Christian Dior Diorific Perfumed Illuminating Powder 002 Perle D'Or

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not always the biggest fan of Dior face and cheek products, as they tend to fade on me after a few short hours. They're also not the most pigmented to begin with. Needless to say, I don't pay too much attention to Dior's new releases. However, when I saw pictures of the Diorific Perfumed Illuminating Powders circulating on Enablergram Instagram, I knew I needed to get my hands on one. It didn't help that it was limited edition for the holidays 2013 AND was part of the Europe exclusive Golden Winter Christmas Look collection. Also, in case you've missed the memo, I'm a highlighter addict.

Dior released two illuminating powders in this collection: 001 Rose D'or and 002 Perle D'or. After the longest game of eenie meenie miney mo to help me decide between the two, I finally settled with 002 Perle D'Or. (Picking both of them up was not an option, as these ran quite exorbitantly price-wise.) To start, the packaging. To call it luxurious would be an understatement, as this is one of the most beautiful and most hefty compact I own in my makeup collection to date. The highlighter itself is a true work of art, and some have even said that it was designed to mimic Charlize Theron's dress in the J'adore ad campaign. Additionally, it also comes with a brush, that is rather soft and useful, to match the compact's golden exterior.

Now Dior wasn't joking when they called this a perfumed illuminating powder. In fact, when I first opened the compact, I was able to detect Dior's infamous J'adore scent, which had been infused in the the product itself. Not to worry as the scent itself does not linger too long once the product is applied. The highlighter has a glittery gold overspray that disappears once I dipped my brush in the pan. What's left, however, is a beautiful pearly gold highlighter. In terms of texture, this is soft but not exactly the most finely-milled highlighter I've come across. Instead, it's borderline powdery. The pigmentation is quite good, yet subtle. I would call Perle D'Or a more tamed version of the Becca Pressed Shimmering Skin Perfector in Moonstone and definitely less potent than theBalm's Mary-Loumanizer. As far as wear-time goes, this lasted a good eight or so hours with no noticeable signs of fading -- one of the better performers in Dior's recent face product offerings.

Now, would I say that Perle D'Or is an absolute must have? No. Is it nice to have? Definitely. The product is more suited for light to medium warmer skintones and for those who are not sensitive to fragrance in their makeup. Lighter skintones could possibly pull this off as a finishing face powder when lightly dusted all-over, whereas slightly darker skintones can use this as a traditional highlighter. Perle D'Or not only is a collector's piece but a functional one at that. Despite the hefty price tag, it is one product I know I will be getting a lot of mileage out of.