Fenty Beauty Killawat Highlighter review

You know how I love a good highlighter? And Fenty Beauty is a brand that is known for doing some stunning ones. Would you believe me if I told you that this was the first product I bought by the brand? But since then I have reviewed and tried two other products (a foundation and a bronzer) and while I had played around with this, I never really tried it enough to make my mind up about it. After two weeks of trying this product, I can now tell you what I think.

Review: Fenty Beauty Killawat highlighter Lightning Dust & Fire Crystal

Fenty Beauty is a brand that is sold at Sephoras and certain other stores around the globe. The brand is not yet available in The Netherlands, but you can order it online if you really want to get your hands on it. I have always bought the products in store on different travels. That may be difficult to do right now with restricted travel, but if you can: find the brand in store because they do lots of different shades also for these highlighters. So I would say it is worth checking out which shade may be right for you. This retails for €32.95 and for that you get two shades: one more subtle and one more intense.

What does this highlighter have to offer?

One thing that is unique about the Fenty Beauty highlighter is the fact that you get a split pan featuring two shades with a similar undertone: a more subtle and a more intense highlighter. The shades are nearly identical but you can already clearly see the difference between the two pan in the compact. I was torn between this shade combination and the next one up which is more peachy toned, but I felt that would be too dark and would not show up on my skin.

What is the shade like?

Fenty Beauty is known for being an inclusive brand and their highlighters reflect that. This comes in 9 shades! For a highlighter range that is quite special and there are a few shades in the line that are definitely different from the usual like a blue and a yellow gold. In this split pan style there are 5 different shades of which Lightning Dust/ Fire Crystals is the lightest one. Lightning Dust is a bit more champagne and muted, whereas Fire Crystal is a more metallic blinding highlight.

What are the swatches like?

In a swatch you can clearly see that there is a clear difference between the two shades. Lightning Dust is a bit darker in its shade and not as blinding. I would say it is more like a rosy champagne shade. Fire Crystal is a bit more white toned and much more metallic. The texture of the two shades is also slightly different. I feel the more subtle highlighter is a bit more powdery while the more metallic one feels richer and creamier. Both look pretty on the face though, but I do have to say I prefer the more blinding highlighter of the two.

How does this highlighter apply to the cheeks?

On the cheeks you can clearly see the different effects that these two highlighters give you. And that is one thing I really like about this product: you don’t just get one highlighter, you get two for the price of one. I like how you can combine these, wear them on their own, or carry this in your bag and wear the subtle one throughout the day and then top it off with the more intense highlighter for the night time. It just makes the product a lot more versatile and I appreciate that. I also like the shade of this on me: it is brightening but not too white and stark. It truly gives a pretty lit from within look no matter which of the two shades you use.

My final thoughts

This is a pretty highlighter that ticks all the boxes for a good product. There are a bunch of shades, you get two in one go and the texture is lovely. It doesn’t come with a whole lot of product (2x 3.5 grams) but that is not that big of a problem, because how often do you hit pan on your highlighter? Not that often. There is one reason why I am not wowed by this: I have many other highlighters that do just this. I love my Benefit Cookie highlighter and I feel that that is very similar to this. So is this a very unique highlighter that is worth hunting it down if it is difficult to get a hold of? Not to me.

Would I recommend the Fenty Beauty Killawat Highlighter?

If you are looking for a good basic highlighter there are many other options out there that do something similarly that might even be cheaper or comes with more product. What I appreciate about this highlighter is how it comes with two shades that are distinct enough to set this product apart. However, to me personally it is not enough to make this highlighter stand out among my highlighter collection.

What do you think of the Fenty BEauty Killawat highlighter?