogopite as the first ingredient.

The longevity is fine. The blush blends into and becomes one with the skin. For the best results, I use my densest synthetic brushes with it.

I borrowed the photo above from my Charlotte Tilbury x Genshin Impact post where I reviewed the Airbrush Flawless Setting Spray. By the time I started using that spray, I already knew that my issue with the Rare Beauty Blush was the fact that it’s matte. However, I was still taken aback when I saw with my own eyes how much of a difference some extra shine truly makes. I love how this blush looks when I use Charlotte’s spray over it. So this product changed from a miss to a hit for me!

Eadem Le Chouchou Exfoliating + Softening Peptide Lip Balm in Fig Sauce

I mentioned in my Project Pan that there are only 5 brands I’m purchasing from in the lip category this year. One exception was this balm because I would have bought it ages ago if it was sold in Europe. I could only find one website that would ship it to me, but then I would have had to pay at least double the price.
The tradeoff for having to wait a long time to get it from USA’s Sephora was that I could buy it on sale and with a gift card.

I have to talk about the metal applicator because it feels amazing applying this lip balm! I don’t like when products have a cooling ingredient that makes my lips feel cold for 30 minutes to 2 hours depending on the brand. Instead, I only get that wonderfully cold sensation during the application process and then I can go about my day. This really adds to the experience, so much so that I’ve even put other products on my lips and then used this applicator to spread it out! Perhaps one day I’ll buy some empty tubes off the websites I’ve found by typing, “metal applicator cosmetic tube” into Google and transfer some other glosses into them.

This is a very nourishing product and lives up to its reputation as a lip treatment. It fills the lines and smooths over the lips. It’s thick, but not goopy in a gel or oil way. It has more of a creamy-waxy feel. It adheres fairly well to the lips, which helps it to last longer before needing to be touched up or reapplied. I still consider this a little sticky, but it’s not to Ami Cole levels. It has decent color payoff, enough for me to understand someone wanting to buy multiple shades, but I wouldn’t want to buy more than one extra.

The results I get are similar to Ami Cole glosses, which is to say my lips feel softer and more hydrated the next day, but this does not completely remove all of my chapped skin. I can always spot a few areas on my lips that are still chapped the next day.
So, this hasn’t claimed a spot in my top five, but I still like it a lot.

Gxve Beauty Eye See in Color in Rich Girl

This was the only quad from the brand that I found appealing, but my immediate issue is that I don’t get enough depth from the darkest brown in this palette. While it theoretically shouldn’t be a problem to grab a dark eyeshadow from any other brand, I know I will subconsciously not reach for this palette since it is technically incomplete for me.

The completed look is pretty, but I couldn’t bring myself to choose this to pack in my suitcase over my many other options.

If the eyeshadow formula was superb, I would have considered taking this with me anyway. My issue is that the shimmers are a bit lackluster. There is still beauty in a lower impact shimmer if the intended eye look is supposed to be sophisticated or demure. I think the quality is fairly good, though it could have benefited from being a bit creamier. The mattes were fine. My brush picked up a lot of product, but with how soft they look on my eyes, I think someone would be surprised to know how much I tried to build up these eyeshadows. They are drier shadows that appear to be finely milled, but something about the formula just doesn’t feel modern.

This palette is long-lasting on me. It doesn’t take long to get a blended look. However, this isn’t for me. I do appreciate that the holder of the pans is easy to remove, so I could technically keep the compact or turn it into an empty magnetic palette if I inserted a magnetic sticker sheet. I could also technically add metal sticker pans to the bottom of the eyeshadow holder to pop it into a larger empty magnetic palette. Removeable packaging is always interesting to me.

In any case, this quad wasn’t a flop, but it also wasn’t good enough to keep around.

As a random side note, the Gxve Beauty website used to sell merch as well. I ordered one of the Signature Hoodies during a 50% off sale (just like I did with the palette). It has fleece lining on the inside, so I’m excited to wear it come winter. The website says products are now exclusively at Sephora and things are so frequently for 50% off that I really don’t know how the brand will continue to stay afloat.

