Beauty, Beauty on a Budget, Face, Highlight/Bronzer, Makeup, Review, Swatches

Summer is over but that doesn’t mean you can’t glow this fall! I’m not the only the one who thinks so either. Everywhere you turn, there’s a shimmering new highlighter on the horizon (cough, Becca, cough) somewhere. Not too long ago, L’Oreal released a collection of illuminators to help you shimmer and sheen your way through the year and I think they’re pretty nice.

For the past month, I’ve been alternating between the breathtaking Bobbi Brown Bronze Glow and L’Oreal’s Golden True Match Lumi Powder Illuminator. I’m not gonna lie and tell you that Golden is on the same level as Bronze Glow because it’s not. Bronze Glow is seriously beastly!

Golden still isn’t too bad though. I kinda like it.

Golden is broken up into 4 shimmering sections: a large yellow gold, a large peachy beige, a small rose gold and a deep shimmering bronze. You could probably fit a small cheek brush into the larger center sections but Golden is better off swirled together to create a soft customizable golden glow. I find myself reaching for it often as it gives a lovely glow. I just have a couple of small gripes with the formula.

Golden applies just fine with my trusty fan brush but it has a dense texture that makes it little tricky to blend with fluffier brushes. And then there’s the glitter. Golden is loaded with chunky glitter that can be easy to overdo if you’re not careful. Not to mention, chunky glitter isn’t everyone’s cup of tea when it comes to highlighters. The biggest issue is that the glow isn’t an all day, all night kinda thing. If you apply it in the morning, it’ll probably leave you hanging a bit by dinner. Golden doesn’t completely disappear but it does fade noticeably between 6-8 hours. Which can be a good thing if you overdid it found the glitter to be too much once you’ve tried it out. However, it can be a little disappointing for glow junkies.

I personally like to glow like Tinkerbell all damn day and night so I reserve Golden’s glittery goodness for my nights out where I need maximum glow for a short amount of time. But if you like your highlighters less in your face or more long lasting you may want to skip L’Oreal’s Golden True Match Powder Illuminator.

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