Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit - Surreal Light

The Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit in Surreal Light was one of those instant purchases for me. I love Hourglass powders and think that the quality is amazing. The palette is housed in a marble printed case and contains 5 pans of product. Although the marble is pretty (and, let's face it, Instagram worthy), I think I would have preferred to keep the metal packaging. To me, the metal seems more luxe than a marble printed plastic case and is also in keeping with the overall aesthetic of the brand, but that is more personal preference than anything else and does not affect the quality of the product inside.

I have to say, I think this palette is better suited to the lighter side of the skin tone spectrum. I am light-medium and the only items that show up really well on my skin are the Surreal Effect Blush and the Surreal Strobe Light. The Finishing Powder that takes up the left side of the palette is meant to blend into skin, but if you have a darker complexion, this may make you look ashy (I would definitely recommend trying in store). The middle column sort of blends into my skin and is hard to see. All of the powders blend well and are buttery soft. They each lasted all day on me when tested.

I definitely take exception to them labeling/marketing this palette as universally flattering - the bronzer is too light for my skin, and I am on the lighter side. What would someone with medium to dark skintones use it for? One thing I have noticed is that Hourglass has not seemed to put out a palette for medium-dark complexions, and I really think that they need to. Their powder products are, to me, the highest quality on the market and it is a shame that they are under-serving such a large part of the market.

As with the palette from last year, the pan sizes are really small. I wish they would go back to the trios or use this size palette and make it a quad. It is really difficult to dip a brush into this and not pickup the adjacent powders. The size would not be as much of an issue for a different product, but bronzer, blush, and highlighter fan brushes all tend to be larger. You basically have to squeeze your brush to dip it in the pans, which I am not a fan of doing.

One thing that is a bit odd to me is how they labeled/numbered the palette. I would think that normally you would start at the left, which they did, and do the top row first, then bottom. They did not do that. The far left pan is 1, which makes sense, but then 2 is actually the bottom middle shade, then it goes up to the top middle shade, over to the top right shade, and down again to the bottom right shade. See diagram below. Most people that I have seen swatch it did not do it in that order. I did not either, which is why I labeled the swatches below with the numbers. That is something they should probably think about for next time, as it can make it confusing for people who are trying to look at swatches.

Palette Swatches. All swatches in order of first photo.

Outdoors in full sunlight:



Outdoors in shade:



Indoors (no flash):

I pulled some of my other Hourglass Palettes and individual items so you can see how the new palette compares to some existing products. First, the blushes. I swatched two blushes from the new palette, an individual blush in Radiant Magenta, and two of the blushes from the Ambient Lighting Blush Palette, Luminous Flush and Incandescent Electra. In case you are looking for dupes, if Radiant Magenta and Incandescent Electra had a baby, it would be the Surreal Effect blush. 

Blush swatches. All swatches are in the order of the first photo.

Outdoors:



Indoors (no flash):

For the bronzer, I pulled the Hourglass Luminous Bronze Light (reviewed here). Surreal Bronze Light is noticeably lighter than the Luminous Bronze Light bronzer, which was already made for lighter skin tones. It really does not show up on my skin tone very well as a bronzer. For me, it acts more as a nude blush, but even then it is very hard to see. See swatches outdoors in full sunlight:

I used the Ambient Lighting Palette highlighters as comparison shades for the highlighters/finishing powder in the Ambient Lighting Edit. See swatches below:

Overall, this palette is very pretty, and the quality, as always, is incredible. I do wish the pan sizes were larger and would love to see Hourglass put out a new trio or a quad, instead of trying to cram 5-6 powders into one palette. I probably should have waited to see this in store because I most likely would not have purchased it, as a lot of the colors are really hard to see on my skin tone. If you have a lighter skin tone, run out and buy this - you will not regret it. I would absolutely love this if the colors showed up on my skin better. Medium to darker skin tones really should test in store to see how the colors work on your skin.

