Beauty, Face, High End Brands, Highlight/Bronzer, Makeup, Review, Swatches

If you know me, you know I love me some highlighters! Probably way too much. I already have a ton of highlighting products in my stash but that hasn’t stopped me from adding about 3 more in the past month. I know. I’m terrible. But you know what? I’m actually starting to exercise a wee bit of self control since picking up the new Make Up For Ever Pro Sculpting Duo. The highlighter in this thing is literally all you’ll ever need!

When Make Up For Ever first released the Pro Sculpting Duos chicks were on Instagram going nuts about it. And there’s a great reason for that–the dazzling gold highlight. There’s 2 versions of the Pro Sculpting Duo but I grabbed the darkest and most popular, Golden, since it contained probably the most raved about highlight since MAC Whisper of Guilt. Which it’s actually a great dupe for, too!

The magical highlight powder is a soft yellow gold with fine multidimensional shimmer and comes paired with a medium reddish bronze powder with a slight pearl. Both powders feature a raised polka dot design and an incredibly silky, smooth texture that almost feels like a cream when you touch it. The powders are very tightly packed so it isn’t powdery at all–in the pan or on the skin. And they’re very easy to blend too! This is probably my favorite thing about this duo because it takes some of the “work” out of highlighting and contouring. I’m able to sculpt and bronze my face to perfection in just a couple minutes with this beauty. No heavy blending required!

While I appreciate Make Up For Ever making our lives a little easier with the Pro Sculpting Duo there’s a thing or two I would change to make it perfect. Like tweaking the bronzer. It’s great for medium complexions but my brown skin requires a little more oomph in bronzers. I usually prefer my bronzer to add a little warmth and sheen or be hella dark for a killer contour. The bronzing powder in Golden doesn’t really seem to do either tasks all that well for me. When swatched, it looks like it’ll add a nice flush of color and some warmth to my contour. But nah. It didn’t. The bronzer seemed to oxidize a bit when applied turning a shade or two darker making it a nice option for a subtle contour. But since I’m all about saving time these days I’d prefer not to pack it on and build it up because the bronzer is rather sheer. Instead, I like to use it to set my cream contour.

Now the highlight on the other hand? I wouldn’t change a freaking thing! The only request I have for Make Up For Ever is to sell this stuff by itself because it’s so easy to apply and gives the most gorgeous golden glow. From medium to deep complexions, the highlighter really makes the skin pop without looking glittery or overdone. It’s fairly easy to dust a light layer for a lit from within glow or swirl your brush around for an Atlanta housewife effect.

Overall, I wish the bronzer was a wee bit better but the highlight powder alone makes the Golden Pro Sculpting Duo a must have. The powders are silky smooth, blendable and last well over 8 hours on my dry skin without showing signs of fading. Not to mention, the highlight is pretty much summer pressed into a powder. Whether you’re a beginner or a highlighting beast, I highly recommend checking out the Make Up For Ever Pro Sculpting Duos the next time you hit Sephora. You won’t regret it!

Wearing Golden highlight on my cheeks and down the bridge of my nose with Golden bronzer in the hollows of my cheeks 😉