The current biggest rage in the beauty world: Bitter Lace Beauty’s Rainbow highlighter.
I admit, I’m one to give into hype. I’ll blame it on being a blogger and I have a responsibility to my readers. But in reality, I’m new and have like 2 readers and I have a shopping problem. I saw the coveted rainbow highlighter on Pinterest and had to go check it out.
It sold out in about a minute when it re-launched. But Jenna of Bitter Lace Beauty has made it a permanent item in her collection. It was a limited edition highlighter for St Patrick’s Day, but of course she saw the demand.
A criticism that I’ve seen is that it’s small. But it kind of has to be. If the pan was bigger, then the “highlight area” would just cover the whole cheek, and it wouldn’t be a highlighter. This fits right onto the cheekbone. The size is also just right for the flat brushes I own. If you’re in search of a brush that would fit, I recommend the Real Techniques Bold Metals Flat Contour brush.
I used a limited edition MAC brush for this highlighter, only because my RT brush was dirty with contour powder. My MAC brush had residue (looks like soap) which made it scratch the surface of the powder, which is why it looks like that in the photo. It was the cleanest flat brush I had!
Jenna recommends that it be applied by finger. After trying it, I agree. It puts out the most pigment that way and your finger will of course curve better to your face than a flat brush will. And of course tap the edges to blend it out, not the rainbow, but the outer edges. It’s like Colour Pop Shadows that way, it just applies better with your finger because of the dampness and the warmth. When I applied it with a flat brush, it looked it. The rainbow didn’t curve to my face as nicely, nor did it blend as softly. So finger application it is!
At first I was worried that my pan had too much purple and it would look like a bruise, but the purple isn’t an issue. I do notice the green and blue stripe which gives it more of the bruised look, rather than the purple. In certain light (dimmer light) the green and blue are the most noticeable, therefore looking like a striped bruise. You’ll just have to put less pressure on the darker colors and a little more on the pink-yellow. But in light, especially daylight, you see the shimmer and you definitely see the rainbow. So it’s not a date night, low light romantic dinner highlight. It’s a go outside and shine highlight.
I think it reads as a rainbow, but that’s because I’m expecting it. I’m not seeing, “punched in the face” when I glance at myself in the mirror. However, people who aren’t expecting it might not. Well meaning, clueless people might try to wipe it off. You’re going to have to learn to dodge and parry such moves.
I think the rainbow looks best when it’s deliberately swiped on. I tried to blend it out after applying the swipe just to experiment, and it looks more bruisey that way. Now you can definitely mix the colors by swirling your brush in the pan and apply it that way. It comes off as a silvery highlight and looks great that way. But blending the rainbow directly on your skin, makes it look patchy. If the edges look too harsh, I would blend out just the edges with your finger (the pink and purple and the ends) but not the entire thing.
The highlighter comes as a pan, and you will have to buy the compact separately if you want one. I just stick it in a Z Palette. It is mailed in a gold bubble mailer (a cute touch!), wrapped in more bubble wrap, in a pretty pouch and in a branded sleeve. I’d say it was very well protected, and there was little chance it could have been damaged in transit. But be careful when taking it out of the sleeve, that’s where the danger comes into play.
The floral imprint is really nice and brands her powders. You see that floral imprint you know it belongs to Bitter Lace Beauty! It’s too bad my brush destroyed it immediately!
My intention was to wear this at the summer festivals, Bottle Rock and Outside Lands. But I would not hesitate to wear this going to the store or just sitting at home. It’s probably a little much for some people, but I don’t care. I wear makeup, sometimes it’s flashy. But I would only wear the rainbow on one cheek, but wear it however you like!
Should it be paired with a blush or used over a regular highlighter? It’s up to you. I can’t say because we all have different tastes and different skin tones. If you think it needs a little more, then add it and see how you like it. I think using contour will make the look more complete, but obviously, try whatever you want. Makeup supposed to be fun, so experiment and enjoy yourself.
The highlighter lasted through a 50 minute cardio session and without a setting spray, and also a full day out and about (with setting spray). I don’t see the need to bring it with you for touchups.
There was a lot of unfortunate outrage due to the product selling out so fast. It’s like that with just about every launch with any given cosmetic brand. But Jenna was one person producing these, but since hired staff to help her. She’s working on it. I would cut her some slack, these are handmade and she’s doing her best. I’m sure this has been overwhelming for her. Due to request she will be taking pre-orders, so I would do that if you are looking for get your hands on Prism.
I wanted to get the original. As an artist, I like supporting the original artist and not a knockoff. (Unless it’s a designer purse cause I can’t spend thousands of dollars on a purse.) But a $22 highlighter, I want to get the one that other people say is good because you never know with knockoffs. Maybe the colors will be off, they won’t blend into a nice highlight colors, maybe they crumble. A lot of the DIYs instruct making it with eyeshadows. And I feel like the eyeshadows are too vibrant and too dark to be used as a highlight. Plus I don’t want to mess up my eyeshadow palette, I rather spend $22 on something I have seen work. Plus a lot of the DIYS look terrible, sorry to say! There are other rainbow highlighters on the market that jumped on the bandwagon after Bitter Lace Beauty’s success. Some of them look decent, but I have no idea if the quality is up to par. They could be perfectly fine, but you’ll have to be the judge if you decide to purchase from them. I would only purchase from companies that already produce makeup and you have seen reviews for… just to be safe!
And don’t buy these off eBay! Prism will be available to purchase! There’s no reason to over pay!
Disclaimer: I purchased this product myself, I sat there and hit refresh on the website until the product released and was one of the lucky ones to obtain one. All of my opinions are obviously my own.
