Makeup Look: Glossy Highlights

This makeup trend is all about wearing minimal makeup with some serious sheen - accentuating the high points of your face but also adding luminosity to areas that you might normally ignore. I already love adding highlighter to my cheekbones and cupid's bow but don't be afraid to really accentuate the inner corners of your eyes and your brow bone. 

Make your cheekbones glow

My favourite highlighters nearly always have a liquid or cream consistency. I generally find that they're easier to blend into the skin and give a glow rather than glitter or shimmer. My favourite highlighter at the moment is RMS' Living Luminizer, it is quite subtle but it leaves my skin looking oh so radiant. When I want something slightly more golden in tone I reach for MeMeMe's Beat the Blues in Sunbeam, it reminds me of Benefit's Moonbeam. It's formula is really easy to work with and blends seamlessly into the skin giving an amazing glow. 

Don't forget your eyes

Add some highlighter to the inner corner of your eyes and gently blend it into your skin to give the corner of your eyes a real glow. If you're already a fan of this look then try something a little bit different - blend a thicker cream highlighter like Catrice's Made to Stay Highlighter Pen, or a powder highlighter like Beauty UK's Baked Blush in Halo, along your upper or lower lash line. Just add a touch of mascara and some matte eyeshadow to your crease and you're done. If you're feeling brave (especially if you don't already have oily eyelids) add some highlighter to your lids and rock a sheer glow.

Lift those brows 

Many people already highlight their brow bone (the area underneath their eyebrows) as it gives the appearance of lifting the brow. Swap out powders for a cream or liquid highlighter - another great option is L'Oreal's Lumi Magique Primer - and blend the product into your skin but make sure you leave it looking glossy. To really accentuate your brows add some highlighter to the upper-outer brow area, blending from the eyebrow outwards.

Wearable ways to work the trend

You might think that this is all well and good but can you actually wear it out of the house. If you'd like to give a very subtle nod to trend then here's how. Swap out the liquid and cream highlighters for a less glossy highlighter such as L'Oreal's Lumi Magique Highlighting Concealer and apply it everywhere listed above - cheekbones, inner eye, lash line and around your brows. You'll be left with brighter, highlighted skin but without the sheen - it'll be wearable enough for work. 

The Comparison: Benefit Moon Beam and High Beam Dupes

Like a lot of people, I'm a big fan of Benefit's make-up. However, more often than not I'm put off by the price of it. It isn't that I don't think it's worth it, I just don't always have £15-£25 to dish out on one item, no matter how much I like it. I've had Benefit's Highbeam and Benefit's Moonbeam for years now, probably far longer than you're supposed to hang onto a make-up item. They still seem good to use and have't gone funky but I am nearing the end of their use as I'm almost out of both of them (which seemed impossible to me for so long as there is so much product in a bottle given how little you need to use). So, with the thought of repurchasing them in mind I set out looking for dupes and I stumbled across a very similar looking pair of products from MeMeMe. This is my first foray into MeMeMe products, I've never tried anything of theirs before so I can't make any broad statements about the brand. I do, however, think that at £5.50 they're a lot more affordable than Benefit. I wanted to see just how similar the product (it's colour, consistency and longevity) was to Benefit's offerings so I've done swatches below and I will be comparing MeMeMe's Sunbeam with Benefit's Moonbeam and MeMeMe's Moonbeam with Benefit's Highbeam.

Benefit Moonbeam vs. MeMeMe Sunbeam

Colour

Despite looking almost identical in the bottle, Benefit's Moonbeam is a lot more apricot in colour than MeMeMe's Sunbeam which is a yellow-toned gold colour- this is most apparent when you blend each product out. The iridescence of Benefit's Moonbeam is a lot more subtle than MeMeMe's Sunbeam, namely because Benefit's Moonbeam is sheerer due to it's more liquid formula.

Consistency 

Benefit's Moonbeam is thinner, more watery and easier to blend than MeMeMe Sunbeam. However, because MeMeMe's Sunbeam is more like a gel than a liquid it gives you longer before it dries making it easier to use overall (especially if you aren't used to using this sort of product).

Longevity

It was honestly comparable, almost the same. Although I think Benefit's Moonbeam wore a bit better than MeMeMe's Sunbeam.

Overall

 I prefer the look of Benefit's Moonbeam because it looks more subtle (better for daytime) and the colour is incredibly flattering on my pale skin. However, MeMeMe's Sunbeam is still very wearable and pretty although I think it is more obvious that I'm 'made up' when I wear it and I think it better compliments a bronzed face than a more natural, daytime, make-up look. These two products are not exact dupes specifically because of the colour difference.

