Sephora Dawn Golden Hour Highlighting Powder Review, Photos, Swatches
Dawn
Sephora Dawn Golden Hour Highlighting Powder ($16.00 for 0.28 oz.) is a light-medium gold with strong, warm orange undertones and a sparkling, frosted finish. I felt like it did not appear as chunky or as sparkly applied and blended out on the skin as it did just swatched (the skin of my arm is much drier than my face, though).
The formula is supposed to have a “soft, luminous glow with a sheer wash of color” that can be “worn alone or layered.” It had medium, buildable coverage (up to semi-opaque) due to the consistency being a lot firmer but very smooth, though I would not describe it as a sheer wash. The powder had such a smooth, silky feel that almost made it feel like a very dense cream. I had no trouble applying and blending out the highlighter on my cheeks, and while it was a stronger highlighter, it did not emphasize my skin’s natural texture. This shade wore well for eight hours on me before fading slightly.
Top Dupes
- Milani Sunglow (P, $10.00) is lighter (95% similar).
- ColourPop Like to Watch (LE, $12.00) is lighter, cooler (95% similar).
- Rare Beauty Exhilarate (P, $25.00) is less shimmery, darker (95% similar).
- ColourPop Lassie (LE, $12.00) is darker (95% similar).
- Wet 'n' Wild Golden Flower Crown (P, $4.99) is lighter, cooler (90% similar).
- MAC TheBlonds (LE, $41.00) is less shimmery, lighter, cooler (90% similar).
- Melt Cosmetics Gold Ore (P, $39.00) is more shimmery, more muted (90% similar).
- NARS Coucher de Soleil I (LE, ) is darker, more muted (90% similar).
- Laura Mercier Infatuation (LE, $45.00) is darker (90% similar).
- Too Faced Apricot in the Act (Highlighter) (PiP, ) is darker, cooler (90% similar).
Ingredients
Mica, Talc, Ci 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), Nylon-12, Alumina, Octyldodecyl Stearoyl Stearate, Dimethicone, Zinc Stearate, Ci 77492 (Iron Oxides), Polybutene, Caprylyl Glycol, Ci 15850 (Red 7 Lake), Ci 77491 (Iron Oxides), Phenoxyethanol, Tin Oxide, Hexylene Glycol, Ci 77499 (Iron Oxides), Tocopheryl Acetate.
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.
Too orange for me, but glad it scored well
Here’s hoping one of the other shades will work for you!
I have been looking at the rose gold version of this for a minute…
The texture of all of them were pretty similar but haven’t finished testing them all yet – I can’t remember the one I’m missing by name!
There is one on the Sephora site that is also missing a name and, of course, it’s the one I’m interested in! Weird that they’d come out with these new ones and have the names for all of them but one – the very pink/bordering on magenta one!
DUH to me – the unnamed one is Twilight. It isn’t named when you hover over it but in the “Details” section on Sephora’s site, it’s listed as “Twilight – a lilac tone that gives the effect of etheral moonlight”.
I love this soft, gentle golden highlighter! Granted, I really don’t need any more highlighters, but the soft glow of this one makes it tempting.
It is lovely on the skin, but like you said, so many highlighters already!
Lovely! I would definitely say that it lives up to it’s “sheer wash of color” description. It gives a nice glow without going overboard on sparkle.
It is very luminous!
This looks pretty! It did well too, I’ll check it out next time I’m at Sephora.
It’s really pretty on!
I’ve never really been into Sephora branded beauty products but I have been hearing amazing things about them! This doesn’t sound too bad so I’ll have to check this out if I;m in the market for a reasonably-priced highlighting powder!
Very, very orangey based – too much so for me, but at least Sephora is doing something right.
This is too orange for me too but I’ll be eager to see Dusk and the one they’re showing that has no name.
Glad you were able to find the name of the fourth one!