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Sephora Serene (20) Colorful Highlighter Review, Photos, Swatches

Sephora Serene (20) Colorful Blush (Illuminator)
Sephora Serene (20) Colorful Blush (Illuminator)

Sephora Serene (20) Colorful Blush (Illuminator) ($15.00 for 0.12 oz.) is described as an “illuminator.” It’s a muted, light-medium yellowed peach with warm undertones and a semi-matte finish. NYX Nectar (P, $5.00) is more shimmery. NYX Cream (P, $5.00) is lighter. Josie Maran Argan Enlightenment (Original) (P, $30.00) is more shimmery. Smashbox Highlight (P, ) is brighter. LORAC Yellow Highlight (P, ) is lighter. Kat Von D Levitation (P, ) is lighter. Kat Von D Levitation (P, ) is lighter. Marc Jacobs Beauty Highlight (P, ) is lighter. See comparison swatches / compare dupes side-by-side.

The Colorful Blush formula is supposed to be long-wearing, buildable, and have a lightweight texture. My experience with the formula has shown that they’re soft, lightly powdery at times (some are worse than others) with semi-sheer to semi-opaque color coverage that blends fairly well and lasts seven to eight hours. There is some variance between shades, but there are some gems in the range. The texture of this shade was drier and powdery, though it was as loose as Tranquil so it seemed more forgiving applied. The finish is mostly matte, so if it is lighter than your natural skin tone, you may find it gives the illusion of highlight, but on my skin tone, it looks almost like a beige-y blush or face powder. It had semi-sheer to semi-opaque pigmentation that was noticeably faded after seven hours of wear.

P.S. — You may be seeing some inconsistency in photo sizes in the next week or two, as we will be increasing the size of our images, but photos that were already processed earlier will be in the previous size. Thanks for understanding 🙂

Serene (20)

PPermanent. $14.00.
B-
B-
7
Product
10
Pigmentation
7.5
Texture
7.5
Longevity
5
Application
82%
Total

Sephora Serene (20) Colorful Blush (Illuminator)
Sephora Serene (20) Colorful Blush (Illuminator)

Sephora Serene (20) Colorful Blush (Illuminator)
Sephora Serene (20) Colorful Blush (Illuminator)

Sephora Serene (20) Colorful Blush (Illuminator)
Sephora Serene (20) Colorful Blush (Illuminator)

Sephora Serene (20) Colorful Blush (Illuminator)
Sephora Serene (20) Colorful Blush (Illuminator)

Sephora Serene (20) Colorful Blush (Illuminator)
Sephora Serene (20) Colorful Blush (Illuminator)

Sephora Serene (20) Colorful Blush (Illuminator)
Sephora Serene (20) Colorful Blush (Illuminator)

Makeup Look
On face:
  • Make Up For Ever HD Foundation
  • Urban Decay Naked Loose Setting Powder
On eyes:
  • LORAC Dark Green Eyeliner
On lips:
  • Bite Beauty #007 Lip Lab Lipstick

10 Comments

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Comments on this post are closed.
Katherine T. Avatar

Christine, I got Tranquil and mine is not powdery at all!! I even took a firmer brush with shorter hairs(Elf Angled Blush Brush), swiped it across the pan, and there was no powder kicked up, and the powder adhered well to the brush and cheekbones. The color mimics shadows, so it can look very natural, unless you put too much, then it looks like dirt. So there’s probably a QC issue, with some batches more powdery than others. Since this is only $15, and it’s so hard to find a cool gray-toned contour (a dupe for LE Chanel Notorious), I think it’s worth trying and if you get a bad one, just return to Sephora and get another one, since they are good about returns. Do you want me to also post this under the review for Tranquil?

Katherine T. Avatar

Ok, I posted my comments under your review of Tranquil. I also tried to do a personal review, but I have to register first, but when I tried to register, it’s giving me an error message, that my username has to be lowercase, which I did, but it keeps giving me the same error

Katherine T. Avatar

Ok, thanks! I also added a comment under What Makeup Niches Still Need to Be Filled, since so many people were looking for cooler-toned contours

Nancy T Avatar

That I really cannot see it on your skin, this probably bodes worse for me, as I’m a somewhat darker. Plus it appears quite matte, even flat.

Andrew Avatar

The color intrigued me since it looked so natural, but like you said it looks almost like a face powder. It Kay be better for the deeper, richer skintones but on me it would be nothing!

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!