I didn’t really know too much about Hourglass if I’m honest.

I knew they made powders but I’d never seen too much about them. Nor had I ever seen them in an actual shop. I’d probably heard You Tubers talking about them, but they’d never really got my attention. Until the Ghost palette came out for Holiday 2019. It just looked beautiful. I’m a sucker for palettes in general. However, I saw it in action on a few videos and posts, and swatched it in real life and thought the powders looked and felt amazing. The turning point for me was seeing a Temptalia post showing a before and after. The results weren’t totally magical, but how I would describe it is her skin but better.

I’m pretty happy with my foundation and concealer but aside from using am Elf powder to take a bit of the oil out my favourite Smashbox foundation, I didn’t really do much in terms of face powders.

I wanted it. But it was £75. £75 on a palette that wasn’t necessary in my routine, from a brand I’d never tried before. I just couldn’t pull the trigger.

Then Black Friday happened and I picked it up for £60. That’s still a good chunk of money, but given you get six good size powders in here I decided it was at a better price point for me. There’s not much to say about the packaging. It’s pretty understated. The only comment I have is that when I took the palette out it was dusty? The inside of the palette was perfect and untouched. But I thought it was odd that the outside was so dusty given it had been kept in a box?

The powders

The palette does come with a handy little card showing any newbies how and where to use powder.

You get six powders in total. Two for all over the face, two blushes, one highlight and one bronzer. However, with the majority of these you can mix it up and get creative if you want. This is a great collection as my first introduction to these powders.

The first two – the top left and top middle – are the finishing powders intended for all over the face. I was concerned that using these separately wouldn’t be the right shade for me skin. I’ve therefore been using these mixed together. The effect is an enhancement to my skin that I’ve never had before. It’s subtle, and not at all sparkly. It’s very difficult to explain, other than a ‘muted glow’ to my skin. You can barely see it when you’re applying it. If I couldn’t see some powder getting kicked up I may have thought my brush wasn’t actually picking anything up.

Next up, in the top right is the highlighter. I use this on my cheekbones, under the brows and a little down the nose. I love the effect that this has. It’s not too blinding, it just enhances my features nicely. The only thing about this powder, is there’s quite a lot of kick up. So I’ve gone through quite a lot of this already.Next is the bronzer which I’ve used once. It’s quite dark on my skin and I’m not much of a bronzer person in general.

Finally, are the two blush shades. I’ve been using the bottom right one mostly. It’s perfect for my skin tone. The one next to it is a little too bright for day to day use, however I do use it on evenings.

This gives a nice wash of colour with a hint of shimmer.

I’m super impressed with these powders

These all apply perfectly, they’re not too shimmery and are perfect for both and day and night. I’m so happy I took the plunge and purchased this. It was the perfect introduction to the brand.

My only complaint with this palette is the styling of it. The plastic feels quite cheap, and after only six weeks of use it’s looking pretty tired and dirty. In comparison to their single pans, this doesn’t look great, or worthy or such a high price.

Each of these powders is 1.4g. A full size would be 10g and in the case of the Ambient Light Powder cost £42. This does suggest that the value of this palette isn’t that great. However, if I were to purchase full sizes all six of these powders separately it would cost £234. Despite the cost, I’m glad I purchased this palette, so I could try a few different powders at once. I likely won’t repurchase a whole new palette (if a new one comes for Holiday 2020). Instead, I’ll simply purchase full sizes of the face powder, highlight and blush when I hit pan.

Have you tried Hourglass? If you have any product recommendations let me know in the comments!

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