Estée Lauder Courrèges Illuminations Face Powder

After receiving three Asia exclusive highlighters in the mail from a dear friend of mine last week, the last thing I really needed to purchase was -- yet another -- illuminating powder. To be honest, I didn't even know Estee Lauder was collaborating with Courreges for a limited edition collection. This collection seems to be exclusive to Sephora at the moment, and only for VIB and VIB Rouge customers.

What shocked me more was how this particular highlighter sold out at least 2-3 times. Combined with the letters LE, I had to snag this precious little thing when I was late night browsing on Sephora.com and saw it was somehow in stock. (It is, however, currently out of stock as I post this, but I still wanted to get this up in the event that Estee Lauder counters start selling this highlighter. No one is 100% sure as to how exclusive this collection is at this point.)

As you can tell from the heavy swatch, it shows up as a champagne beige highlighter on my NC20 skin. It certainly is not the most finely milled highlighter I have come across by any means either.

The highlighting effect can be built up or sheered out (shown above), which makes this very daytime appropriate. Even when sheered out, this gives a healthy glow that does not emphasize pores or imperfections at the slightest. By the end of a long day, I can still see a noticeable sheen on my cheekbones and down my nose bridge. Also, take a look at that multifaceted shimmer in the powder!

Courrèges is a French fashion designer known for his modern and futuristic designs, which is reflected in the packaging of this highlighter. At first glance, the product seems rather boring in presentation with its whimsical white plastic packaging. However, upon closer inspection, the clear part of the twist off cap actually has a magnifying property. Needless to say, I had a field day when I discovered that! So I'm easily entertained...

I would be lying if I were to say the Courreges Illuminations Face Powder ($32 for 0.24oz) is an absolute must-have, and that you should go on eBay to pay the ridiculously marked-up prices. Not at all. If it comes back in stock, I do suggest getting it, but it's nothing to get all up in arms about if you miss out. I think people immediately jumped on this bandwagon thinking it was an exact dupe for Estee Lauder's Heat Wave (which was released a while ago.) I do not own that, but from the swatches I had seen online, this is not a dupe for Heat Wave. With that in mind, you can possibly find similar dupes in your collection for this Courreges highlighter, like the permanent Becca Opal Shimmering Skin Pressed Perfector.