It's a momentous day when a great highlighter inspires Gollum-like "my precious" sentiments. It's the one makeup product that makes me feel like the benevolent goddess I aspire to be (as opposed to the glowering harpie that my otherwise mortal existence inspires on a daily basis). How could anyone with lit-from-within cheekbones be anything less than angelic? A perfect highlighter, to me, demures, "Who, moi?" or "Oh, this old thing?" with every glint of flattering lighting across my bone structure.
This brings me to the CLE Radiant Skin Essence Moonlight Cushion highlighter — more unique than a cream formula and just as easy to blend as a powder formula — the cushion moniker implies that it is indeed just like a cushion compact (meaning a liquid formula is doused in a sponge within a compact). It comes in three shades, all a bit similar but with slightly different tonal finishes. There's Apricot Tinge (a pearly pink), Glinting Buff (a pale gold), and Copper Rose (a warm rose-gold). No one shade is particularly made to flatter any singular skin tone — they actually all look lovely on any skin tone.
The compact comes with a little cushion pad applicator to save your fingers from the mess and keep things slightly more sanitary with the double-dipping. I, however, prefer to dip my digits into the sponge and tap the highlighter on my face directly. Why? Because I'm a monster. And I'm distrustful of all middle-men who serve only one function that I could very well do myself. No, but honestly though, I feel like less product is being sucked into the applicator pad and my fingers are maximizing my face-bling. Makes sense, no?
The formula itself is quite lightweight yet very saturated, so a dab will do just fine. It has a high-wattage strobe too, so you can really go all out, should you find yourself angling for the best strobe in a dimly-lit room. But otherwise, the finished effect is quite lovely. It sinks into your skin, mingling with its natural skin-texture, so you don't look like you've been CGI-rendered. This is a very overlooked quality in a good highlighter — its ability to co-mingle nicely with your skin's natural texture. I think it makes all the difference.