The palette retails for $80 and is sold at Sephora and Hourglass. What are your thoughts on this palette?

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit - Surreal Light - Sneak Peak

I thought I would give everyone a quick peak at the new Hourglass Palette. I just received it, so I will be testing each of the items separately to see how they wear and will provide a full review next week. I will make sure to include some comparison swatches with other Hourglass powders in the full review so you can see if you already have Hourglass items that are similar. For now, I am previewing some swatches of the palette. Initial swatches seem to be of the usual Hourglass quality, as their highlighters are on the more subtle side of the spectrum. 

Reverse of the palette:

See swatches below.

Outdoors in sunlight:

After just the initial swatching, I think that if you have more of a fair complexion, you will most likely find this very flattering. I think it may wash out or look ashy on darker skin tones. Stay tuned for the full review. 

Hourglass Luminous Bronze Light Bronzer

The Hourglass Luminous Bronze Light bronzer is something that I have had on my wishlist for quite some time. I purchased the mini size bronzer, as the full size is really large and Hourglass powders last forever. There are two bronze shades offered: Luminous Bronze Light and Radiant Bronze Light. I chose Luminous Bronze Light - partially because I thought the lighter color would suit me better and also because the other shade is not yet available in the mini size. 

Luminous Bronze Light is described as a medium tan shade fused with Luminous Light, a champagne pearl powder, for a softer, candlelit warmth that is for fair/light complexions. Radiant Bronze Light is a warm bronze shade fused with Radiant Light, a golden beige powder, to mimic a summer glow that is suited for medium/deep complexions.

I really love Hourglass highlighters and had high hopes for the bronzer. Let me start by saying that it does not disappoint. The packaging is consistent with other Hourglass powders and comes in a great gold case. The marbling effect in the pan is similar to the blushes and is always so pretty to look at. The powder is extremely blendable and gives a very nice soft finish. Below is an extreme close up of the pan so you can see the beautiful shimmer and marbling:

I pulled a few other bronzers from my collection to see how it compared color-wise. It seems to be one of the lightest bronzers I own, which I think will be ideal for giving a bit of glow, especially during the winter when I lose my tan.

Comparison swatches below. All swatches are in the order of the first photo.

Outdoors in full sunlight:



Outdoors in shade:



Indoors (no flash):



I am really happy with this purchase and have yet to meet an Hourglass powder that I don't like. I may eventually get the darker shade if they come out with a mini size of that, as I think it would be a nice, more dramatic summer bronze for me. The mini size retails for $24 (0.05oz/1.4g) and the full size retails for $50 (0.39 oz/11g). They are sold at all Hourglass stockists. What is your favorite bronzer?

COVER FX Custom Enhancer Drops - Moonlight and Sunkissed

The Cover FX Custom Enhancer Drops were launched recently and I purchased one of the highlight shades, Moonlight, and one of the bronzers, Sunkissed. The Drops work much like other products from Cover FX, wherein you can use them to customize to your liking. You can use the drops on their own or you can mix them into existing products that you have.

I have used the bronzer shade to add depth to some of my winter foundation colors that are now too light and have also used the highlight shade to add some shimmer to matte foundation formulas. They also work wonderfully on their own as a highlighter or bronzer. Lisa Eldridge did a beautiful video recently that used the Moonlight shade as a highlight and I highly recommend you check it out (mostly because I am obsessed with her and think she is fab). See swatches below of the Moonlight shade:

See swatches below of the Sunkissed shade:

These drops have been such a great purchase and I have used them a lot since I got them a month ago. I love that the bronzer has enabled me to use some of the foundations that would normally be sitting in a drawer for the next few months since I do tan significantly in the summer (despite using sunscreen). The highlight shade blends so nicely over foundation and concealer without removing or budging what is underneath, which I feel that is often a problem with other liquid highlighters. If you would like to see swatches on a variety of skin tones, head over to Beauty Editer.

