Product review: MAC Hyper Real Glow Palette / Get It Glowin’ highlighter palette

Prior to going into lockdown, my daily make-up routine consisted of just two products: MAC concealer for the bags under my eyes and blemishes on my face, and MAC blush to give my cheeks a bit of colour. On Fridays, if I was feeling audacious, I would top this look up with MAC eyeshadow, usually a glittery pink shade, on the eyelids. I'm certainly loyal to the brand! 

This was an extremely simple process that I could do quickly when my train was ten minutes away from its destination, meaning that my make-up was freshly applied for work. 

Over lockdown, with there not being much to do, I had time to refine my beauty routine, and in doing so, added an extra component to the existing process: highlighter. 

The Hyper Real Glow Palette / Get It Glowin’ highlighter palette retails at £36, but I got it for 20% off in the Black Friday sales. (Pro tip: if there are any make-up items that you've got your eye on but don’t have an immediate need for, there's savings to be made in waiting until that brand do a Bank Holiday or Black Friday promotion, and getting it then). 

I have worn each of these three highlighters on different days, and will include photos of how they photograph on the skin. In all of these photos I'm also wearing MAC concealer NC35, and Maybelline Cheek Heat liquid blush shade Fuchsia Spark. 

Gold Coasting 

As the two images below show, this is the subtlest highlighter of the three: 

This is the one to wear if you want a bit of shimmer to your cheeks, but would like the effect to look so organic that it's hard for an untrained eye to discern whether or not you're wearing make-up. 'My skin, but glowier', if you will. 

The product is a creamy powder that blends seamlessly into the skin, and the light gold tone captures the light perfectly. With the less dramatic shades such as Gold Coasting, I like to apply a bit of highlighter to the tip of my nose, as shown below, just to complete the make-up look with a winning cheekiness. 

Due to it not being distractingly in your face, this is the shade that I'll probably wear the most often once we're back in the office. 

Get it Glowin' 

Another very pretty shade, and appropriate for day-wear. I recently wore Get it Glowin' when I had to give a virtual presentation, and I amped it up so that it would show up on the laptop camera: 

I adore this shade; it makes my skin look very healthy and sun-kissed. My all-time favourite highlighter is BECCA Champagne Pop, and that is a gorgeous make-up essential which I will probably review in the future on my blog. But that is definitely intended for a party/evening aesthetic, as it's very sparkly. If I wore BECCA to work, I daresay I would seem a bit over-glammed up. 

Get it Glowin', on the other hand, would be a great one to rotate with Gold Coasting for work looks. I could decide which one to wear depending on how I'd styled my hair and what my wardrobe was that day, but I feel very blessed to have two such reliable options. 

Rosy Cheer 

Rosy Cheer is definitely the most prominent of the three highlighters, and thus, the one I'd wear if I wanted to make my cheeks pop. It blends really well with my skin, and complements the Maybelline blush fantastically too: 

As you can see from the three highlighters placed side by side, Rosy Cheer is the most colourful of the three, and can thus layer your blush, giving the impression that the blush and the glow are all part of your natural skin! And I don't know about you, but when my skin is looking healthy and happy, I find it easier to project that in my aura as well. 

I like how this shade looks on my olive-coloured skin. I didn't apply too much of Rosy Cheer, as the photo was taken on a work day and I didn't want to look too clown-like (my blending needs work). But if you wanted to make your cheekbones really stand out, I would recommending adding on a bit more than what I've worn here. 

Of course, if you're better at make-up application than I am, then you can layer any two or even all three of these, to give your cheeks extra dimension. But my blending abilities aren't the best, so I thought I'd play it safe by modelling just one at a time! 

Overall, I adore this palette, for the formula of the product, and versatility offered by the three shades. MAC: you've just earned yourself a third step in my daily make-up look! 

Grade: A

For more of my skincare and beauty product reviews, click here. I need to review the two BECCA ones I own, as they're the items that started this highlighter obsession of mine, but as they're such a fun, glittery shade, I try to save it for when I go out with friends. Which being in lockdown has unfortunately precluded!