I tell El Hub all the time that if we ever win the lottery, I’m hiring Heidi Klum’s Project Runway lighting crew to follow me around wherever I go (ever notice how they light her compared to how they light the other judges and contestants?).
He thinks I’m kidding, but I’m COMPLETELY SERIOUS.
I don’t know, though. Maybe it doesn’t matter anymore, now that I’ve found these Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powders. 🙂
You know how skin looks so warm and buttery and beautiful at sunset? Or the way it looks by candlelight? You’re having dinner at a nice restaurant, they’ve got the lights turned down low, and you reach into your purse for your compact, check your gloss and think, “Wow! Where did my smile lines go?”
The right lighting makes a big difference. This, Hourglass knows, which is why they designed their six $45 Ambient Lighting Powders to make skin appear as if it’s bathed in flattering light.
No need for a film crew or an expensive studio setup. Just pick your powder by its illuminating effect — Diffused Light, Ethereal Light, Radiant Light, Mood Light, Dim Light or Luminous Light.
The secret, Hourglass says, isn’t lumens or wattage. It’s the transparent, color-correcting particles in the powders that filter and manipulate light.
Never mind that I’m thinking that same answer would probably also apply to other products from other brands. I’m more concerned about one thing: how well does it work?
Here in my own little photo studio, also known as the hallway outside of my office, I’ve been testing three of the six — Dim Light, Luminous Light and Radiant Light — I have to say, I’m impressed. What Hourglass does by varying the finishes, shimmer, sheen and pigment does seem to emulate different kinds of light.
No, I doubt Heidi Klum is going to give up her zillion-dollar studio setup for one or two of these, but still — pretty neat!
I love all three. Both for their fancy finishes, and for the way the almost imperceptible grains of powder disappear on my skin.
Dim light
I’d swear that Dim Light, hands down my favorite of the three, takes 10 years off my face. A neutral, peachy beige, it has a soft sheen and a lovely satin finish. With it on, I feel like my pores and fine lines look a little less obvious, and my skin has this certain quiet radiance to it that I remember being there when I was in my 20s and teens (lately, not so much, LOL!). “Siri, remind me to stockpile this before the zombie apocalypse.”
Luminous Light
With Luminous Light, the champagne pearl, Hourglass turned up the shimmer to re-create a soft, candlelit glow. Think angel halos…or a MAC Shell Pearl Beauty Powder with a softer, finer pearl sheen. This is the one I’d wear when I want to draw attention to my skin. I’d apply it just over the center of my face to highlight and lift my look.
Radiant Light
Radiant Light, a super sheer, semi-matte golden beige/bronze with flecks of golden glitter, is probably the flashiest of these three. Where this one lives, it’s always summer in Las Vegas. Picture the desert sun falling on the faces of Las Vegas Ladies Who Lunch.
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I’d come unhinged, but I didn’t want to worry El Hub or cry the night away. I just needed a way to vent my feelings. 
