image: Bitter Lace Beauty - Prism
written by BR member Koni
When the Beauty Review Forum was buzzing with news of Bitter Lace Beauty’s popular “rainbow highlighter”, I decided that I was going to buy it. Why?
- It’s a highlighter
- It’s a rainbow highlighter
- I’m positive it’s Rainbow Brite’s highlighter*
To my surprise when I received the restock email I couldn’t bring myself to press “BUY NOW” because the BR members’ comments put things into perspective.
How often would I reach for it?
- Me: Everyday
- Reality: Once and probably to eat lunch in the comfort of my home.
Would it suit me?
- Me: Pffftttt absolutely it’s a highlighter
- Reality: With my kind of heavy handed application it’s really going to look like a frosty bruise with a good dose of “all sorts of too much”.
I closed the tab and decided to live vicariously through those reviewing the highlighter on Youtube which is where I came across the DIY tutorial. The following is what you’ll need:
- Willpower and strength to part with eyeshadows (think Project Pan!)
- COURAGE to smash up a highlighter (I am still recovering)
- 5 pastel eyeshadows that make up the rainbow
- Highlighter (Note: Your “go-to” highlighter is OUT OF BOUNDS)
- Empty compact (the bigger the compact the more eyeshadows you’ll need)
- Tealight holders (or any small bowls to mix each eyeshadow/highlighter)
- Isopropyl alcohol
- Plastic spoon
- Newspaper to cover your work area
- Tissues
Step 1: Avoid a night of regret by covering your entire workspace with newspaper. If you think the mess won’t reach a particular area – you’re wrong – cover that too unless you want green and orange stains on your carpet like yours truly (you’re welcome).
Step 2: Pick the shades you want and scoop out each eyeshadow using the plastic spoon and place into separate tealight holders. I didn’t have any pastel eyeshadows so I used every white shadow I owned to mix in with the bold colours I had (a total of 12 eyeshadows were destroyed in this process).
Step 3: Have a moment with your beloved highlighter before scraping (I wasn’t about to smash it like the kind of devastation I saw on Youtube) the amount of shimmer you want into each tealight holder. Crush and blend together.
Step 4: Add 2-3 drops (or 2-3 spritz if in spray bottle) of isopropyl alcohol into each mixture or until slightly runny. Smooth out any lumps and scoop out one shade at a time and place into the empty compact. I used a MAC blush compact and at this moment I realised that 6 grams really isn’t a lot of product!
Step 5: Place a tissue over the rainbow highlighter and press down to remove any excess alcohol and until the colour stops staining the tissue. To create a smooth surface, I covered a circular object that fit into the compact with tissue and pressed down until I was happy with the end result. This entire process took me half an hour; I believe I spent more time scrubbing my carpet!
Step 6: Leave open to dry for 24 hours but I only needed 12.
The outcome? As lovely as it looks in the compact it really doesn’t look that great on my face. I quietly joined my family in the lounge sporting Rainbow Brite’s highlighter and my aunty immediately asked me what was on my face - sooooooo clearly my application needs work but ultimately the combination of colours don’t work for me. Aside from saying goodbye to a beloved highlighter and scrubbing my carpet, it was a really fun and relaxing exercise on a Saturday night.
Thank you so much Koni - we loved reading this, and sure everyone else did too! And as for it not looking great on your face? Yeah, you could walk around with yesterday's mustard on your mush and still be a stunner!
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*Do you remember Rainbow Brite? Here she is in all of her 80s glory!
Well done, you have written a really good article.