Colourpop Highlighters // REVIEW + COMPARISON


Ever since I tried Colourpop's Face Duos, I could not get enough of their highlighters. They have few different formulas which I think is really nice and honestly, I like all of them. So today I wanted to sit down and share with you my collection of Colourpop highlighters and my thoughts on each formula.

1. Super Shock Cheek

Super Shock is probably their most famous formula of products, they have them as eyeshadows, blushes, highlighters and also used to have them as bronzers too.


The formula of those is very interesting. They're definitely not a powder highlight, but not a cream either. To me, they're kind of in between. On a brush they come off more as a powder as well as on the cheeks, but if you push your fingers into the product, you're going to see the fingerprint.

I actually enjoy the formula because even though they break quite easily, they are super easy to put back into place. You just push the product down in the little tin and voilá, as good as new. Actually, if you have ever had to put back together a powder product like a blush or highlighter, you know when you mix in the rubbing alcohol with the powder before it dries down again to the actual powder formula the product had? That squishy texture? Yeah, that's kind of what the Super Shock formula reminds me of.

The two shades that I have are Flexitarian and Smoke'n'Whistles. Flexitarian is more of a pearly champagne highlight that makes you glow to the gods. It looks more champagne in the pan but on the cheeks it comes of more pearly and white. Smoke n Whistles looks a little scary in the pan, definitely looks very peachy pink but when you put it on it's not as crazy as it first looks. You do see the difference in tone of the two swatched, but it's nowhere as intense of a peachy colour once you apply it.

f.l.t.r.: Colourpop Super Shock Cheek in Flexitarian and Smoke n Whistles

If you are looking for a wow-effect highlighter that makes you glow in the dark, I definitely recommend the Super Shock Cheek formula.

2. Pressed Powder Highlight

As the name already suggest, they are your typical powder highlight formula. They have several different shades to choose from as well as a powder compact or you can purchase the pan individually for you to put in a palette of your own.


The only colour that I have in their singles is called "Here Kitty Kitty". It's a pearly highlight with a subtle pinky sheen but on the cheeks it's barely noticeable. I like this shade a lot for my fair skin, overall it's just a great highlighter. It's quite intense but if you use it very light and tap off your brush good enough, you can definitely get a more subtle application.

It barely has any glitter, it just gives a beautiful glow on the skin without looking too glittery or emphasizing texture.

3. Face Duo's

I have two of their face duo's that they came out with around the summer time in 2017. One of them is called "Here comes the Sun" which was a collaboration with Sonya Esman. The two products inside are called "bouncy" blush and highlight, which describes the product perfectly.

I like to layer this highlighter under my other Colourpop ones to make them even more intense. You can surely use it on its own but out of all their highlighters I have tried so far, this one is the least intense. You can apply it just a little bit and it gives a very subtle glow, but if you layer it a few times, you can definitely get a GLOW! Most of the highlighters I have tried come off quite intense with just one application, it's easy to go overboard with them very quickly but with this one, you can go natural too.


f.l.t.r.: Colourpop Bouncy Highlighter in Summer Bonfire, Colourpop Pressed Highlighter in Padded Down;

The other duo is called "Double Play" which consists of a powder highlighter and a powder blush/bronzer. The highlighter in this one is more on the pinky side again but on the cheeks it doesn't come off as pink as you might think. I find that most of their highlighters look a little pinky in the pan but don't translate too pink on the face (which I like). It's just as intense as their other powder highlighters, I even like to mix "Here Kitty Kitty" and this one.

Also, they just recently came out with new face duo's for the summer of 2018 so if you are interested in trying them, your chance is now!

f.l.t.r.: Powder Highlighter in Padded Down, Bouncy Highlighter in Summer Bonfire, Powder Highlighter in Here Kitty Kitty, Super Shock Cheek in Smoke n Whistles, Super Shock Cheek in Flexitarian (natural light);

f.l.t.r.: Powder Highlighter in Padded Down, Bouncy Highlighter in Summer Bonfire, Powder Highlighter in Here Kitty Kitty, Super Shock Cheek in Smoke n Whistles, Super Shock Cheek in Flexitarian (direct sunlight);


4. Highlighter Palettes



They currently have two highlighter palettes, the first one being the newly released "In-nude-endo" and the other one called "Gimme More".



A highlighter palette definitely has a few pro's and con's but I did want to try them out anyway. Obviously there is always going to be a few shades for fair skins as well as deeper skins so it's barely ever the case that you can use them all on your face. Even though you do get to use them as eyeshadows or blush toppers etc. but I personally never do that.

I do use both of these palettes, Gimme More I do use just a little bit more often because the shades suit me a little better. The two shades that I use on a regular basis are the first two, "Extra" and "Upgrade". The other shades like "Bigger and Better" and "Total Package" are way too deep for me but I can imagine they look beautiful on deeper skin tones. "Bottomless" and "Full Service" have a very interesting colour, not really something I would use on my fair skin either because they lean very peachy and orange but I think they'd look cute on deeper skin tones too.

Colourpop Pressed Powder Highlighter Palette in "Gimme More" in natural light;

Colourpop Pressed Powder Highlighter Palette in "Gimme More" in direct sunlight;

I also find them to be a little more subtle as their single pan highlighters. Formula-wise they are not really glittery either but if I had to choose, I'd go and buy a single pan instead.

In the "In-nude-endo" palette I pretty much only use the first shade called "Glad You Came" but I also find that this is not as intense as their other highlighters are. But it could be the shades that maybe don't work as well with my skin tone.

Colourpop Pressed Powder Highlighter Palette in "In-nude-endo" in natural light;

Colourpop Pressed Powder Highlighter Palette in "In-nude-endo" in direct sunlight;

Generally I love their palettes too, each shade feels extremely buttery and smooth. If you put your finger in the products to swatch them, they feel so nice and absolutely not powdery at all. They also swatch beautifully and very pigmented.

5. Overall Thoughts

I could 100% recommend you every single highlighting product that I have tried from Colourpop. But I'm also going to rate them for you and tell you which ones I'd recommend for a certain look that you might be going for.

If you want an intense glow that you can see from miles away and people in space still see, definitely go with their Super Shock Cheek highlighters.

If you want a more subtle and natural looking highlight I love the face duo with the bouncy highlighter and blush because it's natural looking but you can build it up for a more intense look too.

If you want your basic powder highlight, check out their single highlighters either in the compact or create your own little palette. They don't have a lot of powder kickback and are very pigmented.

If you travel a lot and want a few different highlighter shades in one without having to bring several different products, go for their palettes. They're great quality and I'm sure there is going to be two shades minimum for you to use.

I just cannot say enough good things about their highlighting products so far. I love their huge shade range they have for each product they do, I love the affordable price and the amazing quality. I also never got as many compliments on my highlight as I do when I wear anything Colourpop on my cheekbones.

2 comments

  1. I think colourpop is AMAZING for how much it costs! have you tried their no filter foundations? amazing really.

    TheNotSoGirlyGirl // Instagram // Facebook

    ReplyDelete