Essence twilight shimmer powder 01 swatches and photos

Essence has some good cheap thrills. This powder is gorgeous, and is surprisingly good quality.

The color is a very rich light gold, no glitter at all- just shimmer. It's super pigmented, soft, buttery and blends into the skin nicely.

Swatch of twilight shimmer powder 01 'bella's secret' :

 Wearing the shimmer powder on my cheekbones (over Chanel fandango blush) :

This is a superb gold highlighter for any skin tone. I highly recommend picking this up. I think it cost $3.99 CAD, which is a total steal. It is LE, but if  you can find it grab it!

Clinique fresh bloom all over color swatches

I don't use very much makeup from Clinique, but one of the cutest things they sell are the fresh bloom all over color palettes. They are shaped as a flower and contain two colors, one light and one a little deeper.
They can be used to add some shimmer on eyes, and highlight or blush on cheeks.

There are a few colors available, I have almond blossom and posy.
I used to have peony too but I didn't like it as much. It's a light beige with a pink flower. It was too dark to highlight with and too light to use as a blush.

Posy :

Mine broke in transit, in case you were wondering what happened. Even though it broke I repressed it and I am still able to use it as a blush.

Posy is a shimmery mauve pink brown color.

wearing posy on my cheeks:

Almond blossom:

Almond blossom is a warm shimmery bronze brown

Wearing almond blossom on my cheeks:

These function the same way MAC mineralize skin finishes do. Of course they look a little prettier, with the flower pattern. They are also a lot less glittery than MSF's.
They aren't a must have product, but nice to have if you like shimmery highlighting powders.
They are a bit expensive at $38.50 CAD but I guess pretty designs/packaging always seem to cost more!

Clarins Cotton Flower face palette photos and swatches

Clarins cotton flower palette was released for spring 2010. I found this little beauty recently at Winners, which is a Canadian partner of TJ Maxx. They often get Clarins items in, lot's of limited edition products and even some of the permanent line. It's a great way to try out Clarins without spending a fortune.
The palette is so pretty to look at, adorned with white shimmery cotton flowers. The powder itself is flesh toned, with very fine shimmer. Mixed together they create a very natural looking beige highlight. It almost blends in with my skin, but it's got a very slight peachy tone to it.

Swatches :

Here I am wearing it on my cheekbone, even though I put a lot on it is still a very minimal 'glow' effect.

This is a great option for more mature ladies that just want a touch of luminescence. Personally I like a little more shimmer in my highlighters.
It also works alright an all over face powder, but on my skin it looked a bit too warm. I love face powders with a little shimmer in them. I can't find any good ones now that my favorite sally hansen corn silk illuminating powder (HG for 4 years!) has been discontinued :/

Do you like illuminating powders? What is your favorite kind?

Hard Candy honeymoon blush photos, swatches and FOTD

I bought this thinking it would make a really pretty highlighter, but surprise! It shows up as a blush on my pale face. Another winner from Hard Candy!
Honeymoon has multiple colors swirled through it, including peach, gold and light lavender. The color turns out to be a really gorgeous glowing pinkish peach.

It has an awesome iridescent quality to it.

It's such a nice face-brightening color for spring! Of course medium and dark skin tones could use it as a highlighter since it wouldn't show much as a blush.
FOTD breakdown:
face:
- Revlon colorstay in ivory
eyes:
- MAC bare study paint pot
- MAC family silver eyeshadow
- urban decay 24/7 liner zero
cheeks:
- Hard Candy honeymoon blush
lips:
- MAC english accents lipglass

NARS orgasm illuminator photos, swatches and FOTD

I'm on the slow boat and didn't try the NARS orgasm illuminator when it first came out. I did try it recently and was pretty underwhelmed. I whipped it out today and tried to make it work.

It looks so nice in the bottle, and dabbed on my arm:

And then I blended it..

Um where did the prettiness go? It looks like a super light liquid shimmery bronzer I can get from bonne bell.

Wearing orgasm illuminator on my cheeks:

It did add some light reflecting pigments to my cheeks but all in all it really didn't impress me. It kind of made me look greasy.
I thought I'd get some nice color from it since I'm so pale but it really refused to show up the way I wanted it to. It's not light enough to highlight and it's not dark enough to be a blush, so I have no use for this product.

Have you tried the illuminator? did it work for you?

Becca mermaid loose shimmer powder photos and swatches

Ah mermaid, how long I waited to find you! I wanted this for years, and just recently got it from a very sweet person I'm forever indebted to.
I have a little obsession with mermaids and the ocean, so naturally I was very drawn to this color.
Mermaid is a discontinued shade of Becca's loose shimmer powder, which is really sad. Nothing quite compares to it, I just had to share swatches.

This is my first Becca product, it's a multi-use highlighting powder. You can apply it anywhere. There are quite a few different colors available.
I can't really describe Mermaid accurately. It's extremely complex and shifts tone in different light. Just imagine a mermaid's fin dazzling in the light, and dimming in murky water. Something to that effect.

There are gold and grey-green tones,

In some lights it looks bronze, others yellowed gold,

and the multi-faceted shimmer is absolutely amazing.

Here I wore it as an eyeshadow:

And I applied it as a cheekbone highlighter:

It's an understated color that just dazzles without being gaudy. I really love it and I *hope* they bring this color back.
Becca also makes pressed shimmer powders, which are supposedly really nice. I think I might try more from this line.
I'm curious, does anyone have a favorite Becca product?