Pat McGrath Skin Fetish Highlighter: A customizable glow

Pat McGrath Skin Fetish Highlighter review, price, swatch

PRICE: P2,850.00

FROM: Free

OTHER LOCATIONS: Available at sephora.ph

THE VERDICT:

When this highlighter came out as one of the items of Pat McGrath's famous Dark Star collection, the world went head over heels with it; unfortunately, only a few were luckily chosen to own it because it was sold out in a matter of minutes on the initial launch; yes, I should know, I was one of the hopefuls who stuck to my laptop and the brand website, hoping to score a set, but alas, it was not my lucky day.

Due to popular demand, Pat McGrath brought back Skin Fetish Highlighter a couple of years back as now part of the permanent makeup collection. World famous Pat McGrath Skin Fetish Highlighter is a wand of magic shine that lets you customize your glow from natural to otherworldly.

Ingredients

Pat McGrath Skin Fetish Highlighter is a dual- ended highlighter with a cream highlighter and transparent balm. Each product can be used individually or layered on top of the other for an exquisite glow. The highlighter comes in three shades.

First, the packaging. It's quite chunky and heavy, and made with high quality metal. Luxury is always about the presentation and this one did not disappoint; I love the 80's slash space vibe of this one. Really luxe- looking.

The highlighters are fairly short; about half a thumb's length as well as the balm. Also, Bronze popped out of the base and fell to the ground while I was twisting it up, and gave me a mini heart attack; that's about a thousand bucks down the drain if it were destroyed, but thankfully, the semi- matte consistency gave the product that much- needed solidness and survived the fall; it's just that the product wasn't properly pressed on the base. Do note to always check the overall packaging of the product before finalizing that purchase.

L-R: Gold, Nude, Bronze

Here are the highlighters; these are all the shades. Gold is a pale gold shade, Nude is a light champagne pink, and Bronze is a golden bronze; the shades were built to match a variety of skin hues in the fair, medium, and dark skin tone spectrum. Most of the time, I use gold.

Texture is cream to powder and has a semi matte finish. The shimmers in this one are minuscule; I mean if finely- milled shimmer were a thing, this product has it. It's a pretty unique formula, I must say, because once blended on the skin, it literally just looks like you're glowing from within, genuinely; not my-makeup-says-I'm-glowing-from-within. You can go heavy with this product and it won't look as if you're wearing highlighter...AT ALL; that's how natural- looking this thing is. I use this as an overall highlighter underneath heavy foundation as well and as highlighter for my teardrop area.

Next up, the skin balm. This balm is considered the icing on this highlighter cake because it's Pat McGrath's secret weapon in backstage shows for over 25 years.

If Charlotte Tilbury's Magic Cream has an interesting history, this one does as well: Pat is a lover of all things glistening and when she couldn't find a makeup product that would give skin a glossy glow, she made her own mixture and voila! Skin Balm was born. The secret is finally out for everyone to experience after 25 years.

Skin Fetish Balm is a concoction of Hyaluronic Acid, Argan Oil, and Aloe Vera. It is not overly sticky, slimy or runny; in fact, when you apply it on the skin, it stays there until it gets wiped off whether intentionally or accidentally and surprisingly doesn't cause makeup to come off; instead, it seals in and brings back moisture right back into the skin to keep makeup fresh and hydrated. The beauty of this balm is it can be used to soothe the lips, brows, and lashes as well.

How to use Skin Fetish Highlighter:
1. Apply the cream highlighter under or over makeup and blend upwards. Layer on as you please.
2. Want that outrageous glossy glow, dab Skin Fetish Balm on top of the highlighter and watch your face light up the world!

Here's a quick demo of the products:

Here's me wearing the cream highlighter on top of bare skin. See what I meant with the genuine glowing-from-within look? You can barely detect that I have highlighter on and on good skin days, I just put on brows, lip tint, and apply the highlighter strategically all over my face for that I-Just-Received-My-Salary glow LOL.

Here's me wearing the highlighter on top of powder; I only put a small amount because I just want a hint of glow on my skin.

Another good thing about this product is you can apply it on top of makeup and no ma'm, it won't disrupt makeup. Staying power is pretty good too.

Now let's use the skin balm. I applied it on top of powder eyeshadow for a glossy lid look. It's a fun look; however, it's not sustainable especially if you have oily skin and in a fairly warm country like ours. Nice to use for shoots though because it gives you discernible glossy lids in photos.

Here's me wearing Skin Fetish Balm on the high points of my face. Glass skin in an instant!

The nice thing about the balm is unlike petroleum jelly, it doesn't run off and remove makeup; it acts like makeup, but only has a skin care feel, although this one is something that you may have to retouch often during wear. And just like the glossy lids look, this balm is something that you can't sport on a daily basis on the skin, especially during summer; it will just melt in the heat.

TBJ TIP: The best way to apply the balm is to tap it on top of the cream highlighter or the high points of your face.

I thought I have tried all good highlighters and then I have tried Pat McGrath Skin Fetish Highlighter;  I love the fact that I can achieve a customizable glow with it, not to mention I have been looking for a glossy makeup topper for quite sometime now; I actually like this product and the cream highlighter is prolly the best there is; I also like the balm even if I don't use it everyday because I can use it for some of my makeup tutorials and looks on this blog and in videos. It's nice to buy one to try, but I wouldn't say it's completely necessary to own all shades. I also think that this is a great makeup artist product as the skin balm is pretty indispensable; no more using petroleum jelly (and destroying your artwork in the process) to achieve the wet look during shoots!

PAT MCGRATH SKIN FETISH HIGHLIGHTER RATING

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