Archived Post

Laura Geller Gilded Honey Baked Gelato Swirl Illuminator Review, Photos, Swatches

Laura Geller Gilded Honey Baked Gelato Swirl Illuminator
Laura Geller Gilded Honey Baked Gelato Swirl Illuminator

Laura Geller Gilded Honey Baked Gelato Swirl Illuminator ($26.00 for 0.16 oz.) is a brightened, light-medium yellow gold with a luminous sheen. Josie Maran Argan Enlightenment (Original) (P, $28.00) is less shimmery. Bobbi Brown 24 Karat (P, $42.00) is more shimmery. Becca Opal (P, $38.00) is lighter. Becca Opal (P, $38.00) is darker, more muted. Dior Transatlantique (LE, $58.00) is darker. MAC Whisper of Gilt (LE) is slightly darker, more shimmery, sheerer. See comparison swatches / compare dupes side-by-side.

The texture was soft, smooth, and blendable on the skin, and despite looking nearly metallic when swatched, the finish is really more of a luminous sheen or glow applied to the cheeks. The formula is supposed to be sheer, but my experience showed it to be more of a medium coverage product that could be applied more sheer if you used a feathery brush/light touch, but it tended to apply with semi-opaque or greater pigmentation with most brushes. It does an excellent job at illuminating and reflecting light on the high points of the face, and the highlighter wore well for eight and a half hours on me before fading slightly.

See more photos & swatches!

Laura Geller Gilded Honey Baked Gelato Swirl Illuminator
Laura Geller Gilded Honey Baked Gelato Swirl Illuminator

Laura Geller Gilded Honey Baked Gelato Swirl Illuminator
Laura Geller Gilded Honey Baked Gelato Swirl Illuminator

Laura Geller Gilded Honey Baked Gelato Swirl Illuminator
Laura Geller Gilded Honey Baked Gelato Swirl Illuminator

Laura Geller Gilded Honey Baked Gelato Swirl Illuminator
Laura Geller Gilded Honey Baked Gelato Swirl Illuminator

Laura Geller Gilded Honey Baked Gelato Swirl Illuminator
Laura Geller Gilded Honey Baked Gelato Swirl Illuminator

Laura Geller Gilded Honey Baked Gelato Swirl Illuminator
Laura Geller Gilded Honey Baked Gelato Swirl Illuminator

Laura Geller Gilded Honey Baked Gelato Swirl Illuminator
Laura Geller Gilded Honey Baked Gelato Swirl Illuminator

Makeup Look
On face:
  • Guerlain Parure Gold Foundation
  • Urban Decay Naked Loose Setting Powder
  • Tom Ford Pink Glow Eye & Cheek Palette
On eyes:
  • Tom Ford Pink Glow Eye & Cheek Palette
  • Sephora Girls Night Out Eyeliner
On lips:
  • Tom Ford Sweet Spot Lip Color Sheer

55 Comments

Comments that do not adhere to our comment policy may be removed. Discussion and debate are highly encouraged but we expect community members to participate respectfully. Please keep discussion on-topic, and if you have general feedback, a product review request, an off-topic question, or need technical support, please contact us!

Please help us streamline the comments' section and be more efficient: double-check the post above for more basic information like pricing, availability, and so on to make sure your question wasn't answered already. Comments alerting us to typos or small errors in the post are appreciated (!) but will typically be removed after errors are fixed (unless a response is needed).

We appreciate enthusiasm for new releases but ask readers to please hold questions regarding if/when a review will be posted as we can't commit to or guarantee product reviews. We don't want to set expectations and then disappoint readers as even products that are swatched don't always end up being reviewed due to time constraints and changes in priorities! Thank you for understanding!

Comments on this post are closed.
Lotus Avatar

Hi Christine! Lovely! I’m so glad to see more of Laura Gellar here! Her blushes were and are still one of my HG products. Since she first arrived & I bought one the kits based around a color no longer sold, I was hooked! (This was before I was banned from shopping on HSN. Yes, it happened.) But all of the face highlights and blushes are actually really great! Products are trustworthy and generous! All Good! But I have an off topic question: If ColourPop had been around before you discovered MAC Pigments, and then MAC pigments arrived… And you could only choose to collect one, let’s say they cost the same, which would you choose? 😀 Happy Thursday! 😛

Marisa Avatar

Pretty!
I recently have been looking for an alternative to my champagne highlighters this maybe what I have been looking for!

Nicole Avatar

I have Ballerina. I remember swatching this one when I picked it up and thinking it would be great for summer. My highlighter stash is running aplenty with my recent colourPop hauls. But, I can’t seem to not say I don’t like a good luminizer! I don’t know what it is about them. This looks really nice with the Tom Ford eye and cheek products (which I own) ..ooh now I really want this! Lol. Man, I need a 20% off Ulta coupon! 🙂

Liz Avatar

Nice review. I’m in the minority I think, but I found this to be terribly disappointing because it was discoballish. I’m a Becca fan, just for reference. But I think it’s just me. What you said, though, about the fact that it’s fairly opaque is one of the reasons I didn’t care for it. I couldn’t imagine going out in the light of day.

Nancy T Avatar

This is quite pretty, but I think I’m more taken by the Ballerina shade! I could definitely see wearing this with the classic red lip, pin-up look though!

Ceranna Avatar

Is it terrible of me that despite the fact I own and love Becca’s Opal that I still want to buy this? I own a lot of Laura Gellar and love her baked eye colors….and I love gold higlighters. I can’t help myself!

Maria Avatar

Thanks for your review! I finally ordered it recently and am excited to get it in my grabby hands soon. There’s been a lot of hype around this product lately, saying that it’s a good dupe for MAC’s Whisper of Gilt- do you personally think the two are almost the same?

Tiffany Avatar

This came in a kit I purchased a few months back, but it’s been stashed in a drawer because I wasn’t sure how to wear it. It shows up very gold and almost opaque on my skin. I’ll have to try again with a fan brush. I usually use the elf small tapered brush for highlighting. I love Laura Geller French Vanilla highlighter. It’s very subtle.

Liz Avatar

I should have said I bought this and returned it because I found it too opaque and too much, not from your pictures or review. Looks pretty on you. Curious what anyone else thinks about it for daytime because I couldn’t.

Kelly Avatar

Omg….I have never purchased ANY Laura Gellar products, nor really seen any reviews or YouTube raves about Laura Gellar. But I had an opportunity to purchase this on discount, so I thought, why not? I always reached for TheBalm’s Mary Lou-Manizer, but holy cow! This Gelato Swirl Illuminator is UH-MAZING! it takes so little, but it is absolutely stunning! (Understatement!) I have neutral tan, Hawaiian skin, and it is gorgeous after application. It looks beautiful on your skin, as well, Christine. I then proceeded to purchase Laura Gellar’s gelato swirl blush in Papaya. I have found some new favorites! Kevyn Aucoin’s Celestial Powder Illuminator is another gorgeous highlighter. Check it out if you haven’t already!

Lisa Avatar

Ooh! So pretty. I saw a few YouTube gurus gush about this product. 8 don’t know if I’d wear a product like this often but I could see it being fun for a night out. In the comparison swatches you can see its way more pigmented than the others.

We try to approve comments within 24 hours (and reply to them within 72 hours) but can sometimes get behind and appreciate your patience! 🙂 If you have general feedback, product review requests, off-topic questions, or need technical support, please contact us directly. Thank you for your patience!