Catrice Galaxy in a Box highlighter palette

When I spotted that Catrice would be releasing a highlighter palette, I was curious. I am not a huge fan of highlighter palettes. Face palettes that include more versatility I can get down with, but a palette just with highlighters is not necessarily my cup of tea. But this promised a holographic glowing effect: the first time Catrice offers something like this and thus my curiosity got the best of me and I ordered this.  

Catrice Galaxy in a Box Holographic Glow Palette 010 Out of Space

For a Catrice product this is expensive. This highlighting palette retails for €9.89, which makes it part of the most expensive products the brand has ever come out with. It is part of a range of several different face palettes the brand released for their spring/ summer 2018 collection. Each palette retails for the same price. I only got this one as it was the only one that interested me.

The Packaging

The packaging of Galaxy in a Box is slim and sleek. It comes with 15 grams of product, but there is no mirror. But I don’t think this is the type of product you would be lugging around on the go for touching up. In general I have good experience with Catrice highlighters and they tend to have good staying power. And if you decide to travel with this, you will have a mirror available via other means to apply this. So I like the no-nonsense packaging of this palette.

The Highlighters

Can you tell why this palette interested me? These highlighters are a pale girl’s dream! In total you get 5 products: 4 powders and a face gloss. The latter I am not too keen on: all it is, is a transparent balm. The texture is much like vaseline and a product I know I will never use. The reason I got this? The four powders.

The powder highlighters range from a white, a pink, a purple and a peach. Or so it seems. When the purple and peach hit the light they both end up being a duochrome. Difficult to catch on camera, but the purple has a blueish flash to it, the peach a rosy gold.

The Swatches

The glow of these highlighters is difficult to capture in a picture. The white and pink are straight up and quite standard shades. The holographic from the name come from the purple and peach. Here you can see the effect a little bit, but in the pictures below it will be easier to see. The gloss is all the way on the right, next to the peach. As you can see it is virtually undetectable.

These highlighters feel smooth, but they do have a noticeable shimmer to it when you swatch them. Especially the white is quite chunky. The others are a lot smoother and also go on a lot better. The peach is a bit dark to be a highlight on me, but it works well as a subtle blush or blush topper for me.

The Application

This first collage shows you the effect of the white highlight in an eye look I created. As you can see there is a bit of noticeable glitter: perfect for on the eye, but not so much on the face. The closeups of my face are of the purple and peach. I started with a highlighter layered under my foundation, then added the purple and then added the peach for a bit of extra oomph. I like how the peach and purple really emphasize each other. It’s almost as if layering the two really takes them up a notch.

Here is a before and after to show you the full effect. Here you can also see the effect of the pink highlight shade as I used it on my nose and center of my face. As you can see these highlighters add some glow but it is not one of those highlighters you can see from space. Despite there being some noticeable glitter in the swatches, I feel those shimmery particles are barely noticeable once on the face. This highlights nicely and I am surprised by the effect.

The Conclusion

Catrice Galaxy in a Box highlighter palette is a good one. It is a little bit expensive for what it is, but I think the unique shade selection makes up for it. However, if the purple and peach shades are not your cup of tea, I can imagine this palette may not be worth getting this item. If you have fair skin and you want a one stop shop for all things highlight that aren’t too in your face BAM, then this is a great one to try.

What highlight palette have you tried?