I feel like Illuminators or highlighters are something that can just be really fun, so I decided to do pricing on them before I went forward with Foundation. Just to add a little color and shine into our day. We're still talking about price but I think this is a little more exciting. I love highlighters and Illuminators. Can you believe I didn't even know what they really were up until 6 months ago. Wow!
The examples of duplicates and price differences will shock you! Most of them whether high priced of low priced are very comparable. So I decided to go through and filter out highlighters in ascending price order. Just to give you a little look into highlights from the lowest to the highest prices. I have quite a few highlighters myself. So many of them come in liquid form that you can get a nice size sample of any high-end brand at Nordstroms and I’ve bought a few highlighting bricks and singles. So I have an idea of what really compares. For example, NYX’s liquid highlighter in Born to Glow compares almost exactly to NARS’ Copacabana. I own both. It’s almost impossible to tell which is which if squirted side by side on your hand. Once you apply them NARS’ truly disappears and just catches the light where NYX’s is a tiny bit less invisible but catches the light in the same way. MAC’s Bronze liquid Illuminator is a true match to NYX Bronze Glow, have them both, and I can’t tell the difference, at all. They both give me a sun-kissed dewy glow.
Let’s hop into it by playing the match game (highs and low
listed below). The highest priced highlighter on the Sephora list matches the Too
Faced Sweetheart Beads Radiant Glow Face
Powder (#9, Ulta- High), a $28.00 difference. Beads of shimmer in several similar color combinations. Physicians Formula Nude
Wear Nude Glow Powder/Blush $12.99-$14.99,
are not listed, but make a good duplicate for Diorskin Nude Shimmer (#4,
Sephora- High), a $40.00 difference, but you’ll probably need both the
Bronzer/Blush to truly match it so it’s more like a $25.00 difference. That’s still
pretty good; 2 for much less than the price of 1! The Maybelline Master Hi-lite (#6, Ulta- Low) has the
exact colors in the Givenchy compact, a $37.00 difference, or the Sephora Microsmooth Trio (#7, Sephora- Low), a $11 difference. The Sephora
Microsmooth in Light Beam (#2, Sephora- Low) is an exact dupe to Intimate Spotlight (#5, Ulta- Low), a
$4.00 difference. Not much but something when you’re on a budget or you just
happen to have an Ulta closer to you than you do a Sephora. Laura Mercier’s Secret Brightener is a good match to YSL’s
pen (#9, Sephora- High), a $15.00
difference. That just names a few higher priced highlighters and illuminators that
have a very close duplicate. Highlighters and Illuminators serve such a
specific light/sheer purpose that it is hard to make them extremely variant from one another.
You’ll always be able to find something at
a lower price range than one you’ve been wanting to buy, but can’t afford or don’t
want to waste that kind of money on. As long as you are OK with slight differences in some; the biggest being price. You can always just use a shimmery blush, bronzer,
or shimmery eye shadow that you like too. All you need is a little shimmer and
maybe a fan brush to make application precise. You can get a fan brush from E.L.F for $1.00 or a larger nicer one by EcoTools for $7, either way they have them in all ranges that work perfectly for what you'll be using them for.
 |
| Diorskin Nude Shimmer Instant Illuminating Powder- $56.00 |
 |
| Physicians Formula Nude Glow Bronzer/Blush, my Diorskin Nude Shimmer dupe. Btw $25-$40 difference. |
Ulta's 10 Lowest Priced Illuminators/Highlighters;
1. Essence Cosmetics Sun Club All-In-One Bronzing Highlighter- $4.49
2. Lorac Mini Tantalizer Baked Bronzer- $7.00
3. NYX Born To Glow Liquid Illuminator- $7.49
4. NYX Cosmetics Illuminator- $8.99
5. Kardashian Beauty Intimate Spotlight- $9.99
6. Maybelline Master Hi-Light Powdered Bronzer- $9.99
7. Kardashian Beauty Light Stroke Double Sided Luminizer- $9.99
8. Revlon Highlighting Palette- $10.99
9. Benefit Cosmetics Boi-ing Eyebright Compact- $12.00
10. Revlon PhotoReady Skinlights Face Illuminator- $12.99
 |
| Sephora Collection Microsmooth Baked, $14.00. |
 |
| Kardashian Collection dupe for Microsmooth, $4 difference. |
Ulta's 10 Highest Priced Highlighters/Illuminators;
1. Napoleon Perdis Blush Patrol- $50.00
2. Too Faced Bonjour Soleil Summer Bronzing Wardrobe- $44.00
3. Laura Geller Beauty Baked Split Highlighter Duo with Brush- $42.50
4. It Cosmetics Vitality Face Disc- $38.00
5. Laura Geller Beauty Bronze N Brighten- $33.00
6. Lorac TANtalizer Highlighter & Matte Bronzer Duo- $32.00
7. Smashbox Halo Highlighting Wand- $32.00
8. Tarte Amazonian Clay BB Illuminating Moisturizer- $32.00
9. Too Faced Sweetheart Beads Radiant Glow Face Powder- $32.00
10. Benefit Cosmetics Watts Up- $30.00
 |
| Guerlain Meteorites Perles, $70, or Powder, $60. |
 |
| Too Faced Sweetheart Beads, $30, my closest match to Guerlain. Btw $30-$40 different. |
Sephora's 10 Lowest Priced Highlighters;
1. Smashbox Travel-size Photo Finish Luminizing Foundation Primer- $8.00
2. Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Cosmetic Glitters- $14.00
3. SEPHORA COLLECTION MicroSmooth Baked Luminizer- $14.00
4. Tarte Maracuja Blush & Glow- $16.00 on sale from $32.00
5. Stila All Over Shimmer Liquid Luminizer- $20.00
6. Illamasqua Illuminator- $20.00
7. SEPHORA COLLECTION MicroSmooth Baked Sculpting Contour Trio- $21.00
8. Stila All Over Shimmer Duo- $22.00
9. bareMinerals bareMinerals READY® Luminizer Duo- $24.00
10. Illamasqua Gleam Cream- $26.00
 |
| Guerlain Precious Light Rejuvenating Illuminator, $51. |
 |
| YSL TOUCHE ÉCLAT – Rain Strass Edition, $45.00. |
 |
| Laura Mercier Secret Brightener, $30. A $15-$20 difference & still higher-end. |
Sephora's 10 Highest Priced Illuminators;
1. Guerlain Météorites Perles du Paradise- $70.00
2. Guerlain Météorites Powder For The Face- $60.00
3. Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette- $58.00
4. Dior Diorskin Nude Shimmer Instant Illuminating Powder- $56.00
5. Guerlain Precious Light Rejuvenating Illuminator- $51.00
6. Dolce & Gabbana The Illuminator Glow Illuminating Powder- $51.00
7. Givenchy Le Prisme Visage Mat Soft Compact Face Powder- $47.00
8. Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder- $45.00
9. Yves Saint Laurent TOUCHE ÉCLAT – Rain Strass Edition- $45.00
10. Guerlain Terracotta Blush Sun Shimmer Highlighter- $43.00
 |
| SEPHORA COLLECTION MicroSmooth Baked Sculpting Contour Trio- $21.00 |
 |
| Maybelline Master Hi-Lite, $9.99. Good sub. for Givenchy & Sephora C. Trio at $37 & $11 difference. |
