Before I got the Balmbini palette and experienced the joy of Mary-Lou Manizer, I'd ordered a sample of Meow's Cat Glow highlighting powder to experiment with the whole luminizer concept. Keeping in mind that my skin is very oily/shiny on its own (I've got a whole series of posts devoted to my quest to end oiliness, under the tag "oil control"), and that my glasses obscure much of my upper cheekbone, where luminizer typically goes, it should be pretty clear that luminizer/highlighter isn't something I should wear on a regular basis. In spite of this, I have still experimented some with this and hopefully my notes will prove useful to you.
Overview
$12.95 for 4 g, $1 for sample baggie, available from Meow
Price: 8.5 (full price is, of course, a little steep, but sample baggies are a steal)
Value: 9.5 (baggies will last you a decent amount of time, and the full size could, I think, last a year with daily use)
Quality: 9.5 (silky, smooth, blendable, subtle)
Ease of Use: 4 (MMU can be messy, needs blending)
Pigmentation: 4.5 (not pigmented, just glowy, though you do have to blend to prevent the ghost look)
Duration: 5
Consistency: 5
Grade: A-
What do you think of Cat Glow? Do you prefer it or Mary-Lou? Comments make morning glories bloom at night!
Cat Glow highlighting powder heavily swatched
Unlike Mary-Lou Manizer, Cat Glow is pure glowy white, and therefore looks a bit cooler on than does Mary-Lou (though labeling white as "cool" is not quite correct). It's subtler than Mary-Lou as well, though she's certainly not bold. The biggest difference between them is that ML is a pressed powder, and CG is loose. CG is also an easy way to play around with luminizer, since you can get a sample for $1, though that may be tempered by the hassle of dealing with a loose powder (particularly frustrating if you don't have much experience with MMU). If you're placing an order anyways, it's worth adding to try.
Out of focus to show shimmer--again, this is a very heavy swatch
Overview
$12.95 for 4 g, $1 for sample baggie, available from Meow
Price: 8.5 (full price is, of course, a little steep, but sample baggies are a steal)
Value: 9.5 (baggies will last you a decent amount of time, and the full size could, I think, last a year with daily use)
Quality: 9.5 (silky, smooth, blendable, subtle)
Ease of Use: 4 (MMU can be messy, needs blending)
Pigmentation: 4.5 (not pigmented, just glowy, though you do have to blend to prevent the ghost look)
Duration: 5
Consistency: 5
Grade: A-
What do you think of Cat Glow? Do you prefer it or Mary-Lou? Comments make morning glories bloom at night!
