Anastasia Snowflake Loose Highlighter Review & Swatches
Snowflake
Anastasia Snowflake Loose Highlighter ($25.00 for 0.21 oz.) is a silvery white that seemed to run ever-so-slightly warm in tone or else just seemed warmer based on how it reflected light. It had a slightly translucent base with more fine shimmer and larger sparkles coming together to create a wet effect on my skin, and unless built up (or applied heavily), it had a more gradual application of product and sheen. I could see this working particularly well with an assortment of blushes and the like for an intense highlight without changing the base color too much.
The texture was fluffy to me–not so much finely-milled as it was airy, lightweight, and sparkly to the touch. (I was actually thinking “Aptly named snowflake…” while trying to sift out product.) The loose powder applied well to bare skin, blended out without much effort, and it seemed to adhere and stick well to my skin despite having higher sparkle content to it. The highlighter stayed on well for eight hours on me before fading noticeably.
FURTHER READING: Formula Overview for details on general performance and characteristics (like scent).
Top Dupes
- Physicians Formula Pearl (P, $10.99) is less shimmery, warmer (90% similar).
- Wet 'n' Wild Glow Watcher (LE, $4.99) is less shimmery (90% similar).
- MAC Let It Glow (LE, $42.00) is less shimmery, darker, less pigmented (90% similar).
- OFRA Glazed Donut (P, $29.00) is warmer (90% similar).
- Tarte Champagne Pink (LE, ) is less shimmery, darker, cooler (90% similar).
- Dior Strobe White (PiP, ) is less shimmery, cooler (90% similar).
- Makeup by Mario Quartz (P, $24.00) is more shimmery, cooler (90% similar).
- Make Up For Ever 1 Frozen Silver (P, $21.00) is less shimmery, darker (90% similar).
- ColourPop S'il Vous Play (DC, $12.00) is darker, cooler (90% similar).
- Make Up For Ever 1 Arctic White (P, $24.00) is more shimmery (90% similar).
Formula Overview
$25.00/0.21 oz. - $119.05 Per Ounce
The formula is supposed to to have "more pearls, more sparkle and a higher reflect" than a typical pressed powder highlighter. It has "customizable levels of intensity" with a "smooth application" that can be used "alone" or "mix[ed] together." The loose nature of the product definitely made it a more buildable product as coverage was very much dependent on how much product was put onto the brush. That amount often was related to how much product came through the sifter, which was a fair amount with the more finely-milled, less sparkly So Hollywood shade but much less with the more sparkly Snowflake and Sunset Aura shades.
All three shades applied evenly and blended out without much effort, and while sparkkly, they weren't gritty or so glittery that the particles didn't adhere well to my skin. The shades seemed to get to a more sparkling, metallic sheen faster than Anastasia's powder highlighters have and had a bit of a wetter sheen overall. I felt that they were just shy of pore-emphasizing territory on my skin. They wore for eight hours on me on average.
Browse all of our Anastasia Loose Highlighter swatches.
Ingredients
Calcium Sodium Borosilicate, Octyldodecyl Stearoyl Stearate, Calcium Titanium Borosilicate, Octyldodecanol, Phenyl Trimethicone, Mica, Diisostearyl Malate, Pentaerythrityl Tetraisostearate, Lauroyl Lysine, Nylon-12, Polymethylsilsesquioxane, Caprylyl Glycol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Phenoxyethanol, Tin Oxide, Tocopheryl Acetate, Bismuth Oxychloride (Ci 77163), Iron Oxides (Ci 77491), 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.
Snowflake has such a wonderful finish on it! It really does look wet! If I didn’t already have Ofra Glazed Donut, I would ? buy this one.
Oh boy, I didn’t order this with Riviera (yes I capitulated) as I found a few dupes in your list yesterday. Now I’m questioning myself.
I like the idea of a loose powder with little to no base colour, but I do have a couple of the MUFE 103 and 111 star lit powders, and the Carli Bybel palette.
As it’s permanent, I’ll hold off for now.
This is a really beautiful highlighter and that is the area of my makeup collection where I could stand to pick up a couple. I have a few highlighters that I use but are just on the edge of being too dark for my pale skin tone. This seems like it would be much closer to working for me. I will add to my list of things to check out for the spring sale.