MAC Strobe Cream Review

I was pretty damn excited to try this product. It has a massive hype surrounding it and even the BR beauties have written rave reviews. I decided that a trip to Wellington was the perfect excuse to hand over my $67 in return for a healthy glow that would have everyone complimenting my skin.

I tried this product every way I could think of. I applied it underneath my foundation, mixed it with my foundation and applied it on my cheekbones over top of my foundation. I couldn't see a thing. There was no magical glow, no healthy sheen, and it seemed nobody else saw anything either.

I stopped using this product not just because it didn't do anything for me, but because it interfered with my makeup application. My makeup just wouldn't sit well on top of it, and I would end up with patchy foundation.

I'm also not a fan of the packaging. Although it is sleek and scream 'MAC,' it was very hard to squeeze the product out and too much product was dispensed every time. You also can't see when you are getting low. Because the tube is quite difficult to squeeze, I question whether the last remnants of product will be able to be squeezed out.

Perhaps my full coverage foundation just won't let the glow shine through. Perhaps it just doesn't suit my normal/combination skin that isn't dull or flat. Perhaps, unlike everyone else, I just can't see the glow that is created by the strobe cream.

I was expecting the MAC strobe cream to make me look extra healthy, bright and glowy and I saw no difference. I certainly prefer to use powder highlighters to achieve my glow.

I am so glad that I managed to get this as a trial size before I brought into the hype surrounding this strobe cream. Actually had 2 trial sized, 1 I purchased and another as a free sample. So I really gave this a try but still failed to fall in love with it, or actually able to get by with it.

Packaging, of the sample these came in a sized to go tube of opaque pearl white tube with black screw off lid and the famous MAC logo detailing in black print. The tube was the size of my palm and I was able to apply to my face in it's entirety for 4-6 applications.

Formula, the cream is a slightly thicker than normal day cream with a soft opal sheen to it with a pearly white, cream and pink beaming through the cream, just a subtle nod to a shimmer but nothing too over the top like a glitter infusion. A small amount covers my rather chunky round face so it goes a long way, it seems to expand with the warmth of your hands as you apply. There is no initial problems with the cream, no fragrance or sticky mess upon your hands.

Once applied to the face though, things start to happen. Number 1 having a pale face to begin with then adding a cream designed to illuminate and bring a glow to it, turns you into a ghost! My skin had a soft veil of glow that as I rubbed became more apparent and so did the texture change form a nice massage able cream to a sticky, tacky glop!

Once applied makeup my concealer was forever running and my foundation finish just looked patchy. I appeared to be 3 shades lighter so transparent and even after applying colour I still remained looking sickly. This might work for those who have a darker complexion but for me it was a big fat no go! The change in texture upon my face I chalk up to my skin type of having oily areas and dry areas, the cream must have been reacting with my oils and creating the tacky surface and then not hydrating the dry bits left my foundation patchy.

Wouldn't purchase the full size and don't see the hype in the product to be completely honest. Maybe I had too high of hopes.

With the latest craze being strobing I thought I would bring out my MAC Strobe cream. I picked this up on my latest MAC order (which was about 6 months ago) as I love that there are a few MAC products that come in travel size so you can test it before purchasing a full size. I also think with a highlighting product like this you don't need to use much so it should last for ages even in the 30ml size. With most of my MAC products I order directly from MAC in the US and get shipped to me through YouShop.

The packaging is quite nice, as you would expect for the price. It is a pearlescent white squeezy tube with the black writing on it. The lid is black at the bottom and secures quite tightly.

I've tried writing this review for a very long time but I still can't really come up with an opinion. You'd think that that would mean I was on the fence about whether it was particularly good or bad. But the real problem is I just can't see what this product does. I can't really tell the difference between using this or not once I have my foundation on. Even before I put my foundation on I was looking at my skin thinking... it looks the same as usual! The claims for this product are similar to that of Clarins Flash Balm and at least that makes my skin feel nice and is a great base for makeup, this just does nothing (on me at least). It doesn't moisturise well, or leave my skin glowing, nor prime.

Obviously I won't be repurchasing this. I can't tell what it does so I certainly won't pay money for that!

I brought this thinking it would be fabulous to wear underneath my foundation, thinking it might brighten my dull skin from underneath..

I brought the 50ml bottle and at $70 I was hoping I was going to love it, but for the life of me I cannot work this cream out.

The White plastic bottle has a black screw top lid but the silly part is it can't sit on its lid because it's dome shaped so it has to sit inside something else so the cream runs to the bottom, then the plastic is quite hard making it hard to squeeze the cream out and when you do you get way too much. Yep the packaging is a huge let down

The actual cream looks white but as you spread it over your skin it has a pink sheen. I have dry skin so this does absorb into my skin pretty quickly it doesn't leave much residue and once it's fully applied I can't really notice too much difference to my skin. In certain light I can see very small shimmer specks. I apply foundation and notice absolutely zero difference to my skin. I gave up on this until I did some reading about mixing it in with your foundation. Having dry skin I like dewy foundations so adding this just left my foundation looking like I had sat in a sauna all day. It looked like it had melted and was very streaky.

