Rimmel London Wake Me Up Instant Radiance Shimmer Touch - Swatches & Review!

Of the several drugstore new products I've picked up lately, the new "Wake Me Up Instant Radiance Shimmer Touch" by Rimmel London is one of the ones that I am most excited to discover and try out. Of the available drugstore brands currently, I do not remember any brand has any liquid highlighter type of product available right now.

This new product is available in 4 different shades, and is sold for about $7-8, and is a permanent item in the Rimmel lineup.

Each tube contains 14ml of product, and the initial impression I get is that this is strikingly reminiscent of the NARS illuminator. Could this be the $36 (30mL) illuminator's drugstore dupe?

 "Lightweight, ultra-blendable mousse formula gives an instant touch of radiance. Wakes up skin with a halthy-looking glow. Long lasting flush of colour." - Rimmel London

As the claim suggests, the formula is quite mousse-y and blendable! But the fact that the product is housed in a squeeze tube means that controlling the amount of product squeezed out can be quite an art.  I find that often I squeeze out too much and end up wasting a bit of it... :(

L to R: Flush of Pearl // Radiant Rose // Peach Glow // Shimmering Sand

Flush of Pearl: This shade is a shimmery cream-pearl colour. I find that this is the most classic highlighter shade, and is best used on the high points of the cheekbone, down the nose bridge, and at the cupid's bow for that elevated look of your features.

Radiant Rose: This shade is a shimmery rosey-pink colour. This shade is the most pigmented of the four after blending out. This colour can be paired with powder blush to give an added glow to the cheeks.

Peach Glow: This shade is, as the name suggests, a glowy peach colour. This is a good alternative to "Flush of Pearl" if you have medium to darker skin tone, since the former could appear a bit ashy (from being too pearly-white) on deeper skin.

Shimmering Sand: This shade is a shimmery bronze-pearl colour. Absolutely gorgeous on people with medium-dark skin tones, or those who are tanned. The shimmer in this product is slightly more golden compared to the other ones, and is perfect for those who are looking for that "bronzed goddess" look, but may appear too orange for those who are in the lighter skin-tone spectrum. 

Overall, I find that this product, while the idea behind it is great, is just a little bit too shimmery for what I prefer in a highlighter. The consistency is also a bit too liquidy, as opposed to the "mousse" claim, which makes me expect it to be more creamy. The application is super easy, it is a good product for those who are just starting out to try out highlighters. I do really enjoy the shade "Flush of Pearl" for everyday use. I find the best way to apply it is squeezing a tiny pea size to the back of your hand, and then gently dabbing three small dots onto the area you wish to apply it (i.e. cheek bones, nose-bridge, etc) and gently blend out. Don't overblend! As it will rub off eventually all back onto the fingers and you end up with no colour but a bunch of shimmer on the face.

Lasting power is not strong, they do tend to fade quite fast if you don't set it with a powder product or a makeup setting spray. Without one, they lasted about 2-3 hours on me before it pretty much all disappeared, and I do not have oily skin by any means. 

As for whether or not they are a NARS illuminator dupe, I would have to, sadly, report that they are not quite there yet. If the colour can be a little more pigmented after blending out, consistency a bit more creamy, and the shimmer less sparkly after blending out, then it would be a great dupe. For now, I'd consider it an acceptable alternative to NARS, if you really must own a liquid illuminator. 

Another way to possibly make use of these liquid highlighters, especially the lightest shade, would be to use them as your brow-bone highlight. 

If you already have a good liquid highlighter you are currently using, I'd say you can probably skip this new product from Rimmel. If now, perhaps give one or two a try and you may be surprised at what it can do for you :)

Have you tried these out? Or let me know what your favourite highlighters are! Thanks for reading :)

Joanne

Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer - Review

If I had to choose the one makeup product that can almost instantly fake the look of more sleep for myself, it would definitely be an awesome under-eye concealer. Imagine all those days that we all run short on time and the usual makeup routine has to be slashed into the bare necessities...I know that I will always reach for my concealer to cover up those panda eyes!

