Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette

I’m (very) late to the party with this but good lord, isn’t it pretty? Combining two of their best-selling Ambient Lighting Powders (Dim Light and Radiant Light) with a shade exclusive to the palette (Incandescent Light), the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette is a one-stop glow shop.

I have to admit that I thought all the hype about this when it first came out was a bit ridiculous – I mean, they’re probably just overpriced, slightly drying, sparkly powders, right? I was wrong, readers, oh so wrong. These powders are the softest, most skin-meldingy finishing powders that I’ve ever used.  And there isn’t any sparkle or glitter, just glow. I don’t know how they do it – I suspect unicorn tears and magic. Whatever the secret, they just seem to make me look better.

I use Incandescent Light as a setting powder pretty much all over my face, over a dab of Bourjois Healthy Mix powder on my chin and nose, and it makes my skin look, if not flawless (it’s not a miracle-worker) then a damn sight less terrible. Dim Light is perfect for wafting over my cheeks and temples in that ‘3’ motion that we’re all meant to use for putting on bronzer; it might not look much in the swatch but it definitely adds a little something something in real life. I haven’t found much of a use for Radiant Light yet although it is rather good for very lightly dusting onto my neck on days when it seems even more luminously white than usual. I think that most people with warmer light-medium and olive tones would find it far more useful than me.

I wasn’t sure how these would look on darker skin tones but a quick google has thrown up tonnes of photos of people with widely-differing skin colours using the palette and looking fabulous, so I guess that answers that question.

Now for the downside: the price. The palette is stupidly spendy at £56 and I’m not sure I would have spent that much on it (I was lucky enough to buy mine from someone on the Sali Hughes Beauty Forum – more on that very soon). Having said that, that’s partly because only two of the colours work for me – if all three work with your complexion and you have the cash to splash, I’d say it’s a worthwhile investment for three talc-free powders that will last for (literally) years and will make you look more awake and alive and not in the least bit disco-ball.

If you’d rather stick to one shade, the single powders are £38 each (but much bigger) – I’ve got my eye on Ethereal Light and Diffused Light. The Ambient Lighting blushers are also lovely (I like Diffused Heat) but not as amazing as the powders.

Find the palette at Space NK (for N.dulge points) or John Lewis (for free delivery).
Find the (excellent) Zoeva Powder Brush at Beauty Bay for £11.50. It’s like putting your powder on with the end of a cat’s tail, only safer and more easily maneuverable.

Have you tried this palette of glowy loveliness?