Catrice Deluxe Glow Highlighter trio

Catrice always has some great products to try out and when I spotted the latest highlighter palette I was instantly intrigued. Not only does it look quite luxurious for a budget brand, I am usually very pleased with how Catrice products perform for the price. Will this be another one of my drugstore gems?

Catrice Deluxe Glow Highlighter trio 010 The Glowrious Three

As can be expected for a Catrice product, this is a very affordable product. At only €4.59, this highlighter trio truly doesn’t break the bank and because it has three shades it has something for everyone. In fact, this reminded of the Hourglass Ambient Lighting palette in a way. That retails for €60, so it this could be a dupe then it would definitely be a steal.

This highlighter comes in three distinct shades. There is a fairly light pinky toned shade, a more beige/ champagne color and a more tan shade. In the pan, these highlighters seem to be quite matte. There isn’t a whole lot of sparkle present. The only shade that seems to have some form of iridescence to it is the shade on the left.

The first shade is the most shimmery of the three and is a champagne shade. I used this lightly all over my face.

Shade no. 2 has a very clear pink undertone and is nearly matte. When swatched there doesn’t seem to be that much effect, but it is light enough that it can even contrast against my pale skin tone.

The final shade in the palette is a deeper more than shade. This also doesn’t have any overt shimmer or shine to it. And that had me quite skeptical.

Shade 1 – Shade 2 – Shade 3 – Hourglass Radiant Light

When swatched there is a certain luminosity to each shade here, but shade one definitely has the most. The middle shade barely showed up and the tan shade while nice, pales in comparison to the shade I thought it could dupe. I do not personally own the Hourglass Ambient Lighting palette in its entirety, but I do own one of the shades in the palette. I use Radiant Light as a glowy all over bronzer most of the time and as you can see the tone of the shade is similar, but the Catrice version doesn’t have that same glow.

Moreover, what I noticed while swatching these was how incredibly stiff these pans feel. The powders are hard to the touch and there is none of that buttery smoothness that you can expect from a good highlight. In fact, I found these highlighters to be quite chalky and powdery. The lack of sheen in this product also didn’t see me overcome with joy. However, the main question was how this would perform on the face.

Before – After

To be quite honest, I didn’t feel this product did much of anything. The only difference between the two pictures above is a more radiant and glowy look, but with all three shades applied, you can’t really notice it. In short, for a very basic every day no make up look this will be a great palette. But if you like your highlight ka-bam in your face then this isn’t for you.

In all fairness, the powders did do something for my face, but in order to be able to show you that I have to show you close ups. The darkest shade is the subtlest of bronzers on me while the sheen on my cheek is definitely achieved by this palette and this palette alone. Unfortunately, I didn’t really feel like the effect was all that noticeable in real life which means my camera had an even harder time picking it up.

Full face

Overall, this palette was a bit of a let down. The Catrice Deluxe Glow Highlighter does not hold a candle to the Hourglass Ambient Lighting palette even though the tone of the shades is quite similar. The powders are stiff and powdery and don’t have half the amount of sheen that one can expect from a highlighter these days. In fact, Catrice has other much higher quality highlighters in their line. Try for instance the highlight in their contour palette, the lightest shade in this Blush Artist palette, or the two highlighters in this review.

What is your favorite drugstore highlight?