Ariana Grande’s makeup brand recently came to our Sephora stores here in Portugal, and I was just waiting for a site wide sale to pick a few things to try out. One of them had to be what I would say is quite an iconic product for the brand: the lilac highlighter, Miss Neptune.
The Interstellar Highlighter in the shade Miss Neptune is a medium, blue toned lavender colour. It is so blue toned that it will not become pink on the skin, regardless of your undertone. Not exactly a natural shade, however, the finish of this highlighter is what makes it so wearable (yes, I’m surprised too).
Texture and application: the highlighter feels like a thick powder. There is some creaminess to it, and I only got a bit of powder kick-up when I swatched it with my finger or used a harsher brush. But you don’t need a dense or scratchier brush to pick up product, a soft brush get’s enough powder. On the cheeks, there was no patchiness and it was super easy to blend out.
Pigmentation and finish: There is some translucency to the colour, as I would expect from a highlighter (it’s more about the shine than the colour). It is buildable, but you’ll never get it to full colour opacity. The finish is really the impressive part though: the powder looks like it’s one with the skin, the luminosity is there and while it is very natural, it is still very much visible. This is not a metallic highlighter by any means, so you won’t get that high shine that became so popular in the last few years. This just looks good on the skin, like it belongs there. It does not emphasise wrinkles nor skin texture, and it does not darken into a weird colour stripe on the cheeks when the light isn’t hitting it directly (which happens frequently with colourful highlighters).
Longevity: it lasted pretty well. The shine seemed to have softened considerably after 10 hours of wear (over a powdered face, but with no setting spray), but the colour was very much there.
Comparisons & Dupes: I pulled out the only other two lavender highlighters I own, and compared to Miss Neptune, they look pink. MAC Shooting Star Opalescent Powder is darker and warmer, and NYX’s Duo Chromatic Illuminating Powder in Lavender Steel is much lighter (and makes Miss Neptune look blue!).
Packaging and other info: The compact is quite heavy. I’m with the ones who say this feel like luxury packaging (even though it doesn’t quite look like it). I own a lot of luxury compacts and this feels sturdier, heavier and better made than a lot of them. There is a decent mirror on the inside, and total amount is 8 grams, which makes it a big sized highlighter. I was surprised to see the price here is Portugal (25,99€) is higher than r.e.m. beauty’s eyeshadow palettes (24,99€).
Final Thoughts: I’ve seen some mixed reviews, and I think what throws people off is that Miss Neptune has such a natural glow for such an unnatural colour. In makeup, we have come to expect more avant-garde colour choices to be accompanied by more extreme finishes: the foiled metallics, the ultra mattes, the glitters. So I can see how this product would be disappointing to someone who might be expecting to blind people with their cheeks – but I’m very glad that this option exists for people who want to be able to pull off a different colour while keeping their makeup still wearable. And overall, I’m so in love with the formula, I’m going to have to try another shade. 10/10 for me.
