REVIEW: Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette

This palette launched 2 years back I think during the holiday season and it is one of the most coveted / hyped-up products of 2013. It is meant to be a limited edition from Hourglass but it is now part of their permanent collection because Hourglass got a huge volume of demand out of this palette.

It took me years to finally decide getting this palette I have so many highlighters (one of my obsessions) and I am really curious how these powders work.  It is supposed to be a limited edition palette from hourglass but now it is already part of their permanent collection, you know me I do pass on limited edition product (okay sometimes I don’t but most of times I do) . Now the question is, is it worth the money? 

This palette is a trio of their ambient lighting powders but a tad bit smaller than the regular ones. It has DIM LIGHT, INCANDESCENT LIGHT, and RADIANT LIGHT. 

The palette has 0.116 oz/ 3.3 g (x3) amount of product while the full size individual powders has 0.35 oz.  The shades dim light and radiant light you can buy them in full sizes while the incandescent light is only exclusive to this palette. This palette cost $58 in Sephora website, the individual powder cost $45 and the travel size individual powder cost $22. I paid Php 3,500.00 for this palette and that is after taxes and the shipping rate is already included. If you come to think of it the palette is already a deal for its price since the full size cost Php 2,100.00 here in the Philippines (after taxes and shipping rate included).  

Packaging is very elegant looking and has luxurious feels in it. It is a mirrored type of packaging that gets finger prints in it but that doesn’t really bother me and I actually prefer that because it’s easier for me to clean compared to a rubberized type of packaging that can get messy after a while (i.e. NARS and LORAC PRO packaging). It is really perfect for travel and you get a decent size of mirror which I think is pretty useful. 

These powders are meant to be highlighters according to Hourglass but I don’t want to call all of them highlighters since most of the shades are skin-toned and can be used as a setting powder. It sounds scary to me when they say, “It’s a highlighter that you can dust all over your face” or “A highlighter use to set your foundation”. *insert silly face here* Like really? I’m thinking of a Disco ball right now.

I’d like to call them finishing powders with a very subtle sheen – really subtle that you can’t even notice a difference but when the light hit your face you’ll get that multi-dimensional luminescence glow. None of these powders are frosted or glittery, if you want some highlight on point these powders might give you that but which extra effort like you have to wet the brush and build the powders on your face. This is not even close to a BECCA  SHIMMERING SKIN PERFECTOR which for me is the Goddess of all highlighters.

Let's take a look on each shades.

DIM LIGHT - It is described as a neutral peach beige powder that blurs imperfections and highlights a radiant complexion with the perfect balance of warm and cool tones. I think the effect will vary depending on your skin tone. I’d like to use this powder as finishing powder by lightly dusting it all over my face right after setting my foundation. It is my favourite shade in this palette.

INCANDESCENT LIGHT – According to hourglass it is an opalescent pearl powder that brightens the complexion with a celestial glow. To me it is a straight-up highlighter that I use to give me some “dewy-ness” I use this above my cheek bones, tip of the nose and cupids bow. The shade is very similar to MAC soft and gentle  which I really love  but Incandescent light has this subtle sheen that you wont be able to see the shiny bits on your skin compared to mac that has chunky glitters in it. So if I love soft and gentle, I love love love Incandescent light because of its subtle-ness. We want everything natural don’t we? 

RADIANT LIGHT – Described as sun-kissed golden beige that enhances the overall complexion with believable, subtle warmth, and also extends a summer glow. In short it is a light bronzer and I seldom use it. I think it is not warm enough to be a bronzer and I barely see it on my fair to medium skin. 

HOW TO USE:

1. Dust Dim Light all over your complexion.
2. Add Radiant Light as your light bronzer or on top of your usual bronzer.
3. Finish off by applying Incandescent Light on the tops of the cheekbones, under the brow bone, the tip the nose and your cupid’s bow to brighten the whole look.
*Results will be dramatically different if you have different skin-tone. 

SWATCHES: 

(L-R) DIM LIGHT, INCANDESCENT LIGHT, RADIANT LIGHT

I would like to say that I really love this palette; I’m enjoying it so far. I’ve been using it exactly 1 month and 2 weeks now from the day that I got it and I can really see the difference of it to other highlighters however BECCA OPAL is still my top 1 favorite highlighter because mama loves highlight on fleeeeek.

Going back to the question, is it worth the money? Well, if you're looking for a versatile palette, then this is a good buy for you. It expensive but the quality you pay for is definitely there. For me it is a must try, but if you have a huge stash of highlighters and bronzers it is not a must have. If you get what I mean. 

What are your thoughts about this lovely Hourglass Palette? Share it below. 

With Love,

Anne

Sneak Peek: 2015 HOLIDAY MAKEUP SETS!

Hey there beauties! Christmas is really fast approaching, like could you imagine it's already September? That only means holiday sets are now getting ready to blow our pockets off.You may not be in your "holiday shopping" mode yet, but today I’m going to show you guys a little sneak peak of HOLIDAY SETS 2015 that will be available for holiday season.  Well some are now available at Sephora, Ulta beauty and Hautelook.com so better check your trusted online shops before the stocks run out.