Which is exactly why I'm quite inclined to try out new drugstore concealers, as I'm always hopeful that one day I would hit a real gem for a fraction of the price of high end products. Wake Me Up Concealer by Rimmel London is the latest one that I have tried.

My shade is the second lightest. in 230 Very Fair/Light

The "Wake Me Up" line has been available in the UK for at least several months now but I have not seen a trace of them until several weeks ago when I was perusing the cosmetics department of Wal-Mart. That day I found a newly re-organized Rimmel London permanent display section which included this new concealer, the corresponding foundation, brand new cream highlighters, jumbo eye pecils, and eyeliners. It was a really exciting find for me, and I picked up several products to try out! Reviews of the others will be coming soon, but today's spotlight lands on the concealer, which just so happens to be really quite awesome!

The claim on the tube reads: "Our first full coverage concealer that visibly reawakens and illuminates under the eyes. Completely conceals spots and other blemishes. Instant anti-fatigue effect with peptides and a Vitamin Moisturizing Complex." - Rimmel London

Reading the blurb on the tube definitely makes this product sound heavenly, and to be honest it really performs quite well for my under-eye area. The above picture I'm hoping to capture the tiny shimmer that can be seen in the product. Normally, the fact that I can see shimmer would've been the first warning sign for a concealer, because often the shimmer/sparkle becomes quite obvious after applying and it really is quite weird to look at. However, there is no visible shimmer particle on the face after application! Instead, once the concealer is blended out, the finish is indeed a radiant glow that looks natural, I'm very happy with it :) (Btw, I've returned the "Wake Me Up" Foundation because the shimmers were just TOO noticeable, both in the bottle and on my skin.)

The product comes with a standard doe-foot applicator that makes applying the concealer simple and accurate, right to the spot you need it to go and no more than that. The amount of concealer that is deposited could be a little too much if you forget to wipe off the excess at the edge of the tube, so beware of that. The sponge on the applicator is quite fluffy and soft, thus it is quite gentle with the delicate under-eye area. I also use it around the sides of my nice that tends to get a little red and the applicator gets into the area quite perfectly.

The consistency of the concealer is of a creamy-liquid, by that I mean that it is not a liquid that would run down your skin after you apply it, because the creamy aspect keeps it held together nicely. It almost feels like a mousse or a gel. It blends out really smooth and even, and does not feel heavy on the skin at all.

And now here is a demo of the performance of the "Wake Me Up" concealer on my eyes:

Before

The above picture is of my eye area with absolutely no makeup on (I hope it's not scaring you away!). As you can see, I do not have much of an eye bag, but I do have visible redness (almost a purple colour, sometimes) under the inner 1/2 of my eye and some bluish veins that are trying to peek through. My primary problem is under-eye discolouration (a.k.a. panda eyes) brought upon mostly from the lack of sleep.

After

Voila! Here you are seeing the same eye after one layer of "Wake Me Up" concealer. I really do think that the difference is quite noticeable here! The skin tone is evened out and the redness is pretty much all covered. All the while, it looks natural without the look of makeup being caked on. One of the best aspects of this concealer is that there is NO oxidizing throughout the day, NO collecting of product underneath the eye  and NO settling into fine-lines. The product really do last over 10 hours, faking the look of good sleep! The concealer also performs beautifully on top of a foundation as well! :)

I have not really tested the concealer on blemishes around the face, because I currently don't have anything that really needs to be covered up. I usually just let small acne spots slide and just hide underneath the foundation.

Overall, I highly recommended giving this drugstore concealer a try, especially if you haven't quite found a good under-eye concealer yet. For $6, it really gives good bang for your buck (7mL is a lot of product for the average concealer!). The staying power of the concealer is really good and the consistency almost rivals those from high-end brands. The shade rage is not too shabby, either; there is one shade lighter than the one I have, and at least 4 other darker shades. What I enjoy about this range of concealer is that the colour is not simply skin-toned, but also has that slight peachy salmon-tone that is so important for correcting discolouration under the eyes. Good job, Rimmel!

Have you tried the "Wake Me Up" concealer, or which is your favourite product to cover up those panda-eyes? :)

Joanne