Sunday, April 9, 2017

What I'm Not Buying: Anastasia Beverly Hills Aurora Glow Kit


Anastasia Beverly Hills has released another colored, duo-chrome glow kit. 

And I won't be buying. 

At this point, it seems pretty obvious that brands are getting on board with the reality that everyone has a highlighter and they are not all that different from one another. Even people who have entire drawers of highlighters are deciding against buying the new ones that are being released because at some point, everyone realizes that they have purchased fifteen of the exact same product. 

So what are the brands going to do when they know they are a part of a culture where people are only using/excited about their (full-sized) products for a few months after buying? They have to release more things. They have to make everything limited edition and release new products every few months instead of just having a solid lineup of permanent products. 

And they have to make them "different" somehow even if that means making them completely counterintuitive. 

Aurora, to be completely honest, never tempted me. I don't really understand this product, I don't see how it is additive to the duo-chrome highlighters already on the market (including Moonchild), and I'm just really annoyed that brands are trying to figure out the latest gimmick or way to repackage something you already have or something you would never think to want. 

Let's look at swatches:



I think Luna and Eclipse could work nicely as highlighters (and would look like all the other highlighters sitting in people's collections) and Lyra could maybe look nice, maybe not look nice. I think Spectra could look gorgeous on dark skin, maybe even as a blush, but I think it might look like a bruise on lighter skin. Orion and Helia don't really seem like highlighters to me and seem more like eyeshadow, which is something ABH seems to use in promotional materials. 


So, I think this is a stunning photograph. I've mentioned this when I've written about Pat McGrath products, but if I could have the photo of the model framed, I would totally put it on my wall. I think she looks stunning and editorial with a bit of space/alien interest. I could look at the photo for hours. But, I just don't see how this applies to everyday life. And I get that makeup doesn't have to be completely wearable. There are plenty of bloggers I follow who wear incredible colorful looks. But these same people also acknowledge that they wear that makeup to take pictures for their blog/social media or to film videos and do not leave the house looking that way. 

So, this product seems to be for that purpose. But if that's the case, I feel it should contain less product and be at a much cheaper price point. I don't want to spend serious money on a product that is intended to just be for play. 

I also think it's interesting that the model is wearing the product as eyeshadow. I think that is ABH's way of trying to convince people that this (essentially) unnecessary product can be multipurpose, which always gives people an incentive to buy. But the people who are likely to buy this product are the same people who already have more than enough eyeshadow. So, for me personally, I don't think the fact that these can be used as eyeshadow is that much of a positive toward the product. 

If anything, it feels like a response to the Kat Von D Alchemist palette, which felt like a response to the Moonchild palette. 



In my own collection, I have the ABH Moonchild Glow Kit:


And here are my swatches:


Blue Ice, Star, Purple Horseshoe


Pink Heart, Lucky Clover, Blue Moon

As you can see, there is a hell of a difference between my swatches and the brand swatches. And that's because I'm a normal person with no agenda and I'm not trying to get people to buy anything by showing them completely overdone and unrealistic "pigmentation." 

At first, I had no intention of buying Moonchild. I thought it was really silly to have colors on my face. I was not all that interested in the saturated color highlighters (looking at you, black highlighter that makes people look like they've been sweeping chimneys). But when I saw it on real people and saw that it was a subtle sheen (like all highlighters) that had a hint of something interesting, I decided to buy it. I purchased this palette during the ABH Black Friday sale, and I have to say that I have really loved using it. 

For months after I purchased it, I wore nothing but Moonchild and have only recently (in the last month) started using Becca Moonstone again. My favorite and most worn color is Blue Ice, followed by Lucky Clover and Pink Heart. I also really like using the other three shades for mixing. 

It came as a big surprise to find that Moonchild was actually a really great purchase for me. I often receive compliments when I wear it, but I have also gotten comments about how my cheeks are "silver" or "purple." Those same comments are always mentioned within a compliment, so I know it doesn't look "bad," but it tells me that even though the sheen and shift are subtle, the color is still noticeable. I'm also not that heavy-handed with highlighter, and I have never once received a comment or compliment on my highlighter outside of wearing Moonchild. That is to say that my highlighter is usually pretty undetected. 

And because of the comments about the color, I just cannot see myself wearing something like Aurora that is so much less "wearable." I also feel that, since a highlighter is a highlighter is a highlighter, a person only really "needs" one holographic highlighter. And with single options from Becca, Makeup Geek, and Cover FX, I just don't see the appeal to this highlighter/eyeshadow palette. 

Of all the things people don't need in makeup, a ton of colored duo-chrome highlighters that can look like stripes of color across the cheeks is probably pretty high up on the list. I don't need this, I don't want this, and I'm not going to buy this. 

2 comments:

  1. It always makes me laugh at little bit when brands market their highlighters as an eyeshadow product too. I've never once looked at my highlighter and thought about wearing it as an eyeshadow. Maybe that's just me.

    I agree that it seems that brands are marketing products purposely for Instagram pictures. I'm definitely not interested in dropping $40 for that!

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