I don’t know where these are being sold now. If they are discontinued, I’m glad I was able to snag one as a piece of makeup history.

Glossier Cloud Paint Bronzer in Coast

I liked the Glossier Solar Paints, but wished to have a version without shimmer. The Cloud Paint formula is one of my favorites for cream blushes, so to have a matte Cloud Paint in a bronze color seemed like it would be an instant win.

I picked Coast because it is the second darkest option and has a golden tone, which I wanted. The darkest color, Drift, looked like it would be too red for me despite being labeled by the brand as a deep neutral bronze. Coast is just too subtle for my skin tone right now. While I was in Florida, I didn’t do a good job of reapplying sunscreen. My skin had a slightly redder tone and was darker, so the bronzer really isn’t visible in photos as it was already so subtle in person. I have a photo below, but I apologize for the lighting being very off. I couldn’t get a clearer picture during the trip and my skin looks even redder in the photo than it was in real life (plus I was wearing the Beekman 1802 skin tint that’s red).

I don’t mind having a subtle bronzer, but my biggest issue wasn’t the color. I felt it just didn’t blend seamlessly enough into my skin. While it’s true that I didn’t bring my holy grail synthetic bronzer/contour brush with me, I came to realize that the watercolor kind of finish that’s beautiful and natural in a blush isn’t what I want in a bronzer. So, I left this behind. What a shame!

Tarte Tartelette Tubing Mascara vs Too Faced Ribbon Wrapped Lash Tubing Mascara

Back in 2014, during my short lived time making YouTube videos (all listed as private now), I kicked off my Mascara Showdown Series with a battle between Tarte’s Lights Camera Lashes and Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascaras.

I determined that Tarte was the winner because of the length, but the mascara I actually repurchased the most was from Too Faced. I don’t know if it’s because I ended up preferring the balance between length and volume or if I was just able to get the Too Faced mascara on sale more frequently. I eventually stopped buying the one from Too Faced because I started to get clumping and flaking issues that I never had before. I don’t know if the formula changed or there was a switch in manufacturers, but I moved on from that mascara.

The KVD Full Sleeve Long + Defined Tubing mascara made me interested in tubing mascaras again. I had a deluxe sample of the one from Tarte, so when Too Faced released theirs I thought why not…let’s do another showdown between these brands over a decade later!

I never curl my lashes, so sometimes the mascaras look better or worse depending on how my eyelashes are naturally shaped that day. I’ve used the Tarte mascara five times and I can say that even if it had amazing results, what puts me off from it is how long it takes to dry. If I try to layer up even more product, then it takes even longer. I can touch my lashes thirty minutes later and it still doesn’t feel fully set. This is a big problem when I’m trying to photograph multiple eye looks in a day and in the process of removing my eyeshadow with a Makeup Eraser cloth and Bioderma, my eyelashes clump together, the color smears, and the stickiness makes it difficult to remove the rest. Part of the benefits of tubing mascara is the ease in which one can remove it with warm water. I can remove them with micellar water as well, so I’m not surprised that some of the Tarte mascara comes off. The annoying part is the weird middle ground where some of it comes off and smudges while the rest still clings on with a tight grip. It makes it so that I am forced to fully remove it every time when I want to do a new eye look, whereas with other tubing mascaras and even regular mascaras, it’ll come partly off and I can easily reapply more mascara because they didn’t turn my lashes spidery and hard. This is a makeup reviewer problem, but having to wait so long for it to fully dry is an issue overall. One time I made the mistake of applying this mascara not far enough in advance of watching a heartfelt scene in a show. The side with the Tarta mascara was a mess and got in my eyes. The side with Too Faced did not.

I didn’t like the Too Faced Ribbon mascara when I first tried it, but every time after that (at least 15 times so far), I have enjoyed it. Just like the showdown from many years ago, I found that Tarte’s mascara was better at lengthening, whereas Too Faced’s mascara was better with building volume while still giving nice length. It can start to clump if I build this up a lot, so I have to be careful about finding the balance between satisfaction and knowing when to stop.

