Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder Wardrobe Review

The word subtle is splashed across a lot of the online reviews for this product and being chocolate skinned; I wasn't too sure if that would work for me because I love the sparkles in life - in a BIG way :-) But after reading BR's jessickaxnz awesome review I walked out of Mecca with $89 less in the bank (you have been warned haha).

For me this is the perfect setting and finishing powder WHEN I wear minimal makeup (i.e tinted moisturiser, bb cream). It creates a soft "subtle" (there we go haha) glow that still looks like my skin. When I wear full makeup (i.e foundation) I do find it harder to see the benefits but that's mostly due to my skintone and the ongoing drama with looking ashy as opposed to the product itself.

I use my powder brush to apply the product and notice that a bit of powder does kick up so there's some wastage. I don't tap off any excess when applying to minimal makeup because there's no danger of looking like Casper due to the light texture.

I use Radiant Light to set and finish my face while mixing Dim Light and Incandescent Light for my highlight. Dim Light alone is barely noticeable on me so I go a little crazy with it because when you spend that much money you want to use EVERY shade haha.

The reason I think this is worth the money is because I haven't come across any other setting or finishing powder that looks like skin on my skintone and doesn't scream out to the world that I have pores *covers my face*.

If you're after that soft glow from within I highly recommend going into Mecca and sporting the shades on your face for the day to help you make your final decision :-) Do I think it's worth it? $89 well spent.

After seeing so much hype about this product, I had to go and try it for myself, so I trotted into Mecca in Newmarket and had the lovely ladies try some on me. My girlfriend who was with me was amazed at how it instantly changed my skin. It is just amazing, it seems to blur all those tiny imperfections and gives you a glowy filtered look. I love all three colours, and tend to mix them together to get a custom look for my skin colour. The packaging is luxurious looking, and smooth, and its one of those products that look good on the outside as well as the inside. Its a bit on the expensive side, but its definitely going to be a staple in my makeup kit from now on. Go on buy it, you won't regret it!

I've been looking at this for a long time but couldn't justify the price tag, when I received some money for my birthday I went out and purchased it and I'm so glad I did.

The case is just gorgeous, a shiny brown plastic clip case, that is easy to open and shut and feels like good quality as it's quite heavy. The 3 powders inside are a bit on the small side but I can't see me hitting pan for quite some time as you don't need to use heaps of powder to get a nice finish.

Once I've applied all my make up, I use the dim light to go over most of face with a big powder brush. I then grab a kabuki brush for the radiant light and apply that where you apply bronzer. (I apply the bronzer as well). Final touch is the incandescent light with a small highlighting brush on top of my cheekbones. The effect of the dim light is very subtle, creating a very soft look on my skin, almost like photoshopping my skin and the radiant light just brings out the glow of the bronzer. The incandescent light adds a beautiful sheen where applied. The only downside is that it's no good for oil control, so I don't apply to my T zone as it can end up looking greasy there. It's a really great product that helps soften the appearance of my fine wrinkles and brings about a youthful glow that I now couldn't live without.

This product was definitely worth the money. It has everything you could need. It has a shade that I use to set my foundation, a shade to highlight and give you that glow and a darker/warm shade that I use to warm up my skin. I personally love this product because I use every shade, you know how in some face palettes you use most but never touch one, that is the opposite in this case. All the powders are very universal. I mix the two first colours to set my foundation sometimes and it gives you the most natural satin/dewy finish, but it looks as if you want it to be like that, not that you're oily. I love this product, I will re-purchase for as long as I can.

It's a love hate relationship. I hummed and haa'd over this in the shop, many times, before buying.

I find the dark shade is a little too dark and too bronzey for me maybe? I think my main problem is finding the right brush to use with it, not too big, not too small, just the right amount of fluffiness.

I have to say I was hoping for more 'blurring of imperfection' action but alas I don't see anything blurred. It does add a nice glow to my face and the light shade provides subtle highlights. I like that it is not glittery like a lot of highlighters are.

I like the packaging and I'm happy that I bought it. I'm not sure I really needed it, but honestly I'm happy just to look at it even if I'm not using it- it is beautiful and luxurious looking, and the three different powders all have a deep glow. It's like when you see someone beautiful and you just can't stop staring!

I have struggled with my review for this product slightly because my feelings on this product have been a bit of a toss up.

I was keen to try this because of the hype and I was struggling to find highlighter and bronzer shades I liked. But it is expensive.

Finally I got one and couldn't wait to try it. I eagerly contoured my face and it felt a bit lackluster. I was expecting something more.

However the powders felt beautiful and the shades while not packing the punch I expected did seem to flatter my skin more than several brands I tried. So I kept at it and eventually found ways that worked best for me. And perhaps had also learned by this point that less could be more.

One trick I learned that I really like is mixing them together, this can create a whole new shade and can also be used as a face powder with a bit of glow.

What I love most about this product is how finely milled it is. None of my cheaper highlighter can compete with that. And it does last, which given the price is a relief. It's also in a nice compact, which I am a fan of.

All in all, I think I let the hype initially make me expect too much from this product. But it is quality.

I did ALOT of reviews on this before adding it to my list. It took a Youtube vid from the amazing Wayne Goss to convince me I needed this in my life. It is expensive so I wanted to do my research first to see how it's best applied ect. Knowing abit about photography and how to use light to accentuate angles I was intrigued to see how these work. These powders give a beautiful, subtle glow to the skin. So finely milled they glad on the skin and with out feeling like an extra layer has been added. This palette essentially makes your face look like it is glowing from within. I use each of the individual powder for different area's of the face.

If I'm honest I only bought the for the palette exclusive 'Incandescent light' as it is so gorgeous as a highlighter for the tops of the cheek bone and under the eye brow. It is the most natural highlighter for this purpose I have ever come across.

I didn't think I was going to like or use the other two shades 'dim light' and 'radiant light' but after talking to a girl at Mecca i decided to give them a shot.

Apparently dim light is good to use all of the face as a settling powder, personally I do not think it is good enough to use as a setting powder therefore I only ever use it on my cupids bow to define my lips and I do believe it does it nice job of this.

I do use radiant light over the top of my bonzer and I think it gives my skin a more natural glow which I love, it is extremely subtile so good for every day to day wear and harsh lights.

Overall I don't think i'd buy the palette again as I really only use incandescent light and I wish they would release it individually.

I've been using this for the past month, and have found it to be the perfect addition to my makeup routine in the mornings. If you're like me, and you enjoy a bit of faffing around with makeup in the morning, then I'm pretty sure you'll be into this too!

The powders are lovely and soft, and a little bit goes a long way. I like to layer each different powder over the top of my makeup to finish things off, and have found that it never makes my face look caked in powder, which is perfection!

My skin is combination, so I do find that it can make me look a little on the shiny side if I'm not careful, but that can easily be fixed by patting it into the skin once you're done.

I've travelled with mine a couple of times now, and it is still in tact, but I am very careful with my makeup in general, and I like to keep it close by when I can. In saying that, don't do what I did and dig your finger nails into it!!! Obviously this was unintentional, but still...it happened, and it happened very quickly on a couple of occasions!!! Major sad face as it now has a couple of dents out of the middle powder!