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Kevyn Aucoin Candlelight The Celestial Powder Review, Photos, Swatches

Kevyn Aucoin Candlelight The Celestial Powder
Kevyn Aucoin Candlelight The Celestial Powder

Kevyn Aucoin Candlelight The Celestial Powder ($44.00 for 0.17 oz.) is a pale, golden beige with a frosted sheen. Becca Moonstone is slightly yellower, while theBalm Lou-manizer is a touch darker. Illamasqua Aurora is similar but a cream product. See comparison swatches.

The selling point of this product is its texture: silky-smooth, buttery, and incredibly finely-milled. It’s a product that delivers a true sheen of a finish–it’s not sparkling, shimmery, or glittery in any way. It can be applied as a subtle, barely-there glow or as something more metallic, almost wet-looking, with a denser brush. For a really lovely result, I liked using a fan brush across the tops of cheek bones. It wore well, lasting eight hours and only looking slightly faded after nine and a half hours but no patchiness, and didn’t emphasize pores or any imperfections on the skin. Because the texture is so soft, it’s a cinch to blend and buff the product into the skin for a nice glow. It’s a lot like Chantecaille Rose Petals, which I adored, but warmer and more beige/yellow than pink.

Kevyn Aucoin Candlelight The Celestial Powder
Kevyn Aucoin Candlelight The Celestial Powder

Kevyn Aucoin Candlelight The Celestial Powder
Kevyn Aucoin Candlelight The Celestial Powder

Kevyn Aucoin Candlelight The Celestial Powder
Kevyn Aucoin Candlelight The Celestial Powder

Kevyn Aucoin Candlelight The Celestial Powder
Kevyn Aucoin Candlelight The Celestial Powder

Kevyn Aucoin Candlelight The Celestial Powder
Kevyn Aucoin Candlelight The Celestial Powder

Kevyn Aucoin Candlelight The Celestial Powder
Kevyn Aucoin Candlelight The Celestial Powder

Kevyn Aucoin Candlelight The Celestial Powder
Kevyn Aucoin Candlelight The Celestial Powder

55 Comments

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yellowlantern Avatar

Thank you for the swatches of this. Candlelight is one of those products I’ve always sort of looked at online and wondered if I should get it. It looks gorgeous, but I think I’ll pass for a slightly more pink-ish highlighter if I choose to get any more. 🙂

Wwendalynne Avatar

Def this highlighting powder! I think this is one of those great products that highlights but still manages to look pretty darn natural on light/light to medium skin, and I’m neutral and it worked really well on me as well. I’m using more cream/liquid at this stage with my more mature skin, but used this particular powder product for ages.. LOL about retaking photo after 10 years!

I’m not certain if is still around, but there was a Kevyn Aucoin precision eyebrow pencil that was amazing for redheads. It was one of the very few pencils to come in a shade suitable for redheads. This was more important to be when I was dying my hair red a number of years ago and wanted my brows to match a little more with my hair. At that time, I would lighten my brows and use this pencil. Loved it.

Last, Sensual Skin Enchancer. But it’s tricky and not at all good for eye circles…stick to correctors. Still, if you want to go off the deep end on flawless finish, this will give it to you. It requires a very heavy application of moisturizer beforehand for full coverage if you are prone to dry patches, but you can custom mix with a TM for more a dewier more medium coverage which is my fav way to use or even a tiny bit with your regular moisturizer if you want light coverage and to slap on a very quick makeup. I just think it is a super versatile product and mixing and blending with other products does not interfere with the quality. Pigmented beyond belief.

Baby A.. Avatar

I love the Sensual Skin Enhancer. You can conceal blemishes and scars (even tattoos, I heard!) but you can sheer it out or mix it with moisturizer. You need to use only about a quarter the size of a rice grain for the whole face, no kidding! You really need to sheer it out otherwise it’ll feel like putting clay on your skin.

xamyx Avatar

I have visible pores, and some slight acne scarring, and I find not only does this not emphasize any of that, but actually diffuses them slightly!

xamyx Avatar

I really like this highlighter, and a little really does go a very long way. $42 seems a bit steep, but even with regular use, I see this lasting a really long time. I also don’t see this shade being too warm for those with cooler skintones.

I picked this up along with the contouring powder, and while I love this one, I’m lukewarm about the contour shade, which is wonderful as a product, but a bit too brown for my liking.

Neha Avatar

What a lovely product. BTW, is it only my laptop or somebody else also can’t see the face shot 🙁 ..Also, Christine, can it be used like a finishing powder. How does it compare to Hourglass Ambient Lighting powders.

