Okay, it’s no secret that I love luxury products. I won’t deny that to ya’ll. I do. I admit, when I see the Anna edit using NARS I’m like, well crap I need that now. But, I understand that people might not support NARS as a brand or just don’t want to spend $50 on a highlighter. I’ve rounded up a few alternatives and one, dare I say it, dupe for the NARS highlighter. I also didn’t realize this until I was done searching through my highlighters for a dupe, but these are all cruelty free!
Elf Shimmer Highlighting Powder
Don’t let the word shimmer turn you off of this product. This is the shade Starlight glow. The NARS is shiny and glossy, and is more glossy than this one but if you blend it out and into your skin you can get a very similar effect. The ELF is a bit more powdery to the touch and not as bouncy as the NARS powder. But if you like ELF and want the same effect I’d recommend this one. The price difference is staggering, the NARS is $50CAD and the ELF is $8 US and I’m not sure the Canadian price as I bought it at Loblaws awhile ago but it was definitely under $10.
Annabelle Perfect Glow Highlighter
This is in the shade Golden Diamond. Fun fact, every time i was comparing my mom always knew which was the drugstore side but she had to go really close up to my face, so from afar these don’t look that different. The Annabelle is more gold than the NARS and not as glossy, but you can make this highlighter look glossy by really blending it into your skin. The price difference again, is a large one, this costs $9.95CAD and I got it on sale for 6.99 so again it’s a $40 savings.
The Balm Mary Lou-Manizer
The third and final alternative I have for you is the dupe. The Balm Mary Lou-Manizer. When I was asking my mom if she could tell the difference she really had to look and said she couldn’t tell the difference, but would still say the one side was shinier (which I revealed was the NARS side) but she said of all them she couldn’t tell unless she really really looked closely. This is the one that I would use the word dupe for. Not formula wise, but both powders are very smooth. You only have to build the balm Mary LouManizer up a bit more than the NARS to create the same glossy shiny effect. This one is the most expensive of the bunch and costs $22.33CAD on the Amazon website. Though you aren’t saving as much with this one (about $28) you are still saving a large chunk of change and buying from a cruelty free company!
I realize you can hardly see these because how does one take good photos of highlighter?! In any case from left to right – NARS Forte De France, The Balm Mary Lou-Manizer
Verdict: I love the NARS and its probably one of my favourite highlighter formulas ever (eek what a statement) and I would buy more shades in the future for sure. I won’t be anytime soon because I own many highlighters I want to get more use out of before purchasing more. However, I wanted to do this post for you all because I know that the drugstore has really great highlighter options and you don’t have to break the bank to get that glossy glow!
What is your favourite highlighter formula?
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