I like the one from Too Faced, but I think I still prefer my tubing mascara from KVD. It gives better length than Tarte and if I’m patient enough I can build up the volume to similar results as Too Faced, though it can also start to form clumps if I take things too far.

The Tarte mascara is a miss. The Too Faced mascara is a hit.

Dior Backstage Rosy Glow Blush in 077 Candy

I reviewed the cream blush stick version of Candy already, and updated the original post, but this still feels like a good place to talk about the powder blush since it’s a miss for me.

This new powder formula is definitely an improvement on the original formulation and first reformulation, in terms of being more pigmented and less hard-pressed. I also think this square packaging is cuter and easier to use with larger cheek brushes. The reason it’s a miss for me is purely due to the color. I loved the addition of shimmer in the Bronzed Glow shade from version 2 of these blushes, but the base color of Candy being so light means that it unfortunately does the same thing as Nars Orgasm on me. I can see the pink shade at one angle, but when it hits the light, the gold reflect is nearly all I can see. So, it appears as if I tried to use a highlighter as blush! This kind of shimmer is not that refined either, which makes it unsuitable for my preference as even a blushlighter or blush topper.

The saving grace for me is that I can add the Candy blush stick on top to help the shimmer become one with the skin, plus boost the appearance of the pink color.

I’m happy using the Candy shade of Glow Stick on its own, but going forward, I will never wear the powder version of Candy by itself. Based on my continued enjoyment of the previous powder blush reformulation, and acknowledgement that the new one has improvements, I still recommend the powder blush. I just can’t recommend Candy or Toffee to anyone close to my skin tone because of that highlighter effect. Bronzed Glow still gives me hope that Dior can nail a shimmery blush in this new formula in the future if the base color is darker.

That’s everything I have for this week. Thank you for visiting and reading!

-Lili ❤

Luxury Blush Reviews: Chanel, D&G, Westman Atelier, and Gucci

Posted on June 9, 2025 by ghekate

One of the benefits of living in Europe is the access one has to so many beauty retailers of various sizes, which means many more chances to find deals on luxury makeup. I’m still in the midst of a multi-year blush obsession, so today’s post is a review of some of the latest ones I’ve added to my collection.

Chanel Les Beiges Healthy Golden Glow Powder in Soleil Couchant

This comes with a brush, and it works, but I prefer to use my fude favorites with it.

The included pouch has a fun limited edition double C design, though the compact itself has the standard look for the Les Beiges line.

I like orange colored blushes from Chanel in the beginning, but I eventually stop using them after the review is completed. The Chanel Fleur de Printemps highlighter side was a bit light for my taste while the blush side was very subtle. Chanel Beige et Corail had the awesome fall design imprinted, but I got frustrated with how much I had to build up the color on my cheeks.
Finally, Les Tarots de Chanel in Blood Orange had enough pigment, but the matte finish kept me from using it, so I gave that one to a friend.

Soleil Couchant is definitely shimmery and is in the baked-gelee formula that I prefer, so I was willing to give an orange blush from Chanel one more try. The 22% off discount from Parfum Dreams helped sweeten the deal.

The blush side looks like an actual Blood Orange shade in the compact, but it’s a true orange color on my cheeks. I am admittedly disappointed that the red tones don’t show as strongly in this blush, but it’s still pretty. What makes up for it is the gorgeous gleaming finish that is shimmery enough for me to sometimes skip wearing highlighter. It’s not a metallic kind of shine either. The powder has ultra refined shimmer and looks smooth on the cheeks.

