It’s only March yet some summer beauty collections have started to arrive in stores. Estée Lauder’s Bronze Goddess collection has a mix of beautiful bright and bronzey shades. Being a huge fan of the gelée powders, quickly picked up the new limited-edition Heat Wave Illuminating Powder Gelée ($40 for 0.21 oz/6 g, also online at Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and Estee Lauder). Heat Wave has a beautiful embossed pattern like sun rays. It’s a luminous pale gold champagne in the compact. It swatches true to the color in the pan. I expected to fall in love with it completely, especially after swatching on my hand in store – it was like wearing sunshine on my hand. However, on the face I found it a bit too sharp and frosty (I tested with the sponge applicator, soft fluffy brushes and skunk brushes). It does layer beautifully over a cream bronzer, but I think I’m at the right amount of tan to be too dark for this to look natural. I’m all for visible shimmers, however this one emphasized my pores and looked slightly too metallic on my skin. I do think it will suit fairer skins better. Money wasn’t wasted though, this has just the right amount of glitz and sparkle to wear on the eyes. The frost factor is similar to that of the paler Armani Eyes to Kill Shadows (Heat Wave is just sheerer and not quite as frosty). Your mileage will vary with this one depending on your skintone.
Comparisons to some other gold/champagne gelee highlighters. All the ones shown below were limited-edition, I’m not sure that they will be easy to find these days, but if you already own some – you may want to shop your stash before caving on Heat Wave. MAC’s Whisper of Gilt is almost identical to Estee Lauder’s Heat Wave. I prefer the MAC even though it’s still quite frosty. The Estee Lauder Heat Wave has some tiny gold micro sparkles (these are really tiny) that emphasize my pores. The MAC is more metallic all the way through.
Here’s a simple look that I’ve did last week. It includes a few favorites:
- Eyes: Apply Estee Lauder Heat Wave, then NARS Fez and MAC Spare Change (discontinued, but NARS Via Appia is similar)
- Cheeks: Layer Edward Bess Daydream Bronzer (new version here) and Tom Ford Love Lust blush
- Lips: Swipe a pink gloss, Tom Ford Sugar Pink (swatched here)
I’m overall pleased with Estée Lauder’s Heat Wave. Even though it doesn’t work out for my face (for everyday at least), it’s a lovely eye highlighter/shadow with excellent lasting power.
Did you pick up anything from Estée Lauder’s Bronze Goddess collection? Did you like Heat Wave or did you find it too similar to what you already own? Note it is a limited-edition product. I recommend you try soon before it sells out. You can find it in store now at most Estee Lauder counters. Right now it’s online as well at Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and Estee Lauder.
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