There are about 300 new sets from different brands for this coming holiday 2015 but I will just show you my top 6 product/value sets that I think is worth buying for holiday season.  

1. HOURGLASS AMBIENT THE EDIT PALETTE

I know there’s a lot of controversy about this palette because of the size. I didn’t know that it will be so tiny for the prize but I already made an order at sephora when it came available for VIB. I will definitely do a review about this “most-hyped” holiday palette once I got my package. It is still included to my top 6 because if you're new to the brand and you don't  have all their ambient shades this a great palette to start exploring the brand and the product. 

2. MARC JACOBS BEAUTY - THE SOFIA

This is the other set that I really wanted to pick up for holiday because it is sooooo pretty! I think it is well prized because a single Marc Jacobs Le Marc Lip Crème is $30. In this set you will get 5 deluxe size lippies from Marc Jacobs plus a patent leather pouch which I think is so pretty and you can use it as a makeup bag. The shades included are very pretty and very fall appropriate. Even though we don’t have fall season here in the Philippines, most of the people here rocks deep shades of lipsticks when colder months start to approach. 

3. TARTE BLING IT ON BLUSH PALETTE 2015

Hooraaayyy for another beautiful blush palette from Tarte! I haven’t tried any blush from tarte tho, so I think this is a great palette to start my relationship with their blushes. If I only knew that they will come up with another blush palette this holiday season I would probably pick this over Hourglass ambient the Edit because I think this is much worthy for its prize. 

Download the ZALORA APP  from the Google Playstore

4. SMASHBOX - TRY IT KIT PRIMER AUTHORITY

I have nothing much to say about this kit besides the fact that Smashbox Primer is one of the best available in the market. I really wanted to try the Primer water spray! 

5. TARTE LIGHT OF THE PARTY COLLECTORS MAKEUP CASE

There will be a ton of Holiday makeup palettes from different brands.  Kat Von D has the Mi Vida Loca palette for the same amount of $59.  Urban Decay will launch VICE 4 and Urban Spectrum eyeshadow palette for $55 each, never really a fan of UD’s eyeshadow palettes tho. Lorac upcome with the MEGA PRO 2 for holiday and is much cheaper for $45 (the last time I checked) I find it very unappealing because of the selection of the shades I like MEGA PRO 1 better in my opinion.  Smashbox has ART, LOVE, and COLOR MASTER CLASS eyeshadow palette for $65. I think TARTE is a great buy out of all of them because it has eye shadows, blush, bronzer, highlighter, brush and mascara. You will definitely get a lot of product out of your money. Who doesn't like that?

6. SEPHORA FAVORITES - BROW RAISING BROW WARDROBE

In this kit you will get 5 full- sizes of brow products. Yes full size and one of them is ABH brow wiz which is $21 itself. What else can I say? Girl, this kit is a steal. 

And that’s it! Hope this post will help you find the perfect Christmas gift for your beauty junkie soul. Thank you for reading and have a great day! 

With love,

Anne 

LORAC PRO PALETTE REVIEW

Hey everyone! Today I wanted to share a review of one of my most-used and abused eyeshadow palette lately, the LORAC Pro Palette. It took me quite a while before getting this product. But as the hype goes on and on about this palette and I have been reading a lot of good reviews about it, I know that it will be a great investment for my professional kit so I had to pick it up. I got this from Beautyholic Manila for Php2, 600.00 aprox $57.77

After playing around with it for almost a month, I wanted to share my own thoughts about this palette. I use this for my clients and even for myself and I have to say that it is one of my favorite palettes that I have in my collection. Let's take a good look of this palette!

Let's start first with the packaging.

This palette has a rubberized slim black packaging the same with NARS cosmetics blushers. It has a large mirror in it that is enough to be usable. The palette is quite thin and travel-friendly; it has a magnetic closure, and comes with mini 0.17 oz Lorac Behind the Scene eyeshadow primer. Eyeshadows are named properly and very useful if you're going to make a tutorial using this palette.

Now, let's take a good look of each eyeshadow shades.

This Lorac Pro palette has 16 shadows mixed of matte and frosted shades which I like in a palette. Top row has matte finish bottom row has semi-frosted finish. These shadows are very pigmented and easy to work with. It feels buttery when you swatch it and colors are very easy to blend.

This palette is one of the most versatile palettes I've ever worked with. Besides the amazing quality, the color selection/finishes are pretty awesome. Other people find that Lorac Pro somehow similar with Naked palette but If you love matte eye shadows and neutral palettes like I do then this Lorac Pro is for you!

Let me show you swatches of each eyeshadow color.

My fave shades in this palette are: Sable, Garnet, Taupe, Mauve, Deep Purple and Pewter and Nude.

So, over all I love this palette more than my Naked 1 & 2. I can create a lot of different looks with this palette. If you want variety of colors and finishes you may want to check this palette out.

Here is an example of "smokey eye look" that I created for my client using Lorac Pro palette. Colors used: Black - Espresso - Sable - Taupe- Cream

Let me also show you some of my creations using this palette.

I hope you find this review helpful the fact that I know there are tons of reviews out there. Hope you had a great day and till my next post!