The highlighter is a beautiful color that suits me very well with its depth and tone. What is surprising and fascinating to me is that although I can see the individual sparkles, I really like how it looks when paired with the blush! I typically hate glittery highlighters because they look like I got fallout from my eyeshadow instead of being intentionally placed. I prefer highlighters that give a glassy glow and look like my skin is naturally luminous with undetectable shimmer. This highlighter from Soliel Couchant somehow doesn’t emphasize texture and adds a soft twinkle. I don’t know why this is different from other glittery highlighters to me, but it is!

Though I’m faced once more with a blush that’s on the sheer side, I have an easier time picking up product and building up the color now that I have been using the Bisyodo Cheri Series CH-FD Foundation Brush. Soliel Couchant is also less hard pressed than Beige et Corail, so that will reduce some of the potential frustration over time. The photo below shows some of the flaky bits of the highlighter as it comes off the surface onto my holy grail highlighter brush that’s also from Bisyodo’s Cheri Series, the CH-HC Highlight/Cheek Brush.

DISCLOSURE: By linking these brushes, I am obligated to state that any unhighlighted links in bold blue font (Example) are normal non-affiliate links. Links marked in bold black font with a light blue background (Example) are affiliate links. Affiliate links allow me to get a commission if purchases are made on that website after using my link.

I think this will finally be an orange blush from Chanel that I will continue to reach for, but only time will tell. I like this duo a lot, but I love the Brun Roussi Blush Lumiere and Joues Contraste Intense Cream-To-Powder Blush from Chanel even more.

Extra bits of information to note is that I can use my normal highlighter brushes to pick up product, so the firmness level isn’t an issue for that side of the duo. This doesn’t have a fragrance and I’ve had no problems with longevity.

Westman Atelier The Powder Duo in Suede/Sable

I like the Westman Atelier Butter Powder Bronzer, so I assumed the powders in this duo would feel the same because they have identical ingredients, just in different quantities. The blushes are soft, very finely milled, and have a slightly velvety feel, but I wish they were a touch creamier.

The high quality of the blushes is undeniable. They have a soft matte finish, but I would have loved this product if there was more of a sheen. Suede is exactly the kind of shade I’m interested in right now. It’s a warm pinky rose color with some brown, making it a great nude blush for many people, though perhaps not someone more than a few shades darker than me.

They blend well into the skin and don’t fade. I’d say these are medium pressed. I get hardly any kickup, yet the powders coat my brushes easily. I am not forced to use a dense brush in order to build up color, which is great! Despite these being pigmented and buildable, there’s still a limit to how intense they can become.

Sable doesn’t work for me as a blush, but I figured that might be the case when I bought it. It’s a little lighter than my skintone, so it makes Suede look ashier if I try to combine the two on my face. I can theoretically use it to tone down vibrant blushes in my collection, but I haven’t tested that yet. I’m more likely to just use my Dior Powder No Powder for that purpose.

I took the risk getting this shade of duo because I wanted Suede so much. Ganache was the only other color I was interested in, but that’s paired with Poppet, which I wouldn’t want anyway.

Because I got this at a discount from Niche-Beauty, paying a high price for essentially one blush helped lessen the blow to my wallet, though not a lot. I have a feeling it’s going to be forgotten among my collection because as pretty as it looks, I can list at least 20 other blush shades in my collection that excite me more.

I feel this product could have been more beneficial if it was in a trio, like the Artist Couture palettes.

I also wish the pans were customizable so I could have ensured I received two usable products.

I can recommend the powder duos because of the quality. However, it’s only worth it if both shades are a perfect match. There are so many amazing quality blushes on the market at various price points that I don’t consider this one from Westman Atelier a must-have product.

Dolce&Gabbana CHEEKS&EYES MATCH Blush in Joyful Peach

There was a point last year when I wanted to play with makeup that had weighty and luxurious packaging. I was missing my Westman Atelier Butter Powder Bronzer, Olivia Palermo Beauty eyeshadow palette, etc. So, when I saw the D&G line was on sale, I went for something that had the highest chance of being a success for me in a category I clearly love.

