Clinique On the Glow Cheek Pop Palette Review & Swatches
On the Glow
Clinique On the Glow Cheek Pop Palette ($29.50 for 0.36 oz.) is a new, limited edition trio of cheek colors–a highlighter, blush, and bronzer–in the brand’s popular Cheek Pop formula. The blush, Ginger Pop, is part of the permanent range, while the other two are new (at least to me). All three shades were consistent with the Cheek Pop formula: a gel-powder formula that feels smooth, lightly creamy to the touch and sits well on skin because there’s no powderiness (also no excess kicked up in the pan!). You’ll want to use a moderately dense, more rounded brush to pick up product as more feathery (think a fan brush) don’t pick up product well with this type of formula. It’s a good value if they’re shades you’d use, but I would have loved to see the brand release a second trio with more depth to cover more skin tones.
Ingredients
On the Glow
LELimited Edition. $29.50.
Pearl Pop
Pearl Pop is a soft pink with warm, yellow undertones paired with a golden sheen. It had good color coverage with a smooth, lightly creamy texture that was dense but not stiff to work with. It yielded a touch of color on my skin tone (anyone deeper would likely get highlighter-only use out of it) and a noticeable sheen, but it was on the more subtle end of the spectrum compared to the average highlighter (as it was intended to be). It paired well and layered well with the other two shades in the palette. The highlighter lasted nicely for eight hours on me before fading a bit.
Top Dupes
- NYX Enigmatic (P, $9.00) is more shimmery, warmer (95% similar).
- MAC Highlighter (LE, $34.00) is warmer (95% similar).
- ColourPop Made Me Do It (LE, $12.00) is more shimmery, darker, warmer (95% similar).
- ColourPop Flycatcher (LE, $10.00) is lighter, cooler (90% similar).
- ColourPop Poker Face (LE, $10.00) is more shimmery, darker, warmer (90% similar).
- Jouer Rose Gold (P, $24.00) is more shimmery, cooler (90% similar).
- Physicians Formula Pink (P, $10.99) is more shimmery, darker, cooler (90% similar).
- NARS Free Soul (LE, $30.00) is more shimmery, darker, cooler (90% similar).
- Chanel Peche Cosmique (LE, $70.00) is lighter, cooler (90% similar).
- Bobbi Brown Pink Gold Glow (LE, $48.00) is more shimmery, darker, cooler (90% similar).
Pearl Pop
LELimited Edition. $25.00.
Ginger Pop
Ginger Pop is a bright, medium-dark pink-coral with warm undertones and a subtle, golden sheen. It had a natural, more lit-from-within kind of finish that buffed out beautifully and never emphasized my skin texture. It had opaque pigmentation that blended out easily, but it had the type of texture that was firmer, denser in the pan, so if one wanted more sheer coverage, a light hand yielded more buildable coverage. The blush had a gel-powder feel–dense but not stiff–and has a more “melted” and seamless look on skin. It wore well for eight and a half hours before fading slightly on me.
Look Using this Product
Ginger Pop
DCDiscontinued.
Sunkissed Pop
Sunkissed Pop is a light-medium brown with warm undertones and a satiny sheen. Though I could see the shimmer in the swatch, once applied and buffed onto my skin, it had a more satiny sheen–barely luminous but not matte either. It had nearly opaque pigmentation in a single layer, which could be built up to full coverage with less than half of a layer more. The powder applied evenly and blended out beautifully without emphasizing my skin’s natural texture. It lasted for eight and a half hours on me before I noticed slight fading.
Top Dupes
- Clinique Solar Pop (LE, $32.50) is less shimmery, cooler (95% similar).
- Tarte Solo (-, ) is less shimmery, warmer (95% similar).
- ColourPop Jet Set (LE, $12.00) is cooler (95% similar).
- Essence Bespoke (P, $2.99) is lighter, cooler (95% similar).
- MAC Radiant Medium Golden (P, $35.00) is less shimmery, lighter (95% similar).
- Wet 'n' Wild What Shady Beaches (P, $4.99) is less shimmery, darker (95% similar).
- Physicians Formula Sunkissed Bronzer (P, $14.99) is lighter (95% similar).
- Melt Cosmetics Lynx (P, $22.00) is more shimmery, lighter (90% similar).
- Becca Capri Coast (P, $38.00) is darker, cooler (90% similar).
- ColourPop Roosevelt (P, $8.00) is less shimmery, darker, cooler (90% similar).
I ordered this last week because I had a feeling that it was going to be as nice as the holiday trio released at the end of last year. Looks like I was right! I can’t wait for it to be delivered.
Perfect for a summer vacation I may be taking! Or at least I hope to this year. Dang, I really need to get back out to NJ/NY even if for just a few weeks! However, I’d really rather be moving there….?
This is super cute! I’m pretty sure I have Ginger Pop already or at least something very similar!
I love Clinique’s formula for blushes and illuminating powders and I appreciate the fact that it doesn’t contain talc.
This looks lovely and it’s a great value. Christine, how is the packaging for this product? I vaguely recall you saying the cheek pop trio/set from 2018 holidays had rather flimsy plastic packaging…
Same packaging as the holiday trio!
If these shades work for you, this is beautiful. I think it is something you would have to swatch for yourself and it would be nice to see more colour variations in the trio.
I got mine in the mail today and can’t wait to try the highlighter. The Cheek Pops formula is my absolute favorite formula for blush so I wasn’t too concerned about ordering before the review.
On a separate note…is there anyone else that hates to see advertising pictures of broken products? That one picture above makes me just cringe, lol.
It’s not an advertising pix. It’s Christines product that she recieved.cheers!
I’m thinking Shari means the picture of the back of the box, where they’re a bit broken up!
Exactly, Christine…makes me cringe.
I really want Pearl Pop as I love the Ginger pop as well….. sadly no use for Sunkissed Pop though.
But I guess I should just get one of the dupes to Pearl Pop as I’ve been coveting those shades for years now. 😛 I’m just not much of a blush junk and been rather content with what I’ve got. lol
I already have (and love) Ginger Pop, and this highlighter isn’t calling my name, so I hope Clinique will release a line of Cheek Pop bronzers with this shade!
Hi Christine! Loves these! Quick Q: What brush do you like to use for the cheek pop blushes?
There’s not really one specifically, just any denser brush – it’s kind of more a thing of “what’s clean” at a particular moment since I have quite a few brushes.
https://www.temptalia.com/best-makeup-brushes-for-blushes-bronzers/
This post shows brushes good for light to heavy application – you’d want one in the moderate or heavy category!
I love Clinique blushes. I really hope this launches in my country. I’d definitely snap it up! Thanks for the review
So many cheek palettes recently. This is super pretty, but I would love to see some other colour options.. like a nude trio and a rosy trio.
Christine, do you think that the highlight would be too pink for someone with very fair skin?
I don’t think so, but I think you can wear anything… like “too pink” doesn’t register in my mind!
Hi Carla. I’m pretty fair. I wear NW10 by MAC or 100 by Lancome Teint Idole in the winter. I love the highlighter.
If I didn’t already own Ginger Pop, I’d be all over this. It’s a lovely trio.
Got it. Love it! Thank you for this review! Love the purse friendly packaging , too, although I know with this formula to be gentle, very strong, sleek plastic packaging with a strong magnet. Wish it had a mirror, alas…