Topshop Glow Highlighter

Good Day Everyone,

When it comes to makeup, after eyes, my skin is the thing that I most pay attention to and so I love trying out skin illuminators and highlighters. I'm definitely a dewy skin kind of girl rather than preferring the more matte look, especially as my skin is more on the dry side.

I picked up this Topshop Glow highlighter in the shade Polish a while back and have really been enjoying using this. The product comes in a frosted glass jar with a very minimalistic and clean look to its packaging (my favourite look) and is a gorgeous little pot of creamy, sheeny, loveliness. The only downside to the packaging is that it is quite weighty and being glass, I don't tend to travel with this.

It may look like you don't get much product in this little pot but let me tell you a little goes a long way with this highlighter as this stuff packs a serious punch. I tend to use this primarily on the tops of my cheekbones, cupids bow and the inner corners of my eyes. I personally, find it too much as a brow bone highlighter and prefer something a bit more on the matte side. Sometimes I will mix the most tiniest bit in with my moisturiser or foundation for a very subtle glow all over my face.

The texture is very smooth and creamy and the highlighting effect can be quite in your face, if you wish, or it can be sheered out to be more subtle. As you can see from the photo below, this highlighter leaves a beautiful pearly sheen to the skin without any obvious sparkle or glitter, and it catches the light beautifully.

Glow also comes in another shade called Gleam which is more of a golden colour. Both of these retail for £9 in the UK but I picked mine up at Topshop in Singapore for $19 SGD.

What do you think of this highlighter? Have you tried it? What other highlighters would you recommend?

Love Sheen xxx

MAC Strobe Cream

Good Day Everyone,

The weather in Singapore has been so dry lately that lush green grass on the sidewalks is now looking very dry and straw like. I can’t even remember the last time it rained but I know weather records have been broken during this long dry spell. The dry weather combined with the effects of indoor air con has taken a bit of a toll on my skin, which has always been on the dry side to begin with.

I’ve upped my game when it comes to skin moisturisation and due to the hot weather makeup has been kept to a minimal but one product that I have been reaching for almost daily is my MAC Strobe Cream. Now MAC categorises their Strobe Cream under skincare as a moisturiser, but to me this isn’t a moisturiser, but a skin illuminator, that can also be used as a highlighter. 

 

According to MAC, the Strobe Cream is;

The ultimate quick fix for the skin. Super-powered with potent botanicals; de-snoozes, de-stresses, moistens, freshens and boosts the look of dull, flat or tired-looking skin with a fully loaded vitamin zap and a mega dose of green tea. Brightens and clarifies with iridescent particles and antioxidants. Enhances the effects of light on all skin and in all lighting conditions from sunlight to spotlight.

I can certainly vouch for the brightening effect. On days when my skin is looking particularly flat, dull and dry (which is often at the moment) I apply the Strobe Cream, focusing on my cheeks and then sheering it out across my chin, cupids bow, bridge of my nose and forehead… basically all over my face for a dose of luminosity and a healthy glow. I don’t know what’s in this cream or how it works exactly but it just adds life and light back into my skin. It isn’t glittery, shimmery or sparkly but rather it has a pearlescent sheen to it, and it’s this subtlety that makes it suitable as a skin illuminator, for that healthy lit from within glow.

 

I don’t use this Strobe Cream as a moisturiser because, for me, it doesn’t feel moisturising enough. I tend to apply this after my moisturiser. On days when I’m not wearing foundation, this goes all over my face, as described above, and I just use a bit of concealer and my skin base is complete. Days when I am wearing foundation, I will sometimes use this as a subtle daytime highlighter on the typical areas like the tops of my cheekbones, cupids bow and the bridge of my nose. This sits and blends well on top of my foundation and cream blushes. When it comes to highlighting my brow bone I’m definitely a matte kind of girl. No shimmer is ever allowed to go near my brow bone, however, as this cream has more of a pearlescent effect rather than shimmer, I do sometime use the tiniest bit on my brow bone when I’m wearing predominantly matte eye shadows. This just helps to lift my eyes and draw attention to my brows. 

See the luminosity on the bottom half of my hand vs. the top half

The effects of this cream are pretty subtle, that’s what I love about it but I can imagine that for some people the effect maybe a bit too subtle. The cream has a bit of a scent to it that isn’t particularly pleasant but it’s bearable and does fade after application. The cream is very light weight and absorbs into my skin quickly and isn’t tacky or sticky. It hasn’t clogged my pores or caused any breakouts but my skin is pretty resilient and I’m lucky enough to have inherited my mum’s good skin genes. The only downside to the Strobe Cream is that the pearlescent effect doesn’t last all day. On my skin it probably lasts for about four to five hours before I feel it’s faded to the extent that I can no longer detect its subtle luminosity. However, as I’m no longer a career girl, I rarely need my makeup to last all day and so that doesn’t bother me too much. Also, as the Strobe Cream comes in a handy travel size tube you could easily throw it in your handbag / purse for touch ups throughout the day. 

