You couldn't tell by looking out the window, but summer is fast approaching and so are sunny days and tans. If you want to help nature a hand and get a start on that sunkissed glow the healthy way, makeup brands all start throwing typical summertime products at you around this time of year. I received this stunning Urban Decay summer collection comprising an Afterglow Highlighter, a Beached Bronzer and the Naked Skin One & Done. All of these are new additions to the permanent Urban Decay range. Let's take a closer look.
First up is this Afterglow 8 hour powder highlighter. I received it in the Sin shade, which is a neutral champagne type shade, but it's also available in Aura (iridescent light pink) and Fireball (peach with a pink shift). The Afterglow highlighter is supposed to be extremely finely milled, soft almost like a cream, and can be applied super sheer or built up for some serious strobing. If you ask me, the afterglow highlighter delivers on all of those claims. It's super soft so you don't need to load up your brush with powder to get the shine you want. You'll get a beautiful glow from this product that never devolves into glitterbomb territory, which makes the afterglow highlighter perfect for use all over the face, even the bridge of the nose, chin and forehead where you wouldn't apply a more glittery highlighter. Sin is probably the most versatile shade of the three available ones, so when in doubt, get this one!
Then there's the ADORABLE Beached Bronzer. That palm tree casing with the mixed fonts is just sending my heart aflutter, man, and what I love even more is how this particular shade (Sun-kissed) is sort of soft salmon-pink rather than orange, yellow or brown. There's also a darker, more intense shade available, which is called Bronzed, which has warm, yellow undertones. Sun-kissed is light and subtle, which works better for fair complexions like mine, and I always feel like bronzers that are pink or red based look more natural on me. The Beached Bronzers are once again super soft and finely milled, gorgeously pigmented, and they never go on streaky because of how smoothly they apply.
Finally, there's the One & Done Hybrid Complexion Perfector. This product was designed for those summer days when you want to give your face a boost without drowning out your natural texture. The SPF20 is nice, although ideally it would be even more to really serve you during the summer months, but my favourite thing about this is the "light-diffusing spheres" Urban Decay hypes up in their product description. I always think that those sort of claims are just a lot of big talk without substance, but I absolutely notice a difference when I mix some One & Done in with my Revlon Colorstay: the foundation applies more smoothly, I don't develop my regular patchiness along the nose and jawline, and the finish is so much more natural and dewy than without One & Done. I also feel like my pores are less visible with it.
I can't wear this one on its own because I received it in Medium Light, which is too dark for me right now and quite a bit too yellow as well, but I can tell you that it's very sheer on its own. Definitely light coverage, like a tinted moisturizer, but with awesome pore-reducing, light-emitting properties. One & Done comes in a wide range of shades, like Urban Decay's regular foundations.
Let's look at the swatches.
Sin is subtle and gorgeous, Sun-kissed is more peachy on my skin than it appears in the pan, and One & Done in medium light is definitely too dark and too yellow for me.
I wanted to compare the Afterglow highlighter in Sin with the Angel highlighter from Urban Decay x Gwen Stefani's blush palette, because they seemed similar to me at first glance, but there's a clear difference: Angel is darker, more peachy, and I'd say that Sin is a smidge drier. Still gorgeously creamy and smooth, though.
Let's look at how One & Done compares to my regular foundation.
Despite One & Done medium light seeming super dark when I swatch it on the back of my hand, it's so sheer that it actually almost matches my skintone. The finish isn't as flawless as when I use Revlon Colorstay (mixed with a bit of One & Done), but I do get a nice, slightly evened out, dewy complexion when I use One & Done. If I could choose I'd still pick the lightest shade, though, because using a foundation that's too dark makes my face look a bit dirty. Something you can sort of spot in this shot as well.
edit: now that I've gotten a bit of tan going on, I figured I'd edit this post with a before/after shot demonstrating the effect UD One & Done.
Let's look at how One & Done compares to my regular foundation.
Despite One & Done medium light seeming super dark when I swatch it on the back of my hand, it's so sheer that it actually almost matches my skintone. The finish isn't as flawless as when I use Revlon Colorstay (mixed with a bit of One & Done), but I do get a nice, slightly evened out, dewy complexion when I use One & Done. If I could choose I'd still pick the lightest shade, though, because using a foundation that's too dark makes my face look a bit dirty. Something you can sort of spot in this shot as well.
edit: now that I've gotten a bit of tan going on, I figured I'd edit this post with a before/after shot demonstrating the effect UD One & Done.
Excuse the sourpuss face, but I do think One & Done actually has amazing coverage while looking incredibly natural, almost like you're wearing nothing but still definitely perfecting my skintone. And love that dewy finish! I've been using this product daily ever since I got more tan and I'm definitely rebuying it. Lovely product, and if I want more coverage, I just set it with some finishing powder.
And this is what the full collection does in terms of warming up my complexion:
In the first shot, I'm wearing Revlon Colorstay + One & Done (about one pump of each). You can already sort of see that the finish is more luminescent than Colorstay's regular matte look, but I feel like the coverage has not diminished, despite the fact that UD One & Done is absolutely much more sheer than Revlon Colorstay. Must be those light reflecting powers. In the second picture I've added Sunkissed along my cheekbones, my nose, the edges of my forehead and my chin. I applied it a bit heavier than I normally would so it would be noticeable in pictures. And finally, in the last shot I've added the Afterglow highlighter along the top of my cheekbones, the bridge of my nose and on my temples. The difference is pretty big if you compare it to the first pic, definitely got that healthy glow like I've caught some sunrays.
I added a bit of blush to complete the look et voila! Even though I applied the bronzer more heavily than I normally would, the end result is not streaky. I am also in love with the highlighter, how it softly brightens up my complexion. Look at that forehead! That's the kind of glow that's so hard to fake with products. This collection is another hit for Urban Decay and I will definitely keep using all of these.
Afterglow Highlighter - €30
Beached Bronzer - €30
Naked Skin One & Done Hybrid Complexion Perfector - €33.30
Available at selected Ici Paris XL stores or their webshop in Belgium
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