I enjoy quite a few of my Stila products and have reviewed many of them on the blog as well. Stila Heaven’s Hue Highlighter came out last year and three new shades are available for Spring 2018. One of them is in Magnificence which is a beautiful rose gold. I can’t quite make up my mind and am torn about whether I like this product or not. For the full review, read on!
Basics
Packaging
In a typical Stila fashion, the packaging is a gold plastic casing with stila written across the lid. It’s a nice size that fits well into the palms of my hands. Once you open it up, you get a full size mirror all the way up to the edge. The product itself is shaped like a dome and has a putty texture. There’s nothing crazy innovative with the packaging but it’s true to the brand and works well functionally.
Shade
The shade I have is Magnificence which is described as a peach lit from within warm flush. It definitely looks rose gold in the pan similar to the Lancome Dual Finish highlighter that I love. There is quite a bit of pigment to this, so if you have fair skin, you might find this to be too much color for a highlighter. If you have darker skin, this might be really great as it won’t be as ashy on your skin tone.
The other new shades for Spring 2018 are Brillance and Opulence. Brillance is a pure gold shade that leans more champagne than bronze. Opulence is a sheer fresh white pearl and would be good for those with the fairest skin. The original 3 shades are Kitten (classic nude pink), Bronze (similar to a bronzer), Transcendence (pink purple duochrome).
Formula
The first thing that is very different about this formula is that it’s a putty texture and is slightly bouncy to the touch. If you swirl your fingers lightly around the product, it feels like a creamy eyeshadow. But if you press down harder, you’ll make a dent and it feels more like a full on cream product. In the pan it definitely looks like it has a lot of ultra fine glitter particles. I normally don’t like this in highlighters as it tends to rub off onto other parts of my face. Or it looks “fake” in sunlight.
I think in person, I can definitely notice the glitter when I look at myself. But if I take a step back from the mirror, it turns more into a glossy reflection. The glitter that I see in the pan surprisingly doesn’t move around on the face and is unnoticeable unless very close up but I still do worry about it all day when I’m wearing this product. I also found it looked pretty good in the photo. In general it gives a very different type of “glow” than your typical highlighter. It looks more like a watery gloss that’s really fresh instead of a blinding highlight. But, I just don’t know yet if I like the look of it!
Swatches + Demo
The Stila Heaven’s Hue Highlighter in Magnificence is on the right. I compared this to the Lancome Dual finish Highlighter in Radiant Rose Gold. As you can see, there is more of a peachy, bronze color in the Stila highlighter. However, the Lancome highlighter gives off more of a reflective sheen. Surprisingly, you can’t really see any of the glitter particles in the swatch.
Here is how it looks applied to the cheeks. If you compare to how it looks with the Lancome highlighter, they give off two completely different feels. The Stila Heaven’s Hue Highlighter in Magnificence gives off a fresh dewy look. I think it actually looks quite pretty but I don’t know how often I’d reach for this product. If you are looking to try some products from Stila, I’d highly recommend the Huge Extreme Lash Mascara, Perfectly Poreless Putty Perfector, and the Perfect Me Perfect Hue palette. All three products are some of my long time favorites!
Let me know what you guys think and if you can better describe the different vibe that this highlighter gives off!