The packaging is as lovely and as heavy as people have said. I like the round-edges with the white top that resembles enamel, and the gold metallic details. Everything on the outside feels plastic, so I’m not sure what material was used to add the artificial weight on the bottom. The weight in the lid, I believe, comes from the mirror.

I wouldn’t call this a highly pigmented blush, but it’s not sheer either. My brushes being able to pick up a lot of product adds to the illusion that it’s more pigmented than it is. Thankfully it is buildable, so a shade this light on me can still show up. It’s also surprising how little kickback I get considering how much product coats my brushes.

Per usual with most blushes on my dry skin, I experienced no fading. It’s unscented, so one doesn’t have to deal with the parfum that designer brands love to add to their makeup lines. Joyful Peach leaves a slightly blurred soft matte finish on the skin. The dewier one’s face is, the more it melts in.

The beautiful formula, the blendability, and ease of building up color are reasons why I was tempted to buy more of these blushes, but as someone with as huge of a collection as mine, I decided to refrain. For example, Playful Rose is one of my favorite types of blush shades, as I love a brown nude with a hint of rosiness. However, I already have Vieve’s Sunset Blush in Piazza and Benefit’s Wanderful World Blush in Java, which are also mattes that I enjoy.
I tend to prefer glowy blushes over matte ones, so this is another reason I resisted.

The Westman Atelier powder blushes and this one have a similar look on the cheeks, though D&G’s becomes one with the skin more, especially as the day goes on. So, I think I prefer the blush from D&G the tiniest bit more. It certainly has the more upscale looking packaging. However, I still don’t think this is a must-have product. If someone is in the mood to splurge though, this is a nice option.

Before we move on to the last blush, I wanted to add that I’ve worn this as eyeshadow several times, since it’s intended to be used on both the cheeks and eyes for monochromatic looks.

The issue for me is the same across the board with using bronzers, blushes, and highlighters that excel in looking smooth and refined around the face, that they create too soft of a look on my eyes. With Joyful Peach, I can only build up to medium opacity. I have to make sure my eyeshadow base/primer completely obscures my skin discoloration before adding this shade on top, or else the darker spots show through underneath. Pigmentation issues aside, this doesn’t seem to have an issue with fading, adherence, or layering with other eyeshadows. So, this can work for eyeshadow purposes depending on someone’s style/preference.

*The eye look on top shows Joyful Peach used in the crease and lid. The eye look below it is the same, but with a shimmer eyeshadow added to the lid.*

Gucci Luminous Matte Blush De Beauté in 11 Intense Ruby

I reviewed this blush formula before HERE, but this particular limited edition shade and packaging was part of a holiday collection that I also reviewed HERE. It bothered me that the blushes were so much more expensive in Europe (or at least Germany) than it was in the US. So, I purchased it during last year’s Sephora sale and finally have my hands on it after my visit back to Florida in April.

I see no difference in terms of formula. The performance is the same as the permanent blushes and only the packaging design is different. Speaking of which, Gucci has another limited edition packaging design throughout Asia. I discovered it from amit.beauty.talk and a few other sneak peek accounts on Instagram. It is finally supposed to be available in two re-promoted shades for the rest of the world sometime in July.

The formula is silky to the touch, goes on the skin smoothly, and has a soft satin sheen. It has a lot of pigment, so using the right brushes is key to how much or little effort it will take someone to blend. The color Intense Ruby is quite similar to Intense Plum, but I find Intense Ruby to be slightly less pigmented and therefore easier to work with. The slight difference in undertone is another reason I actually like Intense Ruby, whereas I’m pretty sure I already decluttered Intense Plum (I couldn’t find it among my things).

I would also like to say that I have come around a lot on Warm Berry and despite preferring the Armani Luminous Silk Glow Powder blushes in my past review, the Gucci blushes are the ones I’ve been using more out of the two. However, given enough time, that could reverse again! They are pretty on par with each other.

And that’s everything for today! Thank you for reading.

-Lili ❤

Lili's Beauty Blog

Swatches, Reviews, and Articles Revolving Around the Cosmetics Industry

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