This was a purchase that I decided to get on a little bit of a whim. I was wandering the counters of Liberty and when I started my Hourglass swatches, I was kind of sold on this immediately.
Hourglass Illume Light Bronze is a Bronzer and Highlighting Duo, which is a beautiful cream to powder finish that blends out incredibly well from a rather dark shade that actually appears quite Orange toned in the pan to as bronzed or barely there as you want. I've never normally been a cream product fan, but this really does work so well applied with both a brush and even your fingers.
The highlight is perfect applied with your fingers, and blends out to be incredibly subtle and flattering.
I apply it to my upper cheekbone, down my nose and the tiny amount of excess product that remains on my finger, dapped lightly onto my cupids bow.
The application of the bronzer seems to be where most questions surrounding this product lay, and quite frankly it's a dream. I've surprised myself with this and can't quite believe it, but I haven't touched Nars Laguna, my usual go-to powder bronzer for what seems like such a long while now.
I use it on the areas I most like to contour, for best effect with my finger to below my jaw line, underneath my cheek bones, on my temples and then use the remaining product ever so lightly down the sides of my nose.
You can go as heavily as you like, but the heavier you go, the more you will need to blend. I personally like to apply as light a product as possible as you can then build it up if necessary.
As you can see in the first picture, this does look pretty scary and if any one was to see you with this unblended they may get a slight fright but once you blend it out with, again, with your fingers or a brush (I use my Real Techniques Stippling Brush) this turns to the most incredible powder finish product and sits on your base perfectly. It sticks around all day long, and doesn't fall or go patchy which is perfect for me as believe it or not, I can be extremely lazy when it comes to touch ups.
I really do love this product. I love the fact that it's a cream to powder finish, I love that it's so easy to blend, I love the shade it turns on the skin and of course, I love the crazy 360° mirror function which my dad says is like a cool mobile phone! Oh dad!
Added benefits of this product are that it contains Vitamins A and E to provide moisturising and antioxidant benefits and it's also oil, fragrance, wax, sulphate, phthalate and paraben free. The product alone sold me, but for the slightly excessive price tag these factors may help you in your decision.
As I mentioned, it is a slightly more pricey product at £40 but if you are after a little treat for your make up bag, I think this is worth a shot.
I picked this up in Liberty but I know it's also available in Space NK, Sephora and at Hourglass Counters.
What do you think of this product? Is it something you would like to try?