Things I Can’t Live Without: I

Bonjourno ladies! I hope you are well…

Since I am now living at home for the foreseeable future until I sort my life out and get a proper job and move out, I have been making an effort with my room and sorting out all my stuff as it was an actual heap before. What I am getting to, is this organisation includes makeup and now I have better storage and can kind of vaguely see where everything is I have been mixing up my makeup routine.

Point is, the things that have been sticking around in my routine are keepers. Until I get itchy feet and try something else that is….

The first thing I decided to post about is something that’s been somewhat of a saviour in recent weeks. Stressing makes me have sleepless nights which makes me look even more like a crackhead than my dark circles already do. I need something to lift my dull grey skin!

Step in….

Benefit’s High Beam! This is my second bottle of the stuff and I have used it for years. In recent times I have been more taken with powder highlighters, mainly because they are so easy to use. Just sweep the brush over, sweep it on cheekbones/browbones/whatevs and go. That wasn’t going to be enough to make me look remotely human though.

I mix a tiny bit of it on my hand with my eye cream before I apply, I mix a splodge with my MAC Studio Moisture Tint before I apply, I put a bit on my cheekbones, browbones and down my nose. This has been an absolute saviour.

Anyway I went on a bit of a road trip to Cwmbran and had a nose round the Bodycare there and saw this…..

It’s by Technic and is clearly a rip off of High Beam. Normally I wouldn’t have bothered, at £1.99 it was unlikely to be as good as my beloved High Beam but I am getting through that at a rate of knots and at £18.50 it’s not something I can afford if I can help it. And, it was only £1.99. Why not?

Comparison…..

They look pretty similar in the bottles.

One thing that really sets these apart is the brushes…..

Top is High Beam bottom is High Lights. You can see that the brush is a lot more concise on the Benefit one so it is easier to wield on the face. The last thing you want is to look like a disco ball especially if you are only going for a subtle effect. The High Light’s brush is much bigger with splaying bristles and you can see the consistency is thinner.

On the left is High Beam and the right is High Lights, swatches in the middle and blended either side. Here you can definitely see the difference. High Beam is just glowing rather than High Light’s glitter fest. High Light is also much frostier and the thin formula makes it difficult to place properly, while blending you end up with it over half your face.

I think you can see which is the winner here! I am not going to be swayed from my High Beam any time soon!

The only thing that annoys me about it, besides the £18.50 price tag, is this.

That is probably almost a quid of product right there. AND that’s after a clean up. For the money I expect more than that!

What are your life saver products? I have only just purchased another liquid highlighter to compare this too (St Tropez Rose), do you have any recommendations? I rather like this highlighting lark!