Facial Highlighter Pen

3 Reviews

1. 

   betrayedHawk6

   Reply

   I have very dark, hereditary under-eye circles. (Thanks Dad.) I am around an NC42-3 in MAC, E80-B15 in Cover Fx, with dark tan-olive skin.

   Cost/ Size: The price is $18 USD for a 0.04 size. Highlighting pens usually come in these small sizes. With how much highlighter I had to use to get any coverage, this is a very small size. Price and sizewise, Yves Saint Laurent’s Touche Éclat is LESS money! (Mary Kay’s is $450 for an ounce; Touche is $400 for an ounce.) Perhaps, however, Mary Kay’s is more coverage and thus less product needed than the Touche. (I have never used the latter due to the terrible lack of shades).

   Packaging: This, like many highlighters I think, comes in a click-style pen (turn the bottom) with a brush. I very much dislike this packaging. You have to click about 75 times to get it started, and then too much comes out. Also, for sanitary reasons, brushing the brush against your face can contaminate it. If you want to be hygienic, you should use your own brush (which is better for application as well). However, I did not, as I am lazy. Also, the pen style allows companies to put much less product in the container while seeming to put an adequate amount; the pen itself, with its brush and click mechanism, takes up more space than the actual product. I don’t see why they didn’t just put in a squeeze tube. I suppose they wanted a dupe of the legendary Touche Éclat!

   Texture: This formula is extra creamy, as I think it should be, seeing as its intended use is under the eyes (I think). It blends easily against the skin.

   Coverage: I give it a -100 for coverage. This is a foundation (coverage-wise), not a concealer. To be fair, this is marketed as a highlighter, not a concealer. However if its intended use is to lighten the under-eyes, it failed miserably for me. When I tried to build up coverage, since a simple swipe (for me) did absolutely nothing, it creased under my eyes–and my darkness still did not look covered at all! Thus, coverage is NOT buildable. Then again, I have very dark under-eyes. I think if you have very slight darkness under your eyes, or just want to have a brightened, well-rested look, this may be the product for you. However, I can’t see why you just wouldn’t use an actual foundation, which is much less expensive than this (for the amount you get). Also, you could use this on the inner corners of your eyes, and under your brow bone, as an actual highlighter.

   Method of application: I swiped the product on with a brush, then blended with a concealer brush. I would recommend this or simply using a concealer brush, but make sure you don’t just use the brush included. Also, your fingers would probably not do a good job, seeing how thin this product is. The product blends easily enough with a concealer brush.

   Endurance: To be completely honest–I hated this and did not leave it on long enough to see how long it would last. HOWEVER, since I must have put half the pen’s liquid under my eyes in an attempt to dispel the darkness, I did notice that it creased a LOT. However, if you are just putting a simple swipe of the product under your eyes, it will probably not crease.

   Shades: There are four shades: Shade 1, Shade 2, Shade 3, and Shade 4. Very creative. Shade 4 looked to dark on the Mary Kay site, so I purchased Shade 3. (Incidentally, it was quite a bit lighter than it appeared on the site. Perhaps Shade 4 would have worked. So caution: the colors look darker on the site than they are in reality.) It is a very peachy, cool shade, which is bad for me, since I am warm toned. Also, it was way too light for me. I do not know if shade 4 would work, because I don’t plan on buying it. I think perhaps if you were around NW25-30 and cool toned, this would be the right shade for you. The shade selection is very disappointing, but this is usually the case with click-style concealer-highlighters, for some reason.

   Availability: You can buy from a Mary Kay representative, or online (eBay) for cheaper. I bought it for under five dollars and it retails for $18! This is 72.2% less than regular retail. (I like to do math. I’m a nerd.) If you don’t know your shade I would recommend going to a representative and testing it, though it would be a little mean to test the product with a Mary Kay representative, and then turn around and purchase it on eBay. (However, saving $13 dollars . . . hmm.)

   Ingredients: WATER, ETHYL MACADAMIATE, CETYL PEG/PPG-10/1 DIMETHICONE, SORBITAN ISOSTEARATE, PTFE, POLYGLYCERYL-4 ISOSTEARATE, POLYSILICONE-7, CETYL DIMETHICONE, SILICA, HEXYL LAURATE, BARIUM SULFATE, ISONONYL ISONONANOATE, PROPYLENE GLYCOL, MAGNESIUM SULFATE, TOCOPHERYL ACETATE, DIAZOLIDINYL UREA, CYCLOHEXASILOXANE, METHYLPARABEN, PROPYLPARABEN, RETINYL PALMITATE, TOCOPHEROL, MALIC ACID, GLYCERIN, TITANIUM DIOXIDE, MICA, IRON OXIDES, TALC, ISODODECANE, CYCLOPENTASILOXANE, PHENYL TRIMETHICONE, LAUROYL LYSINE, PENTYLENE GLYCOL

2. 

   puzzledWigeon3

   Reply

   Unfortunately, I am going to have to agree with the negative reviews on this product. It DOES brighten up the eye area, but it also settles into the little fine lines around my eyes. Icky. So, it solves one problem but causes another. I will use this up on blemishes, but I won’t repurchase.

3. 

   morbidMacaw9

   Reply

   I have never before used Mary Kay products, until very recently when I entered a $50 gift certificate drawing on a whim — never expecting to win — and I did! The consultant, Becky, was very nice, drove 45 minutes to my house, and was not at all pushy.

   In the end, I ended up spending $100 out of pocket, after the $50 credit, and all on makeup! I was very pleasantly surprised by the quality of the makeup. The eye shadows are gorgeous, very highly-pigmented, and really reasonably priced for the quality. The “Shy” blush is a dead ringer for Nars “Orgasm” but at a fraction of the price.

   What really surprised me, though, was the Facial Highlighting Pen. For years, I’d been hearing about YSL’s Touche Eclat, and I really didn’t see what the big deal was. I’ve tried concealers, but never found one that didn’t look cakey or fake. I don’t have bad undereye circles; probably what most people have, just a bit of darker skin coloring underneath the inside corner of my eyes. When Becky, swiped a bit of the Facial Highlighting Pen (in #2) under one of my eyes and blended, I really wasn’t expecting it to make much of a (flattering) difference. When she handed me the mirror, I could see an immediate difference in that eye looked a bit brighter and more “refreshed” looking. And, it didn’t settle into any fine lines. I haven’t found the Facial Highlighting Pen to be too dry to use underneath the eyes, perhaps because I have oily skin?

   Overall, I’m really happy with Mary Kay’s makeup; there are definitely some great items. I’m really liking the new compacts. I purchased the smaller compact with the consultant, and just purchased the larger Pro compact on ebay. I like the endless variations in terms of filling up the compact, and the Pro compact is definitely an all-in-one compact that would fit everything that you need to make up a complete face. I like that!