Glow 2 Go Blush & Highlighter Duo

1 Review

1. 

   amazedApples3

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   This product is so weirdly curated… I had so High hopes, especially since I am huge fan of the now sadly discontinued Click trick sticks from Mac that were very versatile wonderful creamy face sticks for blush, bronzer, highlighters and contouring. Therefore I was immediately excited when these puppies were launched with the spring collection of 2019 from Clarins. My hope was they had picked up on the Mac idea. This comes in two versions no 01 and 02. But boy these are so weird… The idea is A two sided stick that quickly fixes your look for your cheeks on the go… And the idea is great! It’s just the colour choices, the texture, the performance… it’s just not good.
   The no 2, which is called golden peach, which is an adequate name for the blush side of it comes together with a very shimmery bronze coloured thing that does not really work as a bronzer and is too dark for most as a highlighter. Paired together they become a one way ticket to oumpa loumpa city, that is just too orange to work with any complexion. I do say however if you happen to have a quite dark complexion that is very warm toned, you may find the colours here actually quite nice. If you find the texture and performance of them agreeable… (I’ll get to that part in a second…). For anyone fairer the bronze side of this will just create problems… it is too shimmery to be a bronzer and too dark and too pigmented to highlight. It emphasises texture and the peach side of it is nice. But if you can only use one side of it there are plenty of better peachy blushes out there compared to this. Considering how Clarins normally is a rather conservative brand catering for not so much the Lime Crime, or Urban Decay kind of make up aficionado this is an unusual combination. And not very flattering for anyone if you ask me… This could have been awesome if the bronze side of it was a matte one or at least a more toned down shimmery bronzer, or ever with a champagne highlighter in the other side.

   The no 01 version is even weirder. The two glow to go sticks seem to be curated to be one warm toned and one cool toned. So far so good. But where the no 02 is a blush with a misfit bronzer or highlighter for very dark skin tones only. The no 01 has on one side a cool/neutral toned matte pink/blush colour that blended out looks pretty similar to the no 02 version of the blush side if blended on a bit of sun kissed complexion, at least. The other side is really far out on this guy! It is a bluish/greyish/pinkish base with a purple shimmer to it that is something so strange as a not very shimmering highlighter… Since there is quite a bit of colour to the base it lays itself on top of your skin as a purple pink looking stripe of colour that is blended out will more or less disappear and leave a bit of a greyish tinge to the skin… Not in a very flattering way. But not in an edgy cool looking way either. Just very very weird…
   This combo would have looked so much better if the pink toned blush, that is usable and suits many skin tones would have been paired with either a neutrally toned highlighter shade with not much base colour, just shimmer or a lighter neutral matte or not so shimmery bronzer on the other side. Then it would have been perfect for most skins looking for a quick glow to go product… But this? So weird…;)

   Now for the texture… People looking for on the go creamy products usually want something that is easily blended and either gives a bit of glow to the skin by being dewy or sets to a finish that stays put well on the skin when out and about in warm weather. This does neither of that. The texture of these Glow 2 Go sticks is a waxy, silicony, powdery mix with a lot of slip that feels as if it should be a cream to powder like the beautiful Chanel Soleil de tan. But when I say slip, I do mean slip! This never sets and it never stops blending itself either, so this is transfer heaven! Touch your face and you will create a dent in your blush and use your phone and your blush will be on it. Sweat and it will start moving around. And the only good thing about it never setting is that you can wipe the whole thing off easily when things will begin to look patchy and uneven. The waxy powderiness also makes it prone to settle into fine lines and wrinkles emphasising texture in a very unflattering way…

   This product could have been soooo good!! So it pains me to find that it just isn’t… The grey purple “highlighter” thingy is the worst, and after that comes the super shimmery however not shiny bronzer/highlighter for dark complexions. The blush colours are ok, if it wasn’t for the low staying power due to this products slippy texture. They are also almost a dupe for each other, since they are rather similar in colour once blended out.
   The packaging is ok, but each side comes with both a large cap and a small that fits snuggly over the stick, making me think this product may dry out quickly if exposed to air for a period of time. Likely due to the high silicone content that probably evaporates in air. The Mac Click Tricks Ticks needed none of that, and has never dried out on me… Oh how I wish that product would make a come back! This is an easy pass! An esspensive one too – so save your cash for something better than this!