Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette Review Swatches Photos

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette (US $ 58 from sephora)

Hourglass cosmetics launched their ambient lighting powders a few years back and they received a cult following on most online blogs.  I rued that they were so difficult to track down in India.  I was willing to jump through hoops to get one of these.  Then they went ahead and launched the palette and everyone and their pet toad got themselves one.  Everyone, except, that is the poor people in India, with no access the brand whatsoever.

When I got a chance to order this through a visiting family member, I jumped at the opportunity.  I just had to have one. At $ 58, this is certainly a luxury.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette has three shades Dim Light, Incandescent Light and Radiant Light.  These are finishing powders meant to give your skin a ethereal glow and fade out blemishes and spots.  Each shade is only 3.3 gms making it really small.

Dim Light – A neutral peach beige powder that blur imperfections and highlights the complexion.  This shade is closest to my natural skin colour and therefore shows up the least in a swatch.  I can use this as a daily finishing powder.

Incandescent Light – An opalescent pearl powder that brightens the complexion with a celestial glow. This looks most like a highlighter on my skin.  It is rather light and I need to blend it in.

Radiant Light – A sun-kissed golden beige powder that enhances the complexion with believable, subtle warmth. This looks marginally different in the pan but once blended on my skin, it resembles the Dim Light a lot.  Again, something I can use as an all over finishing powder.

Texture – The powders are extremely soft and just swiping one with your hand will result in a lot of loose powder dust being kicked up.  You need to pick this up with a nice fluffy brush to get the best result.  Although there is a specific brush made for this – Hourglass sells this separately at US $ 35.  Ouch! I didn’t get the brush – and I use an old Chanel one from the mineral compact that I had ages ago.

Packaging – The outer case is a deep brown shiny one that reflects light and is also a fingerprint magnet.  For some reason it looks a lot larger in the pictures than it actually is.  It fits really well in my palm.

My Experience

After the brouhaha surrounding Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette, I was expecting my face to transform into perfection with no blemishes and only angel dust.  Ha ha!  Well, I was rather disappointed.  It is a really nice finishing powder, but nothing that deserves so much attention and praise.  I sure like it and would repurchase at the high price as well.  Its just that its not revolutionary as the majority of the reviews suggest.  It works just as well as the best finishing powder.

I also feel that our brown Indian skin anyway has less need for a finishing powder.  There is a natural glow we all have that doesn’t need to be faked.

Overall Thoughts

Very very nice, just not exceptional.  If you get the chance to try Ambient Lighting Palette before buying, that would be nice. And yes, there are other options as well.

Rating 4/5

*Written By Dela