I must admit I went a little crazy when one of my favorite brands announced a collaboration with one of my favorite YouTubers. Excited probably isn’t even the word for my feelings around the debut of the ‘Nicole Glow’ Glow Kit from Anastasia Beverly Hills and Nicole Guerriero. Now that I have my hands on the actual highlighter palette, I’m ready to give you my thoughts so you can decide if you want to purchase for yourself. Keep reading for my two cents and loads of swatches.
As much as I love Anastasia Beverly Hills, they do a terrible job showcasing their products on deep skin prior to launch. Sometimes they will use deep models for their official photoshoots, but almost never send press kits to bloggers of color. This presents a huge issue because lots of people are hesitant to purchase makeup without seeing it reflected on someone that looks like them. That is true for this palette as well since it features some shades that are kind of ‘iffy’ when it comes to wearability on brown skin tones. However, after finding a local Sephora that so generously pulled a palette for me, I was able to purchase early and bring you all the swatches in the world of the Anastasia Beverly Hills x Nicole Guerriero Glow Kit in ‘Nicole Glow’.
After I posted early pics on Instagram, the number one question was around the formula. Is it like the ‘Sweets’ kit? Is it more shimmery like ‘Ultimate Glow’? I’ve determined that this kit is most like the Looxi Beauty foiled metallic highlighters. These are not everyday highlighters! ‘Nicole Glow’ isn’t necessarily super glittery like the ‘Sweets’ Glow Kit, but it isn’t a straight shimmer palette either. If you have any of the ‘Squad Goals’ highlighters from Looxi, you will understand the amped up metallic formula compared to a regular shimmer. If you don’t have any of those to compare, just ask yourself if you like a highlight that will have you shinning bright like a diamond. If the answer is yes, then you will like this. However, if you only go for subtle shimmers, this palette is not for you.
Based on my experience with Looxi’s foiled metallic highlighters, no matter how hard your try to start off applying with a tiny amount, the product is just so intense there is no way to dial down the brightness. So be warned! If you start applying this, you are committing to going for Olympic gold.
Let’s chat shades now shall we? As you can see above, the palette includes three warm gold shades, two neutral shades, and a cool ice shade with blue undertones. Nearly all the warm shades look the same swatched on my skintone even though they look different in the pan. I was able to find close dupes to all shades except ‘Forever Lit’ and ‘Kitty Kat’. ‘Kitty Kat’ is a neutral rose gold that comes off cool on my skin tone. ‘Forever Young’ is a true champagne. ‘Daydream’ is my favorite coming in more like a true gold than any other shade in the palette. ‘Forever Lit’ is definitely the most unique to my collection. It is a true cool ice shade with light blue shimmer. ‘Glo Getter’ is a champagne gold that is the least unique to my collection (especially after the champagne gold highlighter explosion of releases last summer). Finally, ‘143’ is a light bronze gold that could probably show cooler on some skintones, but shows more warm on mine.
While I haven’t used it yet on my face, ‘Forever Lit’ is definitely the most intriguing of the batch and I really want to find a way to make it work on my cheeks. Other than that one and ‘Kitty Kat’, I’d say I probably have something at least 90% of a dupe for the remaining four.
With that being said, it really comes down to formula preference to make these stand out in a highlighter hoarder’s (like me) collection. I do really like the formula of these and find it more flexible than the Looxi Beauty formula on application. I can more easily blend this product and sheer it out than I can with the Looxi ‘Squad Goals’ collection. Now does that mean I will reach for these shades before I reach for another highlighter? Not necessarily. For everday wear, I still prefer a straight shimmer highlighter. But for a standout shot for my blog, I would absolutely reach for this.
If you need a little more help deciding if you want to purchase, check out my gallery below with comparison swatches of several shades that looked similar in the pan (if not on the skin). You can use these as a guide to determine if you want to purchase. And, as always, feel free to leave any questions in the comments section! Happy highlighting!
This post may contain affiliate links or codes or be a review of products I received at no charge. Click here to view more details on my affiliate policy, sponsored posts, and receiving free samples. All opinions are my own and are not influenced by others.
Thank you for the swatches and in dept review. These highlighters look amazing. I was on the fence about purchasing before I read your post. They do not look as chunky and glittery as the Glow Kit.
I’m so happy my post was helpful in your decision!