Review: MAC Honey Light High-Light Powder

Well, I'm back! Finally. So of course one of the first things I had to do was head over to MAC to check out the Naked Honey collection (I have priorities after all). I had my sights set on the Honey Light High-Light powder, and I didn't even look at the rest of the collection until I had this in my hands (seriously). For me, this powder is definitely the highlight (pun intended) of the collection. The skincare looked nice, but it's a little overpriced IMO, the Buckwheat shadow was pretty, but dupeable, Pollinator was an awkward shade, and Creme de Miel is gorgeous, but just like Femme Fi, which I already have. The lip glosses were pretty, but nothing to write home about. Actually, my second favorite thing was Africanimal, the fragrance. The Naked Honey fragrance was way too floral/powdery for me. Africanimal captured the spirit of honey perfectly (the dark side of honey, that is). It's basically sex in a perfume bottle. This isn't bear-shaped bottle, kid friendly honey. This is dirty, musky, spicey honey. Some people found it masculine, but I think it's definitely a feminine perfume as it's really sweet, but not overpoweringly so. The sillage and lasting power are phenomenal. One spritz lasted 24 hours, through two showers! I had people following me around at the gym when I was wearing this. It's intense. I couldn't wear this every day, but honestly, it's the perfect perfume for when you just want to smell hot, but not cheap.

Anyways, on to the actual Honey Light powder. MAC describes it as a light peachy gold with shimmer, which is pretty spot-on. Most of the shimmer is actually an overspray, so don't be frightened off by how sparkly it is in the pan. You can see in the top right pic that the shimmer overspray vanished after just a handful of uses (there's just a bit left on the edges). The bottom left pic shows the initial overspray (sparkles!), and the bottom right shows the swatch of Honey Light with the overspray (left), and without the overspray (second from left).

There's obviously some shimmer left even without the overspray, but it's much more subtle and natural looking. I'd say Honey Light has a tiny bit of a gold frost with fine gold shimmer. It's extremely finely-milled (so it doesn't accentuate flakies) and doesn't look chalky or fake at all. It goes on pretty sheer, and it's easily buildable. I'm applying it with my Sephora blush brush, and I'm not having any trouble picking up too much/too little pigment, so I think it'll work for whatever blush brush you have. I'm loving the honey comb pattern, which is already disappearing :( but I can't blame anyone but myself for that. I also love this compact. It has a button you push in the front and the lid pops open, so anybody can open it, including me! You get a good amount of product for $24.50 (the compact's about the size of my palm), and a little goes a long way, so it's a sound investment. I apply it in a 3 shape, going over my temples, cheekbones, and jawline, for a warm, golden glow. It looks light in the pan, but it goes on almost like a bronzer on me (I'm NW20), and has a tendency to go a little orange if I get over-enthusiastic, so it's best to start with a little and work your way up. It's the perfect thing to wake up my face on those mornings when I get out of bed looking like a crackhead zombie. The combination of the light shimmer and bronzer doesn't scream "I just got back from Fiji," but more like "I'm a super-healthy yoga goddess who spent last weekend at the beach" if that makes any sense at all. I'm craving summer already (it's raining in LA, again!). Honey Light is sold out online (but it's darker version, Golden Nectar is still available), so I'd run, not walk, over to your local MAC to grab this little gem.

MAC High-light Powder in Honey Light, $24.50 at maccosmetics.com.

Image Sources:
last two pictures, temptalia.com, temptalia.com