Highlighter comparison - Becca, Charlotte Tilbury, Armani, theBalm, Stila & Mac

Below the comparison swatches of the highlighters in my collection.  I've included my favorite Giorgio Armani Belladonna for comparison even thought its limited edition and no longer available - Just so you can see the difference and appreciate just how lovely it is.  I've also included a Mac eyeshadow, Naked Lunch, which I often use as highlighter when i want a natural look.

LEFT TO RIGHT |  Stila Kitten - Giorgio Armani Belladonna (LE) - theBalm Mary-Lou-Manizer - Becca Champagne Pop - Becca Prosecco Pop - Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar bronze & Glow - Mac Naked Lunch Eyeshadow

 Indoor lighting

Daylight

Stila Kitten |  cool, whitish, more natural looking
Giorgio Armani Belladonna |  beautiful, angelic due to the whiter color and shimmers, less pigmented than Champagne Pop
theBalm Mary-Loumanizer |  beautiful fine shimmers, light gold, warm, very pigmented
Becca Champagne Pop |  beautiful fine shimmers, rose gold, pigmented
Becca Prosecco Pop |  beautiful fine shimmers, gold. 
Too dark and yellow for my skintone (NC25)
Will work better for darker skintones, pigmented
Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze & Glow |  fine shimmers but too yellow for my preference, pigmented
Mac Naked Lunch Eyeshadow |  beautiful fine shimmers, less pigmented, perfect for a natural highlight, for daytime and work.  Very light rose gold, so beautiful!

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Pony Effect Master Contour Palette - First Impressions

Shade : Fabulous (Comes in 2 shades, the other shade is Marvelous)
Price: S$51 but varies, can be ordered from mini.box at Qoo10
Recommended for skintone of up to NC25 only
Made in Korea 
 

The packaging is slim and feels very sturdy, with magnetic closure. Can be alittle difficult to open, but i love the big mirror that opens flat (180 degrees).  This is my pet peeve and being able to open all the way flat makes the palette so much more practical. 

I used this palette twice since i purchased it.  All the shades are less pigmented in general but I found that works for my routine.  Sometimes I like to skip setting foundation with powder because some areas of my face can be dry.  If I use a bronzer or blush with good pigmentation directly, I'll easily get patchy results.  This palette won't!!!  I do have to pack it onto my brush, i'm using Wayne Goss #11.  I go over twice for it to show up on my face.  For this reason, i recommend this palette - to those who have dry skin and would like to skip setting powder.  

I've also used this palette on powdered face, I'll go over maybe 3 times or more to get it to show up well on my skin.  This is partly because I'm quite dark (NC25), for fairer skintone, you might not need to.

All the shades are suitable for fair skin, up to NC25.  This is typical of Korean makeup but some Korean brands are making darker shades for western market.

SUPER MAGIC
This is a matte, cream color powder. 

DREAM CATCHER
This highlight shade is beautiful!  It contains very fine shimmers and I feel this has the right amount of pigmentation.  

ON MY OWN 
I love this beautiful shade of blush, its a light, candy, pinky coral, matte shade. This is a youthful kind of shade and is not very pigmented.

BEHIND STORY
I love this matte contour shade because it looks very natural on my skintone.  In fact, this is one of the best contour shade i own (I'm ethnically Chinese for reference), in terms of the tone of the shade - not too cool, nor too warm toned. It would not work for skintone darker than NC25.  Its also not very pigmented.


PRO

• Great highlight, blush and contour shade
• Blush & contour shades are not very pigmented, which is great if you want to skip setting powder as this will act as a "setting powder" because it is a powder with color
• Powders are finely milled and tightly packed, thus does not stir up powder when you dip your brush into the pan
• Good quality packaging and big mirror that opens flat (180 degrees)
• Unscented

CON

• Less pigmented blush and contour shade if you already set your foundation with powder.  You will need to apply this on your face at least 3 times to get it to show properly
• Only suitable for skintone up to NC25.  Will not show up if you are darker than that
  
  

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BECCA Jaclyn Hill Champagne Collection Face Palette - First Impressions

S$80 from Sephora.sg 
US$52 from Sephora.com
Will be launched at Sephora ION, Singapore on 22 July 2016
Made in USA

This palette is one of the most beautiful I've seen and own!  The palette feels solid, looks beautiful and I love that its so shiny.

The product are all extremely pigmented, both highlighters are very beautiful with fine shimmers, you will definitely love them.  On the other hand, they feels alittle soft and do kick up some powder when I dip my brush into it.  By that I mean, the powder is not as tightly pressed as Nars or Mac's blushes for example.  It seems to me they might shatter easily.

The compact has a large mirror which I love, and it opens approximately 150 degrees (Check out picture below, for reference 180 degrees is where the compact opens completely flat. 90 degrees is a right angle), which is amazing.  You'll appreciate it after owing products like Burberry's blushes, which opens approximately 90 degrees.  However, the hinges isn't tight enough, if I want the mirror to stay at another angle, say 120 degrees, it will drop to its maximum with any movement. But that could just be a flaw with my compact and others may not have that problem.

Of the blushes, my favorite is Pamplemousse.  Its a beautiful strawberry red with tiny and sparse imperceptible shimmers.  Rose Spritz is extremely shimmery, will work over matte blush when you want a glow on your cheeks.  Amaretto doesn't work on my skintone (I'm ethnically Chinese for reference), I'd probably use it as an eyeshadow color.  

I recommend using brushes like Wayne Goss' No. 14 or The Air-Brush with this palette.  Because all the shades are so pigmented, these brushes will pick up the right amount and give a beautiful application.

This palette keeps running out of stock at Sephora.com, so do check it out when it comes into Sephora stores on 22 July 2016!

Swatches applied using a brush, in the order of the palette

Heavier swatch

Made in USA

 

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