I’ve been in a rut with makeup lately.
Blame it on the fact that it’s been over 100F every day all summer in Memphis–I’ve just really not been interested in any new products, not really feeling anything in my stash, and generally just resorting to the same daily routine of heavy (waterproof) eyeliner and not much else. I’m still getting my Play by Sephora box monthly, and I’ve been just kind of idly swatching and filing most of the samples away with little more than a passing glance. What’s the point if I’m gonna just sweat it all off by 10 a.m., ya know?
A few months ago, I got a small sample of Cover FX’s Custom Enhancer Drops in my box. As I swatched it, I felt a pang of a feeling long absent: actual interest in a product! Incredible!
These Custom Enhancer drops are basically a super concentrated liquid highlighter that you can blend out to be super subtle, or build up to be blindingly bright. This style of product really appeals to me for its versatility. What did not appeal to me, however, was the dang price tag: $42 for a half ounce. Not even one singular ounce. Yikes.
I love prestige brands as much as anyone who spends a solid tenth of their day getting caught in the Facebook video rabbit hole of pretty folx putting on makeup, but I just don’t have it in my soul to pay a fourth of my car note for a vial of highlighter. Sorry Mom, sorry God.
The next time I was in my local Ulta, I stumbled on their newly expanded Makeup Revolution section. Perfectly placed at my eye level? Their spin on a liquid highlighter, immediately recognizable in similar packaging to the Cover FX Custom Enhancer Drops. The best part? They ring in at $9 for 0.61 oz. Nice.
I swatched every color they had available. It got messy. It got sparkly. And you know what? I got excited. I ended up buying two shades–Champagne and Unicorn Elixir.
Champagne is almost an exact dupe for the Cover FX drops I had in Moonlight. Champagne appears gold in the bottle but blends out into a rosy, silvery shimmer. It’s subtle, lightweight, and good for everyday wear. I’ve found that I can blend it out with a beauty blender for a chill day look, then stack on another layer with my fingertips and lightly buff for a near-blinding glow for nighttime. It’s really impressive.
Honestly, I kind of hate the “unicorn” trend right now (as well as the mermaid trend, I am old and unimpressed by these marketing gimmicks), but Unicorn Elixir made me scream out loud in an Ulta so I had to go for it. It’s intensely pigmented and glittery, with a pearly base and strong duochrome blue-to-purple glitters. It seems to actively move around in the light! I don’t usually go for cool toned highlighters, but I’m waiting for the perfect occasion to bathe my entire face in this stuff.
Makeup Revolution’s Liquid Highlighters are not only great quality, they’re mad cheap, too! At $9 a pop, you can stock up on as many shades as you fall in love with–and right now, if you buy $15 of any Makeup Revolution products at Ulta, you get a free Fierce as Fire eyeshadow palette, too!
The Makeup Revolution Liquid Highlighter comes in seven different shades:
- Starlight: cool pink shimmer
- Champagne: golden beige
- Luminous Gold: sandy gold
- Lustre Gold: warm golden copper
- Rose Gold: rose gold…?
- Bronze Gold: bronze… gold.
- Unicorn Elixir: blue/violet iridescent pearl
Find Makeup Revolution Liquid Highlighter here:
Ulta, $9