Christine Avatar

I think it’s a little too luminous as a finishing powder – better as a more concentrated highlighter, though with a light hand and brush, I’m sure you could use it as a finishing powder (but I would make sure to use something else to set). It’s much more luminous compared to Hourglass’ powders!

xamyx Avatar

I use all over the “planes” of my cheeks, the center of my forehead, bridge of my nose, and chin. I use a very soft brush, and buff in really well. Although it’s not all of my face, it’s a good portion. Again, a little goes a very long way, and it is buildable, so start off light. I do have drier skin, so I don’t “set” with another powder, but someone with oilier skin may need to.

divinem1 (Melissa) Avatar

I am certain that I own a minimum of 15-20 highlighters. And yet, I am considering another. What is it with me and my obsession with highlighters? I own the Holy Grail and then some! Thanks for the swatches, Christine. <3

Sara E. Avatar

I have this and love it! Have you tried the contouring powder? It’s really amazing too. Although, I wish they excluded the brushes in both the highlighter and contouring powder. The brushes are terrible, and make the case bulkier.

Other good Kevyn Aucoin products are the eyeshadow duos, the sensual skin enchancer, and the felt tip eyeliner. Don’t try the eyeshadow quints. They are not very good. The sensual skin enchancer is a great products for pros. It’s definitely more of a specialty product. You can’t just slap it on and go, but it is great nonetheless.

BooBooNinja Avatar

This has been on my lust-list for the past year. It’s gorgeous.
Christine, is there an easy way for me to add another product to compare on the “dupe list”? I don’t mean adding a dupe to the published post, but to the list of dupes you gave so I can see it myself. I want to see how MAC Too Chic compares to Candelight and the other dupes you gave. (I have a feeling Candelight is a more beautiful, luxuriously textured highlighter than Too Chic, but along the same lines colour-wise.)

Christine Avatar

There’s no real quick way to just add it on the fly – the easiest way would be to filter by parameters via Swatch Gallery fresh (http://www.temptalia.com/swatch-gallery?color=Gold,Beige,Highlighter&type=12662,12685) should get you all relevant highlighters/blushes.

http://www.temptalia.com/swatch-gallery?sg=125163,101863115575,137604,104606 = with Too Chic

My gut is saying Too Chic is a little more beige, not quite as warm – and most definitely Candlelight winning the race for texture 🙂 They are close, though!

BooBooNinja Avatar

Thanks, Christine!
I fell in love with Too Chic when the Iris Apfel collection came out. Then, earlier this summer, I let myself swatch Candelight. I almost didn’t dare to as I *knew* I’d fall in love.

Is it crazy that I kept an eye out for Kevyn Aucoin products at the airport when I was travelling this summer? Unfortunately there was no KA in sight, otherwise I’d be richer in KA Candlelight and KA Tansoleil (cream blush). *sigh*

Makeup is so fun!

Sybelion Avatar

I bought this a little while ago and adore it, the only problem I had with the whole experience was that the brush that came with my palette (looks different from the one above) was APPALLING, horribly cheap and no good with the product. A bit of a bummer considering the price but I use it with a stippling brush anyway. I’m just surprised that with how much consideration has obviously gone into the whole Kevyn Aucoin line, that the brush would be so nasty.

BUT! For everyone else here considering it, it’s a lovely lovely product. I’m much paler than Christine so it doesn’t show up as clearly on me, but just imparts a wonderful, refined glow – doesn’t look like you’re wearing “highlighter”.

mdlyne Avatar

Hi Christine/Readers,

I was wondering if I received a fake product or if I used not enough/too much. I bought it from beauty.com after seeing almost all positive reviews here and on makeupalley. I used a Real Techniques Blush brush to apply this and then blended it out, and under my bathroom lighting my face was covered in shimmer. Granted the shimmer particles appeared smaller than the glitter found in eyeshadows, but nevertheless it was quite obvious. As it gave me no sheen at but rather what looked like a million tiny flashing lights on my face, I found it to be a true disco-ball effect. I got it from a reputable site though so could it be that I’m using too much/too little?

The first time i put this on, I was in a dim hotel with horrible lighting so I didn’t see the bits of shimmer, but the 2nd time I was in my home bathroom and it was horrendously apparent. I’m so embarrassed because the people I met in Vegas must’ve thought I rubbed glitter on my face thinking I actually looked good or something -_- haha. Thanks for any advice from anyone. xx

Christine Avatar

Where were you applying it? All-over? How much? (Like a whole pump, multiple pumps?)

Once you tell me how you were using it/how you were applying it, that’ll help me help you (or confirm/deny it wasn’t too much or not).

My favorite way as to mix it with foundation, so I would use about one pump (2/3 to 1 pump) and then mixed it with my liquid foundation before applying all of the concoction to my face – then I applied like I’d apply my normal foundation. As a primer, liked it best mixed in with foundation to help spread a smaller amount out. As a highlighter, I used about 1/4 of a pump and used fingertips to pat a little on cheek bones, bridge of the nose, and cupid’s bow.

mdlyne Avatar

Hi Christine,

Thanks for the response! I haven’t tried the liquid illuminator from Kevyn Aucoin yet, but as for the celestial powder I found that in certain lightings it ended up being quite discoball-ish if I blended it out (on my cheeks and on the center of my face) but if I just swiped and didn’t disturb it too much then it was okay. I think over-blending it may have caused the small shimmer particles to disperse too much and leave more a speckled shimmer effect instead of a smooth sheen.

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