The drops retail for $42 for .5oz and are available at Sephora and Cover FX. Have you tried these yet? Which shade is your favorite?

rms beauty Buriti Bronzer

rms beauty is a new-to-me brand. I only discovered it recently, even though it seems they have been around for a few years now. The Buriti Bronzer is my first purchase from the line. It is a cream bronzer that comes in a small frosted glass pot with a metal lid. I have tried to show a few angles and with different cameras, as this bronzer does change significantly in different lighting. Based on the swatches below, you can see how it wears in various lighting situations.

This is outdoors, but not direct sunlight. Here it is more difficult to see the shimmer.



The following is outside in direct sunlight. You can see all of the shimmer and gold flecks.



Below is the bronzer in indoor natural light. You can still see that there is a shimmer, but the gold flecks are not as prominent.



The bronzer has a great, creamy consistency that makes it very blendable.  I found that I needed to put a small amount of setting power over it in order to ensure it did not transfer onto anything else. Once it was set, it did not budge. If you have oily skin, I can definitely see this sliding around the face a bit, especially if you do not use powder over it. I generally have used a normal setting powder (Laura Mercier, L'Oreal, etc.) to set, but one day I used the Hourglass Radiant Light Ambient Lighting powder to set it and that gave a very nice glow to the skin.

The bronzer does contain coconut oil as a main ingredient. There is definitely some controversy over coconut oil and whether it causes/cures breakouts. Some sites say it can cause breakouts, but the rms website says the that coconut oil can help cure acne. I have combination/sensitive skin that is often prone to breakouts, but the bronzer did not make me break out. If you are worried this may be an issue, you may want do a spot test to see if you are sensitive to it. If you are aware that coconut oil affects your skin in a not so nice way or if you are allergic, you may want to avoid this one.



I paired the buriti bronzer with a nude eye and lip for a more monochromatic effect. I used the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette in shades Suspect and Snakebite and Urban Decay 24/7 glide on eye pencil in Hustle on the eyes. For lips, I wore tarte Amazonian butter lipstick in Park Avenue Princess. Swatches of all shades below.



I really like the buriti bronzer and have used it quite a few times since purchasing. The overall glow it gives to the skin is really quite beautiful and it also layers well with blush or other glowy powders. I am interested in buying more products from the rms line, especially the luminizer. The bronzer retails for $28 and is available at Beauty.com, Beautylish, and Sephora.

By Terry Sun Designer Palette - Light and Tan Vibes

The By Terry Sun Designer Palettes are a new addition to the line for Spring 2016. There are two palettes, but I decided to go with Light and Tan Vibes, as it is the more neutral of the two. If you prefer brighter colors, you may want to purchase the Tan and Flash Cruise palette.



The palette is amazingly beautiful and has a very unique zigzag pattern that I have not seen in another palette. The packaging also has a really nice pattern. It is a plastic package, but it does have some weight to it so it does not feel cheap.



You can try to pick up the colors individually by squeezing your makeup brush, but I really love the look of them swished together. Swatches below of each side of the palette blended. The left has a definite shimmer (the shimmer is much more noticeable in person), while the right is a more subtle bronze. I recommend heading over to Temptalia if you want to see the colors swatched individually and the other palette.

I have been wearing the right side to work quite a bit lately and love the subtle bronze glow. The right side does have a slight sheen, but I find it is more wearable for day. The left side photographs very nicely, especially at night, and gives a great glow to the skin. You can also use it as a highlight. Both sides are very wearable overall and have great lasting power on the skin.



I paired the palette with neutral rose tones the other day and loved the look. I used the Josie Maran Coconut Watercolor Eye Shadow in Rio De Rose Gold and the YSL Rouge Volupte Shine in #9 Nude in Private on the lips. Those are swatched below for your reference.

Overall, I love the look of the palette and find that it was definitely a great purchase for me. The palette is $82. I bought mine from Beauty.com, but it is also available at several other retailers. Have you tried this yet? What are your thoughts?