Category: Product & Catalog Reviews

So, you’re like, “Good LORD, PeaceBang, I’m not a KARDASHIAN. I’m not adding highlighter to my make-up routine. I don’t want to look like a shiny freak.”

Calm down!

Highlighter is a face basic now and it is your friend. I promise! If you’re young and dewy (or old and dewy!), you can go away while those of us with ordinary complexions discuss this important topic and bless your dewy heart.

But chances are that even you, the Dewy Enchantress, have days when your skin looks blah and could benefit from a little cosmetic glow. When that’s the case, you’re going to be so glad that you have this sweetheart on hand. I love this formula because it’s kind of powder, kind of creme and blends easily.

It’s Colourpop highlighter in Smoke & Whistles and while it doesn’t look like much in the container, it is lovely on human skin of many hues. You rub a few clean fingers over it and blend it up along your cheekbones, the tip of your nose, and the bow of your lips. You can also tap some onto your eyelids for a pretty lift there.

It’s not a big financial investment and there are loads of lovely colors to choose from. Don’t agonize too much over your choice as all the formulas are sheer enough that you don’t have to match the way you do with foundation.

I love this stuff. It catches the light and creates BEEYOO-TY.

Runners Up:

Anastasia Moon Child Glow Kit For more dramatic unicorn looks. Got it as a gift and love it for more dramatic cool-tone looks.

Nyx Strobe of Genius Great for beginners. Very low pigmentation, buildable. Less than $5.

Benefit High Beam Liquid Face Highlighter
A classic. I don’t still own it but I do own a similar discontinued formula (Stila All Over Shimmer) and it’s beautiful as a mix-in with foundation. A bit tricky to apply on its own but just dot a bit along cheekbones and blend carefully.

Not Recommended:

Revlon PhotoReady Insta-Fix Highlighting Stick
Would not recommend as it drags on skin, does not work over foundation (although creates a pretty nice glow on bare skin), and leaves glitter behind as it fades. Avoid.

Glowy pigeons, what are your best highlighters?

I am a really big fan of this face wash, which I got at Target for less than $10.

It’s probably not literally flower-powered and the kombucha detail strikes me as ridiculously trendy but I do like this company and I really like the results I get from this cleanser. You just need a little bit and it lathers up beautifully. It smells good, it’s creamy, it takes off my eye make-up and best of all, it gently but thoroughly cleans my summer skin after even the most humid day. I wear a very emollient SPF 50 every day and I need something that does a good job without drying. I find that I can skip the night moisturizing with this cleanser and again, you only need a bit bigger than a pea size dollop of product for face and neck.

I’m a big fan. This works as well as much more expensive cleansers.

Go be beautiful.

MY GOODNESS. I have just returned from our General Assembly in Kansas City, where everything is pretty up to date, and I must say that some of my colleagues are looking unnecessarily decrepit around the face. So much sun damage! So much incipient melanoma and no joking aside, that’s scary stuff.

Please, please take your skin care seriously. SPF. Hats when you’re outside. Please be careful.

I got a sample of this product from Sephora (*heavenly angel choir sings*) and tested it for several days, including one very hot, muggy, sunny day where I was outside a lot.

It goes on easily and you don’t need more than a dime-size amount of product. It miraculously BLENDS in without leaving the dreaded shiny white mask that so many other high SPF products leave (the only one I have found that works as well is by Allgenist). It goes on sticky but dries down pretty well. I have combination skin that tends to feel dry on the sides with other high SPF products, requiring me to layer moisturizer under them. With this product I didn’t need moisturizer, although I did use a Caudelie age-spot serum first (because despite my consistent efforts, I have age spots on the sides of my face).

Here is the model on the Colorescience website:

And here is me at the Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side in late afternoon on a very hot day. I’m only wearing the Colorerescience product on my face and no other foundation:

Amazing, no sunburn! Whatever redness you see was already there because I almost always burn my schnoz while gardening for “just a quick minute” that turns into half an hour. I am very impressed with this Colorescience product and have just purchased the full size.

Whatever product you decide to use, please use it religiously and reapply throughout the day if you’re going to be outside.

Kisses on your punims!

P.S. The Tenement Museum was fascinating and deeply moving and very worth the visit.
Many emotions to be had (I am the direct descendent of immigrants who I am pretty sure lived in this neighborhood) and many sermon illustrations. I find that my heart is broken not only for myself but somehow for my relatives who got to this country and survived poverty and discrimination but who were, thank God, never threatened with deporation.
Because of them, I am here living the incredible life that they dreamed for me: religously free, highly educated, comfortable, more than well-fed, culturally enriched, safe, a respected member of a diverse community. Because of them, I fight for my newly-arrived neighbors to have the same opportunity.