They have fantastic blushes and finishing powders, and their foundations and brush ranges are quite nice. I’m not a fan of their newer eyeshadow formula, and I definitely miss their original duos.
— Christine
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I hate that they discontinued their old eyeshadow duos (and before I was able to purchase Suede and Gypsy!). I sort of hate the price/hype-i-ness of the whole “ambient light roadshow”. I have 4 of the original Ambient Light Powders and while I like them, I honestly don’t think they’re all that special and certainly not special enough to justify the prices. I do love their Mineral Veil primer and it was my “holy grail” product for a long time – the combo of great performance AND SPF was bliss for me. But then I discovered CoverFX primer with sun protection in it and now, I’m just trying to use up the Hourglass one to get rid of it and make more room in my makeup cabinet!
I feel like many of their products are overrated. I’ve tried and disliked their Ambient Lighting powders, and also the blushes that came later. Maybe they just didn’t work for me, but neither gave me the luminous glow they’re supposed to. I think my classic Meteorites pearls work way better than the powders to create a luminous finish, and I have a lot of blushes that also look more luminous than theirs.
I have yet to try anything from the brand, but I plan to in the near future. I personally like the idea of powder products that are talc- & petroleum-free, and am willing to pay more. To see sooo many brands at this pricepoint that still continue to use such cheap ingredients (considering how many DS powders don’t!) is a bit disheartening…
Illusion Skin Tint was one of my favorites, until they re-formulated it. Now, it no longer glows on my skin, it seeps into fine lines, the coverage is very cakey-very disappointed. The tube is much better than the old pump. Also, the color range of all their foundations, including this one, are not good for fair skin, too dark or too yellow. Ambient Lighting Powder is nice, but way overpriced.
I love all their products, I use their primers, Ambient powders and blushes and bronzer religiously and their brushes are amazing for liquid foundation. The price tag on the other hand is a little outrageous!
Rant: I haven’t had the chance to try the infamous Hourglass primer yet!!! 🙂
I think if you use their powders as finishing powders and not highlighters, they’re fantastic.
Also, the packaging is unbeatable – so beautiful.
The Mineral Veil Primer is definitely in my primer top 3.
I bought an hourglass brush and there were so many raves about this brush. I think it’s the blush/foundation brush. Although it is a good brush, it certainly isn’t the end all be all for the price. I have better brushes that are half the price.
So far, I have only tried “deluxe” samples of Hourglass products, but I do love their Mineral Veil Primer a lot. And I do still lust over the Ambient Light palette, I think it could work quite nicely on me for a softly lit-from-within look.
My only “Rant” against them is that their prices seem a bit too high for what they offer. And those horrid eyeshadow palettes they came out with recently!
I love their blushes. They’re not crazy pigmented, which is good for me because it makes it easier to build up a natural looking flush. They’re not matte, but not crazy glittery either. They always make me look like I’m glowing! Definitely my favourites. I love their Immaculate foundation too. As an oily skinned girl, it’s been a godsend to have a foundation actually keep my oil under control for 8 hours at a time. I hate how hard it is to touch up, but that’s a compromise I’m willing to make.
I really love their blushes (I luckily have the blush palette) and I’m hoping to get the highlight palette soon. I wish they had a lighter bronzer for those of us with the complexion of a ghost, but maybe in future they’ll come out with a broader range there. I was super unimpressed with their new eyeshadow “palettes” when I swatched them in store and while pretty, I don’t like that the colors aren’t separated. I’ve heard mixed things about their primer.
I love the Hourglass foundation and BB cream……..however, for me the colors are off….. ;(
I really like how pigmented their lip glosses are but their prices are pretty steep. I would love it if they had more colors in their lipsticks and liners or maybe even larger eyeshadow palettes but I haven’t seen it yet. Good thing there are so many brands out there that do cater to that or I would be bored. Their liquid lipsticks can be sticky when their dry which is a huge negative. Not to mention there are cheaper versions of their lippies that actually are budge proof and non sticky. So they really are a hit and miss for me. Their eyeshadow crease brush is truly their best face brush I’ve found in a high end vegan brand if you want to splurge. If not there are plenty of comps out there that will do the same thing for much less money.
Rave: The Extreme Sheen High Shine Lip Gloss (LOVE the smell), the Panoramic Long Wear Lip Liner is FABULOUS & the color ICON (I have it in every formulation made) just does it for me!
Rant: The lack of shade variety in the foundations.
I don’t think I’ve tried anything of theirs. I was lusting over those beautiful eyeshadow palettes until they turned out to be so powdery. They are on the expensive side.
I really love the Hourglass Mineral Veil Primer and Ambient Lighting Powders/Blushes. They seem very high quality and highly pigmented. I love that the products are accessible through Sephora. The price-point is high, the selection is not very wide, and the packaging feels cheap for the powders. The products themselves I have tried have been fantastic, though.
I tried the travel size of their famous primer, and while it’s certainly one of the better primers I’ve ever used, I’m not sure I can justify the price on my current budget. Especially since it’s not really pore filling or reducing on me, so I’d have to use another one on my pore-y and scarred areas. It does smooth very well and reduce redness slightly (which was one of the claims on the bottle I was most skeptical about), so if I had the money, certainly. But I don’t.
I tried one of the Ambient powders and I liked the effect, but it wasn’t dramatic enough to justify the cost at this point in time. Again, if I had the money already existing in my budget to buy it, I would, but I’m not going to readjust my other purchases to make room for it. Also I suspect it may have broken me out, but I didn’t have it long enough to be sure.
I love the Ambient Lighting powders & blushes. The powders are holy grail for me & I use them daily. I passed on the most recent eye shadow palette release – they looked covet-worthy but seemed to flop, and were incredibly over-hyped. I’m hoping for a December bronzer palette release! I like their veil mineral primer, but I could live without it. I also like the finish of the Immaculate foundation for my oily skin, but I can’t seem to get a good shade match.
I love the Mineral Veil primer. I have one of the Ambient Light powders that I dust all over to brighten my face during the winter. I like it, but likely won’t replace it because I’ve come to prefer the Becca highlighters. They have brtter variety (for my needs) and cost less.
The first thing I ever owned from Hourglass was their original 6 pan palettes. The eye shadow formulation was amazing. I had two of them, and although they were pricey, they were fabulous, some of the best eye shadows I have owned. When I used them up, I wanted to replace them, but they were discontinued. I haven’t purchased anything by Hourglass since. I have tried the testers for the duos as well as some of the new eye shadow palettes, and I wasn’t impressed. I have some deluxe samples of the primers and foundations, but haven’t gotten around to using them yet. I am just going to stick with my Urban Decay eye shadows. Those have been my favorites for many years. The new Hourglass eye shadows just don’t compare.
I like the blushes and powders. Their liquid lipstick isn’t bad either. I love their mascara. I don’t like the new shadows and for some reason all the base products don’t work well on me.