The Balm Mary Lou Manizer

Highlighter Review

Hi Divas!

The Balm Mary Lou Manizer is one of the most iconic highlighters in the beauty universe. It is almost everybody's ride or die highlighter. While I was using this beauty one fine day, I saw I that I  hit pan on it for the first time. I was like hold the phone! I didn't even review this on my blog yet and I already hit pan on this gem. I need to get my life together and do a review ASAP. Luckily I took blog pics way in advance when I first received it. I found them in the archives of my phone and I can now do a thorough review. I know that there are thousands upon thousands of reviews regarding this product, but I want to add my 2 cents as well. Before I start my review I want to say thank you to Tasneem for gifting me this product along with some other goodies for my birthday back in the day. You can read her blog CityGirlVibe here. 

The Mary Lou Manizer comes in the most cheekiest packaging you will ever see. It's a mugshot of a woman with a retro feel. She probably got arrested for being too damn fine! Or her highlight was blinding everyone and she became a danger to society. Either way, she is not apologetic about anything! She is shinning bright like a diamond. This naughty compact comes with a good size mirror and 8.5g of product. It's a perfect size that can be placed in your handbag. The plastic casing is quite sturdy as well. I have travelled with this compact to the Middle East and it really stood the test of time in my suitcase. It's slim and cute. Definitely one of the favourite things in my makeup bag.

What makes this highlighter so amazing is that it's a three in one product. It can be used as a highlighter, eyeshadow and all over shimmer product. The highlighter has a smooth almost buttery texture. It's not tacky or chunky. It has a silky appearance and glides on the skin without accentuating large pores or scars. The shimmers are so finely milled that it is not grainy or powdery either. The colour is described as a honey toned pigment. Honey tones look beautiful on all skin types. On my skin it gives a gorgeous golden glow. It has a luminous glowing from within shine. It is really stunning on the cheekbones. The result is a crisp illuminating pigment which diffuses light and gives a warm glow. When used as an eyeshadow you can seriously layer on the product. I love that you can build as much golden intensity as you want to. When used with a good eyeshadow primer the luminizer can knock any golden eyeshadow out of the park! Things to note about this compact as well is that it is talc free, paraben free and cruelty free too. How can you not fall in love with this?!

As I have mentioned above, the Mary Lou Manizer is perfect for travel. I have travelled with this compact many times and used it has a highlight and eyeshadow in one. Above is one of my signature looks when I want to look glam but have minimal products available. For my travel glam look, I usually place my favourite bb cream all over my face and fill in my eyebrows with a pomade. I then warm up my crease by lightly dusting a blush and bronzer all over it. To add some glam I place the Mary Lou Manizer all over my lids with a eyeshadow brush. I really pack on the colour for an intense shimmery look. I then add liner and my favourite mascara. For my face, I dust some Mary Lou Manizer on my cheekbones and add some blush and bronzer. I also run the highlighter down the bridge of my nose and on top of my lipstick for a more defined glam look.

I am absolutely in love with this highlighter. It is such a great investment and will last you a really long time. I love finding products that I can travel with and that can be used for more than one purpose. Let me know below if you have used this highlighter. I now know why this is everyone's holy grail makeup product ;-)

Lots of Divalicious Kisses
Xxxx

Hi Divas!

I hope you are doing well and had a great weekend. I want to share a very exciting product with you on the blog this week. Firstly I have to say that I love to shine. I am not much of a bronzer kind of girl. I adore highlighters and illuminators and I love to shine bright like a glittery unicorn. Becca is very well known amongst makeup lovers for their gorgeous highlighting powders. I would always watch Youtube Becca haul videos and dream about one day owning a Becca highlighter. Thus I was very excited when I finally got my hands on a Becca highlighting product after winning a competition on Life Retreat. The product that I have been using almost everyday is the Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector. This is a liquid illuminizer that contains light reflecting pearls which add a luminous glow and radiance to the face. It comes in five shimmering shades and I have the lightest shade in Pearl.

The Shimmering skin Perfector is described as a ''sheer liquid highlighter and moisturiser that veils skin in a soft pearlised glow''. This is an illuminizer and light moisturiser in one. The product contains an SPF OF 25 + and the consistency of the product actually feels like a light lotion on the skin. One pump is all you need to cover your whole face. A half a pump would be perfect to highlight the cheekbones and the bridge of the nose. What I love most about the product is that it is very versatile in application. You could wear this on it's own as a light moisturiser on your face. Or you could mix the highlighter into your moisturiser or foundation to give your face a natural glow. You could also place a few drops on the high points of your cheek and blend it out for a sheer glow. I prefer to mix it with my foundation for a luminous all over glow on my face. 

The product blends easily onto the skin and you definitely notice a difference when you use it. The skin is much more glowy and radiant like the J-Lo glow that we all want. The product contains no glittery chunks or traces of fake glitter. It is literally tiny specks of pearls that illuminate the face in the most natural way ever. I did notice that the product does not sink into the skin like a foundation. It sits on top of the skin and would be best if you set it with a highlighting powder or pressed powder so that the product does not move around. I usually set my face with powder anyway, as I am combination skin, so this extra step is not inconvenient for me. The illuminizer is definitely buildable. You can go for a subtle glow or pack the product on along with a highlighting powder and get your unicorn shine on!

The product is packaged in a 50 ml glass bottle with a silver pump and a sturdy bottle cap. The bottle feels quite light weight in my hand so it won't be bulky or heavy in my travel bag. A little really goes a long way with this highlighter so the product will last you for ages. The product has a slight sunscreen scent, but it is very subtle and nothing too overbearing. I think this is an excellent shimmering liquid highlighter as it is versatile and can be used in many different ways to highlight the face. It is also great value for money as the illuminizer will last a very long time in your makeup kit. If you love to glow and shine bright like a diamond then definitely give this product a try. For more info on where you can purchase Becca products in South Africa visit the Becca Facebook page here or their twitter page here.

Hope you found this review helpful!
Divalicious kisses. 
Xxxx