Physicians Formula Iridescence Butter Highlighter Review, Photos, Swatches
Iridescence
Physicians Formula Iridescence Butter Highlighter ($10.99 for 0.17 oz.) is a pale lavender with cool undertones and icy violet pearl. It had semi-opaque, buildable pigmentation with a smooth, creamy consistency that felt spongy when pressed down with a fingertip but was thin and more powder-like as soon as I started patting it onto my skin. The highlighter blended out effortlessly and yielded a strong shine on my skin that did not accentuate my skin’s natural texture. It wore well for nine hours on me before fading noticeably.
FURTHER READING: Formula Overview for details on general performance and characteristics (like scent).
Top Dupes
- MAC Soft Frost (P, $42.00) is more shimmery (95% similar).
- Make Up For Ever 5 Frozen Purple (P, $21.00) is more shimmery (95% similar).
- Makeup Geek Celestial (P, $20.00) is more shimmery, brighter (90% similar).
- Morphe Stardust (P, $14.00) is lighter (90% similar).
- ColourPop Poor Unfortunate Souls (LE, $10.00) is darker, warmer (90% similar).
- Wet 'n' Wild Halographic (P, $5.99) is less shimmery (90% similar).
- Jouer Celestial (LE, $24.00) is lighter (90% similar).
- Guerlain Holographic (Right) (LE, ) is more shimmery, warmer (90% similar).
- NARS Wild Phox (LE, $29.00) is lighter (90% similar).
- NYX Lavender Steel (P, $7.99) is less shimmery (90% similar).
Formula Overview
$10.99/0.17 oz. - $64.65 Per Ounce
The formula is supposed to be a "cream-to-powder" texture that has "one-swipe blendable coverage" with a finish that will "smooth skin texture" in addition to highlighting it. It has a spongy, creamy texture that has slight wetness to the touch, but it has the thinner, more powder-like feel of a cream-to-powder product when worked with (whether using fingertips, brushes, or sponges) and not a thicker, true cream texture. The added slip helped the formula blend seamlessly over my cheek bones while retaining coverage and minimizing any disturbance to my foundation/base products. They worked well over bare skin or on top of liquid foundation or powdered foundation in my experience. The wear time ranged between nine and 10 hours on me. They were scented with a beachy, coconutty scent, though I didn't notice it once applied.
Browse all of our Physicians Formula Butter Highlighter swatches.
Ingredients
Isononyl Isononanoate, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Vinyl Dimethicone/Methicone Silsesquioxane Crosspolymer, Ethylhexyl Isononanoate, Dimethicone, Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2, Disteardimonium Hectorite, Silica, Sorbic Acid, Phenoxyethanol, Fragrance/Parfum, Astrocaryum Murumuru Seed Butter, Astrocaryum Tucuma Seed Butter, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Theobroma Grandiflorum Seed Butter, Pentaerythrityl Tetraisostearate, Tocopherol, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Propylene Carbonate, Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-12, Sodium Hyaluronate, Mica, Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891).
Disclaimer: Ingredient lists are as available by the brand (or retailer) at the time of publishing. Please always check product packaging, if it exists, for the ingredient list applicable to the product you're purchasing, or the brand or retailer's website for the most up-to-date ingredient list.
Ethereal and luscious looking for spring! Lucky for me, I do have Lavender Steele from Nyx. But this has something about it, though, that makes it more interesting.
This one, in my opinion, is smoother & gives more of a “glow”, where Lavender Steel seems more “shimmery”, if that makes sense. I do think both are worth having (but I’m personally in need of a highlighter intervention, LOL!), however, I wouldn’t necessarily pay full price if one has Lavender Steel. I’ve only seen this on ULTA’s website, but if it comes to CVS, PF typically offers $8-10 CVSBucks, or Rite Aid typically does PF at 40% off. Also, I find this one similar to Laura Gellar Diamond Dust, but not as “pink”.
Thanks for this info, Amy. It’s very helpful!
No problem! Like I said, it’s totally worth having personally, but I think the formula is really fun, LOL! That said, I think for the “average” person/consumer, it is “close enough” to LG Diamond Dust & NYX Lavender Steel, but Physician’s Formula is always on sale, or worth adding to an ULTA order to take you over the shipping threshold!
Exactly. I much rather buy an item like that than pay shipping.
I’m curious if this has a strong scent like the Butter Bronzer. Has anyone noticed it?
I have this one, along with Pearl & Pink, and none have any discernible scent. I was personally disappointed, though… I haven’t tried the bronzer, but I was hoping they’d have the same scent as the blush.
Thank you for the response xamyx. I found the scent in the bronzer to be very strong, though I never could say what the scent was. It actually gave me a headache every time I used it. I finally gave it to my best friend who didn’t have a problem.
You’re welcome! Now I want to pick up the bronzer; I’ve been waffling back & forth, but I actually like the scent, so it may be worth adding another bronzer to the pile…
Thank you so much for showing this Christine! The price is right, it would flatter my coloring, and look pretty for spring. I’ve not yet experimented with “unconventional” shades and I think this may be the perfect way to do so before I splurge on something like Soft Frost. I love your blog so much– I wouldn’t even have known this shade existed!
I have enough violet highlighters I find I rarely use them, hoping they come out with more in more wearable colors for me I love their bronzers.
There are 4 other shades: Pink, Pearl, Gold, & Rose Gold, which appears to be fairly “universal”, if you like that sort of shade.
This kind of shade is my favorite for my skintone. I have 5 of the dupes listed, but that may not keep me from picking up this one in the future. 😉
You may want to pick up White Raven & Purple Ashes from the WnW Goth-ographic collection (if you haven’t already!)…
I ordered them, but they’re not here yet. All my goth friends seem to love White Raven.
I found the collection after I ordered at CVS, so I went aheàd and picked up another White Raven & highlighter stick, mainly because I couldn’t wait to get them in the mail, LOL! I have to say though, it was worth it (plus i at least got $3 CVSBucks!).
I live less than an hour away from the warehouse, but my package took about 5-6 days to arrive; following the tracking, it went in the complete opposite direction, then finally came back, LOL!
I had MAC Soft Frost on my list. Not anymore, this one looks great! 😉
I was trying to avoid these as they are expensive $18.99CAN at Shoppers but these look lovely!
This has great payoff! How pretty!
Oh! I like the sound of this one! I think even better than the pink one indeed which unfortunately got a lower rating and I already have similar one but want them all anyways! ???♀️