I also had a quick play adding it like a highlighter but you have to be very light handed and precise 2 things I am not!

Overall I would almost say I hate this cream yes I know hate is a strong word, but I can't see what the hype is and I really don't understand the product, let alone the price tag it comes with, would greatly appreciate any tips.

I am not a fan. I brought it off the MAC website in a travel size of 30ML just to try it out and im so glad i didn't spend all my money on a big version. I brought it because there was just so much hype about it being amazing so i thought why not give it a go right? I put it under my foundation like a primer, i looked like one of the vampires out of the twilight movie... so much shine.. I then went on to put my foundation and powder over it but even then i spouse it was just a little to much dewiness for me, it made me look quite oily through the day. So after giving that a go, i went on to see what it would be like under foundation where you would put your highlight and that looked okay, didn't make me go oily but the product just doesn't stand up to the hype i thought it would. Don't get me wrong it has very pretty and simple packaging which sits nice on any makeup stand! In the end i sold it and the lady i sold it to loves it. I wont be buying again. Don't buy into the hype!

I don’t really get this product. Is it moisturiser or luminiser? Or is it both? Looking on the Mac website I was still none the wiser. So when I got a deluxe mini of this in a Mecca loop box I wasn’t really sure what to do with it. I’m still not sure after using it. I was hoping it would do for no make up days but I find this a bit much to use alongside my sunscreen so it has just languished in my bathroom cabinet. It tends to make my look greasy (I have normal skin) rather than glossy I don’t get the hype with this so I wouldn’t purchase it.

Didn't feel like it did much out of the ordinary - for the price I probably wouldn't repurchase because i can use any other moisturiser - I read the review at the top: "Super-powered with potent botanicals; de-snoozes, de-stresses, moistens, freshens and boosts the look of dull, flat or tired-looking skin with a fully loaded vitamin zap and a mega dose of green tea." UM no it doesnt do any of this, just provides skin with a bit of moisture but you can get this from many different products. Don't get sucked into it by the brand name not worth the hype

I had super high hopes for this product, but it just doesn't really work for me. Thank god that I only have a 30 ml of it, and that the 30 ml was only about $16 Duty Free in HK, because otherwise I'd have wasted money on this, I think.

I'd heard this was phenomenal but literally the only use I can find for it is as a highlighter on my cheekbones, and even then it's not special.

MAC Strobe Cream comes in a characteristically simple and elegant MAC tube. The tube itself is a silvery grey, with the logo in black and a black snap-open dispensing cap which helps with ease of product extraction, but does clog and gunk up, requiring cleaning.

The cream itself is reasonably thick, with a pale pearlescent pink tinge to it. On first application to bare skin it DOES provide a pretty shimmer. Unfortunately when you apply foundation over the top, that effect vanishes. I tried mixing this with the foundation and it just ended up looking smeary and not sitting right.

I have three creams that claim to do the same thing as this - one in the same price range, one half the price, and one a third of the price. Of the three, the cheapest one is the best! Don't get sucked in by the brand name.

In short, I found that this cream, on my skin, had very little effect unless applied over foundation on key points. In addition, it clogged around my nose and broke me out.

Positives - the effect on bare skin. The subtle shimmer as a final-touch highlighter. The packaging.

This one was a miss for me!

This product is great for highlighting check bones, and under brows, not so much a primer because it is to glossy. The texture is a nice smooth consistency and is easy to apply. It has a nice pearly white colour to it which is really nice but i think i wouldnt be buying again as mac products can be expensive and not as great.

I died a few times over when I saw this product coming out... it was most certainly hyped up and looked beautiful! I got the colour peach lite cause I love my peachy shades!

PROS: I did love that peachy sheen (small con, for me personally I didn't feel like that beautiful 'strobe' sheen was prominent on me, whereas, I tried it on my sister in law and it was a lot more obvious). It is quite hydrating to the skin. which is always good before makeup application.

CONS: I didn't notice any jaw dropping differences with this product. I didn't find it made any difference to the makeup application by applying it before hand aside from hydrating the skin and giving a more radiant, glowing look but, maybe that's all it's supposed to do and perhaps it didn't really work for me because I have oily skin as I didn't notice any difference really, whereas it did add a pretty glow to my sister-in-laws face.. perhaps it's just a product mismatch due to my skin type?

CONCLUSION: I just feel as though this product promises a lot and I think it's nice... but not anything wonderful or jaw dropping. I don't feel a huge desire to repurchase..