The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer highlighter review & swatches

There came the time when I, who has oily skin, who has always stayed away from anything sparkly and shiny on the cheeks, who hardly ever even swatched the highlighters that came in palettes, discovered the wonders of contouring and I found myself in urgent need of getting a couple of highlighting products. The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer, one of the most famous products in the category, seemed the most natural choice for me.

If there was only one thing that I could say about the brand, I would definitely mention the packaging. It's always cute, creative and fun without being kitch, like eg. Too Faced packaging tends to be.

This particular product comes in a cardboard box with the fun profile of a pin-up suspect accused of being too seductive, generally speaking. The highlighter itself comes in a simple metal compact with the picture of the same lady on the lid. It's gorgeous! 

The product inside is also lovely. The shade is very light champagne beige with slight yellow undertones. The consistency of the product is amazing. To me it feels like a hybrid product verging on the borderline between powder and cream finishes. Although this is unquestionaby a powder product, it displays no crumbliness or chalkiness of powders. 

Unlike many other highlighters in my product, this is not a shimmery powder, consisting of a ton of microglitter particles. It seems to have a homogenous metallic consistency and the finish it offers can be described as sheen, not shimmer.

This product is very easy to go overboard with. If I use it during the day, I always make sure that I use tools that will allow the sheerest application possible. My favourite one is ELF fan brush from their Studio line. This kind of brush picks the smallest amount of product and distributes it very evenly and exactly where I want it to go, on top of my cheeks.

This highlighter looks stunning in the evening lights and even better in flash photography.

This is by far the best highlighter in my possession, even if it's not the most appropriate one for all occassions. 

Disclaimer: I bought the product myself for my personal use and I am not affiliated with any company. I am not paid to do this review and everything I said here is my genuine opinion.