L'Oreal Magic Lumi Highlighter Review

L'Oreal Magic Lumi Highlighter Review

From the Brand:
Studio Secrets Magic Lumi Concealer highlights contours while playing down imperfections, Instantly enlightens shadows and dark circles and illuminates corners and brows for a wide-awake effect.

Retails for:  $12.99


Where to Buy:  Walgreens.com, Ulta stores and Ulta.com, Drugstore.com, and anywhere you like to shop for your drugstore makeup


My Thoughts:  I had this highlighter for months before I ever actually used it, and I mistakingly tried to use it as a concealer at first under my eyes.  It wasn't such a big hit.  However, I've loved using it lately as intended, to highlight areas of my face.  I use it after my foundation and concealer, up along my cheekbones, the bow of my lip, down the center of my nose, forehead, and chin to bring some light.  It's got a slightly pinkish tone to it without being too "pink".  It doesn't have a shimmer, but it reflects light nicely.

I apply it straight from the wand to the areas I want and let it sit for about 30 seconds.  Then I pat it over the skin with either my fingertips or a damp beauty sponge.  I have pretty fair skin, but this is light enough without being too white.

The consistency is very creamy, and it doesn't dry and flake or crease at all.  If you use it as a concealer though, it won't last.  This works best when patted over the top of foundation or concealer, and lightly set with translucent powder.  I wouldn't recommend it for skin types too much darker than mine, as it will look ashy.


Final Verdict:  A great highlighting product without being shimmery that won't mess with the makeup underneath.

**Disclaimer: As with all my product reviews, I was not paid by the cosmetic company to provide feedback or review/promote their products. This article contains some affiliate links provided through Viglink.com. All the opinions expressed in this article are my own. These items were purchased with my own money. For more information on my policies, please view my Let's Chat page.

Product Review- Benefit High Beam

Benefit High Beam Review

From the Brand:
Our satiny pink liquid highlighter accents cheek and brow bones for a dewy, radiant glow. Use as a spot highlighter over makeup or wear under complexion products for subtle luminescence. It's the "supermodel in a bottle!"

Retails for:  $26.00


Where to Buy:  Sephora and Sephora.com, Ulta stores and Ulta.com, Benefitcosmetics.com


My Thoughts:  There are several different shades of the Benefit luminizing liquids, but the most common one I see people using is the Benefit High Beam.  I got this little bottle in a set from Benefit earlier this fall, The Pretty Committee, although you can find this included in a ton of their sets since it's such a popular product.  This particular shade is a light pink glow that looks really pretty on almost all skin tones.  For darker tones, I'd recommend using the Sun Beam, a soft golden glow instead.

Personally, I'm not much of a fan of using liquid highlighters.  I love to set my foundation with a powder, and I find that a liquid highlighter over the top of a powder can make the powder cake up around the edges of the highlighter and mess up the overall look of my makeup.  Some formulas can also breakdown the foundation that I'm wearing instead of sitting on top, again messing up the look of my makeup and calling attention to the area in a negative way.

This isn't the case with the Benefit High Beam.  It does illuminate without messing up the liquid foundation underneath.  I'd still definitely avoid it on top of a powder, but it works amazing worked into the skin prior to a powder foundation to give a "glowing from within" type of effect.

My favorite way to wear this is on my cupid's bow, that little dip over my top lip, to call attention to my lips and make them look fuller.  It's an instant pout pucker upper.  It also goes well under my eyes to brighten them up in photos, since the slight shimmery glow from it reflects light.  Just be sure to go easy on it or else you'll look super weird in person.

The formula is very thin with a natural level of light reflection.  It's not a thick shimmery product by any means, which means that it's always going to look believable and understated rather than over done.  And a little goes a long way, so even a small bottle like this will last you for a long time!

Final Verdict:  Overall, a fabulous liquid highlighting product that gives a natural looking glow to the skin and has a lot of versatility.

Have you used this product before?  Share your thoughts and your way of incorporating it into your makeup look for other readers to enjoy!

**Disclaimer: As with all my product reviews, I was not paid by the cosmetic company to provide feedback or review/promote their products. All the opinions expressed in this article are my own. These items were purchased with my own money. For more information on my policies, please view my Let's Chat page.

Tarte Makeup Haul

I'm totally loving just about everything that I've gotten from TarteCosmetics.com lately, and my recent haul purchases are no exception.  I placed an order online a few weeks ago for some more of their lovely blushes, since all I had was Blushing Bride and a limited edition travel size in Adventurous.

While I was surfing around the site, I found a really cool new product called a brow mousse.  I'd never heard of it before, but you pretty much apply it just as you would a powder.  It looks more like a gel liner than a brow product, and it's super pigmented.  So if you're going to use it be sure to go easy.  I barely touched the brush into the product, and it gave me great coverage.  It comes with a dual ended brush that has the angled applicator brush side and a spoolie for combing the color through the eyebrows and shaping the hairs into place.  Overall, I really really like this product!

I know I've talked ad nauseum about how much I love their Amazonian Clay 12 hr blushes, but the three new colors I got are quickly becoming my go to colors.  I'd heard amazing things about Exposed all over YouTube and the beauty blogging world, so that was definitely on my list.  It's perfect for when I'm doing a monochromatic bronzy look.  Or when I don't really want a lot of "color" so to speak, so not pink or peach, but just a something so that my skin doesn't look naked.  Hope that makes sense to you! haha.  Frisky is a gorgeous slightly warm reddish pink with some subtle golden shimmer, and Amused is a nice candy pink that's not chalky at all.  Frisky is definitely my go-to color these days, as it looks fabulous with my red hair!

What do you think of the Tarte brand?  Any products you love and would recommend?