Anastasia Beverly Hills Illuminators in Starlight, So Hollywood, Riviera, and Peach Nectar

Last month, Anastasia Beverly Hills released their Illuminator, which is described as a "brush-on highlighter [that] contains a mosaic of brightening powders that impart a lit-from-within glow." As far as I know, these highlighters are only available on the ABH website and at select Macy's (and the Macy's website) in North America. There is currently a total of four shades in the permanent range, and they are all imprinted with a ridged Art Deco-style design that actually proves really useful to pick up product easily with a brush. Each Illuminator comes in a round black mirrored compact, contains 9 grams of product, and retails for $28 USD.
Clockwise from left: Starlight, So Hollywood, Riviera, and Peach Nectar
Starlight, So Hollywood, Riviera, and Peach Nectar

Starlight is a pale warm white gold in a metallic finish. This is a permanent shade. The texture is lightweight and silky, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is similar though less metallic than Becca Moonstone, slightly brighter than TheBalm Mary-Lou Manizer, brighter and more gold than ColourPop Lunch Money, and lighter and more metallic than NARS Frenzy #1.

So Hollywood is a light champagne gold in a metallic finish. This is a permanent shade. The texture is lightweight and silky, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is more yellow than Becca Champagne Pop, more muted and less yellow than Becca Champagne Gold, lighter and more yellow than MAC Global Glow, brighter and more yellow than ColourPop Wisp.

Riviera is a medium rose gold in a metallic finish. This is a permanent shade. The texture is lightweight and silky, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is darker and more pink than Becca Opal, more pink than Becca Rose Gold, darker and more pink than MAC Soft and Gentle, and darker than Laura Mercier Indiscretion.

Peach Nectar is a medium gilded peach in a metallic finish. This is a permanent shade. The texture is lightweight and silky, and goes on smoothly and evenly. It has high pigmentation and opaque colour pay-off. It is more peach than Becca Rose Gold, lighter and more peach than MAC Cheeky Bronze, similar but more pigmented than ColourPop Most Necessary, and darker and more metallic than NARS Jubilation #2.

Wow, wow, wow. Four absolutely stunning highlighting powders from Anastasia Beverly Hills, proving that they're not just about eyebrows and contour kits. If I could compare these to other products, I would say they have the weightlessness and smooth glowing finish of MAC's Extra Dimension Skinfinishes, but with intense pigmentation and colour pay-off like Becca's Shimmering Skin Perfectors. Except these aren't limited edition like MAC's, and easier to blend out and less intense than Becca's (which, as much as I love them, also seem to sit on top of the skin rather than look seamlessly "strobed" because they're such creamy powders). These also somehow manage to be cheaper than both. The shade range is small but well-curated: Starlight should work well on fair to medium skintones, So Hollywood should work well on light to medium-dark skintones, and Riviera and Peach Nectar should work well on medium to deep dark skintones (or as blushes on our fair friends!). My only complaint is that these aren't widely available yet, especially in Canada. ABH has decided to make these exclusive to Macy's in the US, and the brand is only carried at Sephora in Canada, so until further notice, my fellow Canadians can only order these online through ABH's website (and fair warning, you gotta pay a duties fee).