Benefit Highbeam vs. MeMeMe Moonbeam

Colour

Benefit's Highbeam and MeMeMe's Moonbeam are very alike in terms of their colour, however, MeMeMe's Moonbeam is more of a baby pink shade whilst Benefit's Highbeam has an edge of apricot to it that keeps it from being so pink. Benefit's Highbeam is a lot more iridescent than MeMeMe's Moonbeam and is therefore less subtle when worn which, depending on what you're looking for, could be a good or bad thing. (You can always use less of Benefit's Highbeam than MeMeMe's Moonbeam for a similar effect, or you can blend it out more than I have done).

Consistency

Benefit's Highbeam has a thicker consistency than MeMeMe's Moonbeam which is very thin and liquid-y. The thickness of Benefit's Highbeam makes it easier to blend and makes it hard to apply it patchily, which is a critique that I have of MeMeMe's Moonbeam.

Longevity

Benefit's Highbeam wore better throughout the day, however, MeMeMe's Moonbeam was still passable but clearly did not wear as well.

Overall

In this case of these two products, although they definitely dupes as their colour match is pretty close I definitely prefer Benefit's Highbeam. However, the colour and effect of MeMeMe's Moonbeam is good enough, it is just a question of me preferring the texture of Benefit's Highbeam which I found easier to apply.

 I know that when I had been internet shopping I would have found a post like this handy to read so I hope you found my comparisons helpful! Let me know what you think of either product if you've tried it or if you know of any other dupes.

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February Glossybox 2013

So this month's Glossybox is Valentine's Day themed and unlike last month the box contained a healthy proportion of make-up. I'm actually quite pleased with my box this month as I can see myself using every single one of the products

The value of my box this month is £24.49 based on the provided R.R.P.s of the full size products.

First up is Anatomicals You Need a Blooming Shower Your Nose Smells Rose Body Cleanser. This is a half-size sample which comes in at a value of £2.50 and is quite a hefty size for shower gel/body cleanser sample so I'm pleased about that.. I'm actually really glad that I received this as I LOVE rose scents and this one is very, very rose scented indeed. I also haven't tried anything from the Anatomicals range before so this is definitely a nice product for me to start with.

Next up is MeMeMe's Fat Cat Volumizing Mascara which is a full size product and has a value of £8. I love the matte black packaging and I've been pleased with the quality of MeMeMe products that I've tried in the past so overall this is another product that I'm happy with. (Although I wouldn't exactly say that this OR the Anatomicals products are 'luxury' items.)

The next product in this month's Glossybox was Sassoon's Shine Spray. I love Sassoon products, I've never owned any but I used to get my hair done in Vidal Sassoon salons and I always loved the products that they used on my hair. I'm very excited to try this but it is quite a small sample of only 50ml compared to the 250ml full size making the value of this sample £2.97. I'm very excited to give this product a whirl- I have high hopes for it!

The next product was a Miner's Lipstick. I've not heard much about this brand so can't really make much of a judgement until I test the product out. The shade I received is called 'Dreamer' and looked like a wearable pink shade until I saw how much glitter was in it... It's actually quite a wearable shade of pink but the glitter in it will probably mean that it doesn't get a lot of daytime wear. This is another full size product though with a value of £4.99.

The last sample in my box was a Micabella Cosmetics Mineral Eye Shadow in the shade Intelligence. I love the look of 'Intelligence' which looks to be a bronze colour (a staple shade for me) and I'm a big fan of mineral eye shadows so this is all round another good product in my eyes. The sample size is 1g giving this a value of £5.98. I was glad to see a more 'luxury' make-up brand in the box, it's just a shame that this wasn't full sized rather than the Miner's or MeMeMe products.

The little extra product included by Glossybox this month was a heart shaped lolly. This is in keeping with the box's theme and is a very cute thing to include but I have to admit that it doesn't appeal to me really! I'll be saving this for my flatmate when he gets back after the weekend. 

Overall, I was really pleased with this month's box as 4/5 of the products I really loved and the lipstick still could be wearable so it isn't a complete disaster inclusion. I'm also really glad that this month there was more make-up included in the box as sometimes I do feel as though these beauty boxes can be a little bit over-saturated with skin care but  not this month so I'm going to stay subscribed and hope that next month I have the same luck.

What did you think of this month's box?

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