Little Glow Pots

I don't know about you, but my highlight craze won't let up. I've accumulated so many highlighters now that my collection could last several lifetimes. My newest obsession has been cream highlighters in a pot. One day, I just found myself returning to an item that has been on my radar for YEARS, rms Living Luminizer. I've heard about this product virtually since I started blogging in 2012, but could never justify the price tag. Even today, at $55, I still can't bring myself to spend that much on a tiny pot of mainly solidified oils and beeswax. I started the hunt for potential dupes and remembered seeing something very similar to the Living Luminizer at Priceline in the form of Luma Illuminating Highlighter. Soon enough, I found myself buying the Luminous Light shade for $26.95. Then my friend gave me her unloved Mecca Cosmetica Enlightened Lit From Within Illuminating Balm, so suddenly I had two of these babies.

Luma Illuminating Highlighter in Luminous Light

What drew me to purchasing Luma Illuminating Highlighter was how incredibly similar its ingredients list was to rms Living Luminizer. Observe:

rms Living Luminizer
Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Cera Alba (Beeswax), Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) Extract, and may contain [+/- Titanium Dioxide CI77891, Mica CI 77019]

Luma Illuminating Highlighter
Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Beeswax (Cera Alba), Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil, Pearl Powder, Tocopherol, Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax, Mica, Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Iron Oxide (CI 77491)

Same first three ingredients, which surely means they're basically the same thing. The Luma has additional jojoba, sweet almond, grape and soybean oils, along with "pearl powder" and Vitamin E, while the rms has just the addition of rosemary extract.

They also both contain 5 grams of product.

Mecca Cosmetica Enlightened Lit From Within Illuminating Balm

I wasn't able to locate a full ingredient list for the Mecca, but their website mentions it contains jojoba oil, coconut oil and castor seed oil. It's a smaller size to Luma and rms at 3g. To the touch, it feels slightly thicker than the Luma, but applies very similarly and has more or less the same effect on the skin. They're obviously different shades, in that Luma Luminous Light is more of a pink-toned, whitish colour, and the Mecca is more peachy/rose gold. The Luma Illuminating Highlighter does come in two other shades, Moonlit Ivory (more champagne) and Golden Glow (more of a darker bronze). The main difference between the Luma and Mecca I find, apart from the colour, is that the Mecca is quite strongly scented. The smell whacks you in the nostrils as soon as you open the lid, and still smells once you swatch it or apply it to the face. I was instantly reminded of the fragrance in Missha M Perfect Cover BB Cream, though I haven't used that BB cream in years, so that comparison might not be super accurate.

l-r: Luma Illuminating Highlighter in Luminous Light, Mecca Cosmetica Enlightened Lit From Within Illuminating Balm

I picked Luminous Light over the other two shades Moonlit Ivory and Golden Glow because it was the one that popped most on my skin. It's borderline whitish if applied too heavily or if the edges aren't blended well enough, but the shade does predominately appear pearly with an angelic soft pink tinge. I thought it might be too similar to Benefit High Beam, but when I compared them, I found High Beam to be even more dramatic and brightening. High Beam is a liquid highlight, so it's more versatile in that you can use it under foundation, mix it with your base, or use it over your foundation as you would a traditional highlighter.

The Mecca Enlightened Lit From Within Illuminating Balm is less contrasting with my skin and much closer to my natural skin tone. In that respect, it's more muted and subtle when applied, though still gives plenty of glow. It's a bit tackier in texture compared with the Luma and I feel looks oilier, which reinforces the dewy effect. I use both everywhere I'd normally place highlight, i.e. on the cheekbones, down the bridge of the nose, under the browbone and on the cupid's bow.

The appeal of these cream pots is that they're on a different level than powder highlighters when it comes to looking natural and blending into the skin. Most of the powder highlighters I have derive their glow from shimmer particles, whereas these cream ones offer more of a sheen with no detectable shimmer. As I apply them with the fingers (though they can be applied with a synthetic brush or sponge), the warmth of my fingers helps to seamlessly blend the product into the skin. Unlike a lot of powder highlighters, you can't see any demarcation between where you've placed your highlight and the rest of your face. The cream texture also makes layering easier if you want a more pronounced effect, whether that means multiple layers of the cream highlight or layering a powder highlight on top of the cream. I often find at the end of the day, a powder highlight can look like it's sitting on top of the skin, and look chunky and dry, but no such thing occurs with these cream pots. If anything, it softly fades away, as one of the downsides to cream formulas is they tend not to last as long as powders. For the natural, undetectable, ethereal glow they provide, that's a tradeoff I don't mind.