The Strobe Cream is half the price in Singapore than it is in the UK which is bizarre as makeup tends to be more expensive here compared to back home. I picked up my travel size tube at Singapore airport for SGD$11 (approx. £6 compared to the £12.50 price tag in England for the same size).  However, I don’t think I will be needing to stock up any time soon as a little bit of this cream goes a long way. I always end up using less than I think I will, in which case the excess goes on to my décollete ;o)

Have you tried the Strobe Cream? What did you think? Which are your favourite skin illuminators for that healthy, glowing from within, effect?

Love Sheen xxx

Stila One Step Illuminate

Good Day Everyone,

This was the first product that I ever purchased from Stila (website) and I can tell you that I have become a huge fan ever since. Living near the equator in year round temperatures of over 30 degrees Celsius in high humidity can make wearing a full face of makeup a little challenging, especially if you’re going to be spending time outside without air con. I was looking for a product (other than my bodily sweat!) that would give my face a nice subtle luminous glow for the days that I don’t wish to wear foundation and this is perfect!

Firstly, I absolutely love love love the packaging! The product comes in a clear plastic bottle containing 30mls (1 oz) of product with a black pump and lid which, in my humble opinion, has many benefits;

• As the bottle is clear I can see exactly how much product is left before I run out.
• The clear bottle also means that I can see the triple swirl helix and it looks sooo pretty (ok so that's not really a benefit but hey it makes me happy!).
• The pump makes using the product very hygienic as there’s no finger dipping involved.
• The pump also allows me to control the amount of product I dispense and it is easy to dispense half pumps.
•  Being plastic I don’t need to worry about breakages if I drop the bottle (which happens a lot given my arthritic fingers).
• The lid snaps shut when I push it on making it quite secure and does not come off easily which is great if I ever need to travel with this in my luggage. At the same time my arthritic fingers do not struggle to open it either which is a huge bonus :o)

Another great thing about this bottle is that, from what I can tell thus far, there is no product wastage due to the packaging. This is quite tricky to explain so here goes. You know how with some bottles the product sticks to the sides and bottom and no amount of pumping can ever get it all out? Well this bottle has a mechanism, a sort of platform, which pushes the product upwards from the bottom and sides of the bottle so no product is left behind that you cannot get to – genius or what?!

This product is one of those multi-functioning products that offers numerous benefits all in the convenience of one product. The product consists of 3 coloured swirls suspended in Stila’s youth revival bio-available mineral complex^TM serum which is clear in colour. The swirls are;

• Light gold which highlights the skin.

• Pale pink to warm the complexion.
• Kitten which brightens and illuminates (kitten is Stila’s famous eye shadow colour which is also available in other product forms e.g. eyeliner, powder shimmer, liquid luminizer, lip gloss etc).

According to Stila this product instantly primes, brightens and illuminates the skin, improves skin tone, even outs your complexion and helps smooth fine lines and wrinkles. In addition it claims to;

• Helps diminish the look of fine lines and wrinkles.
• Helps minimize pores.
• Helps hydrate and balance.
• Helps control oil.

Wow! Now that’s a whole load of benefits all within just one product! I tend to use this product instead of a foundation on days when I want to go for the no makeup makeup look (rather than as a primer) and I have to say it does an amazing job! The texture of this is more mousse like than serum and it feels incredibly light weight on my skin. It doesn’t leave my skin feeling tacky or sticky or looking shiny or oily in any way.
 

I typically apply this, using my fingers, after my moisturiser concentrating on my cheeks, centre of my face and eyelids and I have to say it just melts into my skin beautifully. I find that one pump is more than enough to do my whole face and therefore this bottle will easily last me for several months. This product instantly brightens my skin giving it that kind of ‘glowing from within’ luminous look. The shimmer in this product is so incredibly fine that it leaves my skin glistening beautifully whenever the light catches it and I don’t have to worry about looking like a disco ball. The glistening effect is why I tend to wear this on my eyelids as then I don’t need to bother with eye shadow and I just use a couple of coats of mascara and voila my eyes are done!

Blends out to give a luminous glow

I tend to have normal to dry skin and I find this product to be hydrating to the extent that even at the end of the day my skin still doesn’t feel in the slightest bit dry. I generally feel that I am feeding my skin ‘goodness’ whenever I apply this product. I don’t tend to have oily skin and rarely get an oily t-zone and therefore cannot comment on the product’s oil control capabilities but it does seem to minimise the few pores that I have and evens out my skin tone. I think it’s too early for me to say whether this product helps to diminish the look of fine lines and wrinkles as I don’t really have any wrinkles (that I’ve noticed) and I don’t think I’ve been using this product long enough to notice a dramatic effect on any fine lines that I may have... I think I need to go examine my face closely in the mirror now to see if I actually have any fine lines or wrinkles ;o)

On occasion I have also used this product on top of my cheek bones, after foundation, to get that glowy highlighting effect and it blends easily without removing the layer of foundation underneath. Overall I have been delighted with my first Stila purchase and cannot wait to try other products from the brand.

Have you tried this illuminator? What were your impressions? What's your favourite illuminator to use? I'd love to hear your views/experience :o)

Love Sheen xxx

My verdict: 5/5

For the UK: http://stila.co.uk/
For Singapore you can find this product at Sephora

(Note: I purchased this product with my own money)