♡ A Sugary Sweet Highlight ♡

Bonjour mes amis, and welcome/welcome back to La Salle Belle!

I think it was about two or three weeks ago that Anastasia Beverly Hills' newest highlighter palette, the Sugar Glow Kit, was released on the Sephora website (and probably Anastasia's own website but I'll reference Sephora because I received the most updates about the palette from and about them). Its release had been announced a while longer before it actually happened, and in that time frame, I debated with myself on whether or not I wanted to pick it up for myself. Prior to the Sugar Glow Kit, I had not before purchased a ABH Glow Kit, as famous as they are, but around the time that the palette was announced, I had already started telling myself that I wanted to get more serious about makeup and invest in/try out a broader spectrum of makeup, especially items that receive a lot of hype and attention so as to make my blog posts as helpful as possible to my fellow makeup lovers.

As a natural fan of all things sweet or candy-related (except actual candy, ironically) to begin with, I was instantly more attracted to the idea of the Sugar Glow Kit upon its announcement than I had ever been to any other ABH Glow Kit before; the names alone (which I'll be getting into in a bit) would probably have been enough to sway me into my purchase, but the warm, pinky tone of the overall palette was ultimately what convinced me that I needed to add it to my collection.

Like I said, this palette has been out for some time already, so I am a little late to the game in getting this review up, but if for some reason you haven't seen it yet, I'll attach a picture of it right here, straight from ABH's website:

So, let's touch on the basics first. As you can see in the picture, you get four shades in this palette, as you would with a number of ABH's Glow Kits, which, according to the back of the packaging, weigh in at 0.26 ounces each. The palette itself is $40, and when you consider the fact that the average high-end highlighter can cost between $15 to $20--or even more--for just one pan, I find this to be an excellent price point.

Though what I want to mention next isn't related to the shades themselves at all, I still felt like it was worth including in this post, because it was definitely a sweet surprise for me: it's impossible to tell from the photo, but the packaging of the palette is actually glittery. It's a relatively subtle glitter, and can't really be seen in "normal" lighting, but if you put the palette under direct light or look at it closely, you'll definitely be able to tell. 

Now, let's get into some swatches. 

LEFT TO RIGHT: Butterscotch, Gumdrop, Marshmallow, Starburst

Here's a picture of some initial finger swatches, which I took using light to medium pressure with each respective finger. As you can see, you can get a lot of concentrated color payoff with these shades, and in this state, you can really tell what the true "nature" of each shade is supposed to be, which is why I wanted to include this picture. 

Going in the order in which they're displayed in this picture, I'll start off by pointing out Butterscotch on the tip of my pinky, which comes off of the palette as a light gold. The next, Gumdrop, is by and large my favorite of the quartet, as I can honestly say that I've never seen one like it before. I'm not sure how well you can detect it from this photo, but it's definitely a duochrome, with a peachy pink base that flashes almost purple when it hits the light. Marshmallow is a duochrome as well, and comes off as a metallic cream color that flashes gold and even hints of green when under direct light. Starburst, lastly, was actually the shade that surprised me a little bit, as its swatch doesn't really look anything like it does in the pan. The lightest shade of the four, it applies to the skin as a pearly white shade, not at all the pink that it appears to be in the palette, but I don't consider this to be a bad thing at all. In fact, I'm a little grateful that it swatches in the way it does, because it provides the palette with a little more usability than it would have than it would if all four of the shades came off as super warm, almost editorial colors. 

I had already played around with the Kit a little before I sat down to take the pictures for this post, so I was already familiar with the texture of the shades, but dipping into them again as I had when I first opened them up, I was once more struck by the soft butteriness of the ABH formula; it almost comes across in the same way as a cream highlighter without being wet or oily. 

LEFT TO RIGHT: Marshmallow, Gumdrop, Butterscotch, Starburst

Clearly, this picture wasn't as successful as the one of my initial swatches was, but I promise that that has less to do with the quality of the shades and more to do with my having an iPhone and a fluorescent desk lamp. Regardless, I swatched each shade in the order I denoted using my initial finger swatches, and compared each finger swatch to a brush swatch of the same shade using a Luxie 205. The brush swatches of Butterscotch and Starburst didn't really seem to stand a chance, but if you keep reading, I'll have pictures of each shade on my face so you can get a better feel for what they're actually meant to look like. 

As with any other highlighter, the pigmentation of the shades diffuses a little bit when you pass it onto the skin, but I would be wrong to say that they lose their intensity. Each shade is very metallic and very reflective, and though the true colors that you saw in the first swatch picture can't be seen as much anymore, you can still distinguish them from one another, so you're definitely not getting any repeat colors in this palette.

In the pictures of the facial swatches that I'll feature next, I applied each shade over a base of Maybelline Face Studio blurring/illuminating primer, Clinique Beyond Perfecting Foundation + Concealer in Alabaster, and NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Custard, which I set with a layer of NYX Professional Makeup HD Banana Finishing Powder. Because I decided to do this post at the end of the day, I didn't bother to put on any other makeup, so please ignore my sparse eyebrows and naked eyelids!

I also want to disclose that, when it comes to highlight, I like to go for the so-bright-it-blinds you look. I know that not everyone does, and that some prefer a more subtle glow, and I want to say that that is completely achievable with this palette, but for the sake of my personal preference, I did build up these shades for these swatches by passing my brush over my cheekbone about three or four times. I even took a picture of my normal, every day highlight to depict what it is that I try to go for:

Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Opal

Having said that, here go the Sugar Glow facial swatches:

Marshmallow

Gumdrop

Butterscotch

Starburst

And with that, I think I've said all I can about the Sugar Glow Kit! If you think you'd like to pick it up for yourself, it is, of course, available on the ABH website, as well as at Sephora, as I've mentioned, and as of recently, you can now get it at Ulta as well. Overall, I do think that this palette is more than worth its price, and offers that much more fun and diversity than what you can find from your regular selection of highlighters while still being extremely usable for your daily makeup routine. I also don't believe that this Kit is limited edition, so if you're still on the fence about whether or not you want to grab it, you've got some time to think it over!

One thing about this Glow Kit that I want to address before heading out is that I know a lot of my fairer-toned friends are a little daunted by these shades because of the overall depth of the palette. While I will say that Butterscotch probably looks best on yellow-toned or deeper skin levels, I think that the other three could look good on essentially anybody, and even then, why not try and play around with Butterscotch a little bit? 

For my first ABH Glow Kit experience, I would absolutely call it a success. If anything, I'm only further inspired to dive even deeper into the world of Glow Kits and give a chance to everything I've clearly been missing out on for this long.

This post is definitely long enough, and I'm sure you're done reading the words "swatch" and "palette," so let's go ahead and call it a day. Thanks so so much for visiting me again here at La Salle Belle, and I'll talk to you again soon!

Avec amour,

Bella ♡

PS: If you have a favorite ABH Glow Kit of your own, let me know in the comments!