Urban Decay Luminous & Sin Naked Skin Highlighting Fluids Reviews, Photos, Swatches
Luminous
Urban Decay Naked Skin Highlighting Fluid ($28.00 for 0.21 fl. oz.) is a translucent, pearly white with fine white and pale gold pearl. The brand considers this to be a more “universal” shade, but the translucent base seemed to make it one of the most subtle shades in the range as well. This one literally seemed to be “my skin but better,” assuming that one associates a natural “dewiness” to the skin as being better. When I layered it over a blush or bronzer, it had more noticeable luminosity. The consistency was thin, fluid and a little watery, and it blended out nicely over bare skin. It had sheer to semi-sheer coverage that lasted for eight hours on me.
The Naked Skin Highlighting Fluid is supposed to be a “sheer, weightless formula” that gives skin a “dewy, lit-from-within look.” I think one of the key takeaways from the brand’s description is that it is “sheer,” “subtle,” and “never overdone” — it is a subtle highlighter, and they tend to look more similar than not applied (at least, on me). They had sheer to medium, buildable coverage with a very fluid, thin texture (not quite watery) and were blendable on the skin, whether bare or over liquid foundations. If I was too vigorous blending out the product, it did cause some separation of my base products if I had powder on top, but it was fine with gentle blending (fingertips or stippling brush). The formula dried down and wasn’t tacky on the skin, and they lasted between seven and a half and eight hours on me.
The brand posted some video demos that included using it alone as well as mixed with foundation. I think that the smaller amount is less conducive to regular mixing with base products but is a sufficient amount for a spot highlighter. If you wanted something more for mixing, similar products with similar subtly often contain at least 0.50 fl. oz., if not more.
Top Dupes
- ColourPop Fanny Pack (PiP, $10.00) is more shimmery (95% similar).
- NYX Liquid Prism (P, $6.99) is cooler (95% similar).
- Chanel Perles et Fantaisies (Left) (LE, $80.00) is more shimmery (95% similar).
- NYX Moon Glow (P, $6.99) is cooler (95% similar).
- Dior Glowing Pink (001) (LE, $58.00) is more shimmery, warmer (95% similar).
- Makeup Revolution Liquid Luminous Luna (P, $9.00) is more shimmery (95% similar).
- Wet 'n' Wild Where the Dreamers Go (LE, $2.99) is more shimmery, warmer (95% similar).
- Tom Ford Beauty Intensity 0.5 (Highlight) (PiP, ) is less shimmery (95% similar).
- Becca Pearl (DC, $38.00) is more shimmery (95% similar).
- Fenty Beauty Metal Moon (P, $36.00) is more shimmery, warmer (95% similar).
Ingredients
Water, Cyclopentasiloxane, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Glycerin, PEG-10 Dimethicone, Methyl Methacrylate Crosspolymer, Butylene Glycol, Dimethicone, Dimethicone/PEG-10/15 Crosspolymer, Phenoxyethanol, Acrylates/Dimethicone Copolymer, Lecithin, Magnesium Sulfate, Nylon-12, Boron Nitride, Caprylyl Glycol, Methicone, Lauroyl Lysine, Tocopheryl Acetate, Hexylene Glycol, Ascorbyl Glucoside, Triethoxycaprylylsilane, Disodium Stearoyl Glutamate, Dipropylene Glycol, Sodium Citrate, Steareth-20, Aluminum Hydroxide, Sodium Hyaluronate, Tocopherol, Chlorhexidine Digluconate, N-Hydroxysuccinimide, Potassium Sorbate, Palmitoyl Oligopeptide, Chrysin, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7. [+/- (All Shades May Contain: Mica, CI 77891 / Titanium Dioxide, CI 77491 / Iron Oxides, CI 77288 / Chromium Oxide Greens, CI 77007 / Ultramarines].
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.
Luminous
PPermanent. $28.00.
Sin
Urban Decay Naked Skin Highlighting Fluid ($28.00 for 0.21 fl. oz.) is a light-medium gold with very fine gold pearl. On lighter and cooler complexions, this might also add some warmth, but on my skin tone, it was mostly a subtle, golden sheen as the base was quite sheer. I felt like this shade had more distinctive shimmer–it wasn’t quite as fine or as subtle applied–compared to the rest of the shades, though it was nowhere near intense, so it still seemed true to the description of the formula. The highlighter had a thin, smooth, and blendable texture that sat well on the skin and distributed evenly when I patted it onto my cheek bones. It wore well for seven and a half hours on me.
Top Dupes
- NYX Crystal Glare (P, $6.99) (100% similar).
- Tom Ford Beauty Soleil Neige (Highlighter) (LE, ) is less shimmery (95% similar).
- Becca Champagne Pop (P, $41.00) is lighter (95% similar).
- NYX Moonbeam (P, $6.99) is more shimmery, darker (95% similar).
- Illamasqua Aurora (P, $24.00) is more shimmery, lighter (90% similar).
- Anastasia Perla (P, $25.00) is more shimmery, warmer (90% similar).
- Charlotte Tilbury Original (P, $38.00) is darker, warmer (90% similar).
- Ciate Starburst (P, $32.00) is warmer (90% similar).
- Givenchy African Light Gold (LE, $41.00) is less shimmery, warmer (90% similar).
- LORAC Daylight (P, $23.00) is more shimmery, lighter, more pigmented (90% similar).
Ingredients
Water, Cyclopentasiloxane, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Glycerin, PEG-10 Dimethicone, Methyl Methacrylate Crosspolymer, Butylene Glycol, Dimethicone, Dimethicone/PEG-10/15 Crosspolymer, Phenoxyethanol, Acrylates/Dimethicone Copolymer, Lecithin, Magnesium Sulfate, Nylon-12, Boron Nitride, Caprylyl Glycol, Methicone, Lauroyl Lysine, Tocopheryl Acetate, Hexylene Glycol, Ascorbyl Glucoside, Triethoxycaprylylsilane, Disodium Stearoyl Glutamate, Dipropylene Glycol, Sodium Citrate, Steareth-20, Aluminum Hydroxide, Sodium Hyaluronate, Tocopherol, Chlorhexidine Digluconate, N-Hydroxysuccinimide, Potassium Sorbate, Palmitoyl Oligopeptide, Chrysin, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7. [+/- (All Shades May Contain: Mica, CI 77891 / Titanium Dioxide, CI 77491 / Iron Oxides, CI 77288 / Chromium Oxide Greens, CI 77007 / Ultramarines].
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.
I kind of like Luminous but I’m hesitant on buying liquid highlighters due to shelf live reasons. The fact that Sin has a 100% dupe make be want to get NYX Crystal Glare. lol
I’d get a NYX one if you’re worried about shelf life 😉 Cheaper, so if you don’t use it up, it’s not so painful!
It’s so strange that UD didn’t go with its edgy brand image, and come out with shine-to-the moon highlighters with interesting duo chrome colors (green, pink, purple). The market is saturated with gorgeous and stunning highlighters, but these swatches seem very boring and blah in comparison. Heck, even Lorac came out with a green highlighter!! And WNW came out with a purple one. What’s happening with UD?
I guess they really kept these under the Naked umbrella!
Sin was looking very good to me until I saw that it has a 100% $6.99 dupe in Nyx Crystal Glare!
Luminous is a bit too white based for me, I think. Although I’d wear its Nyx dupe, Liquid Prism, because it has more dimension to it.
The NYX ones are a great alternative to these, IMO!
“Sin” is showing just “-” for its grade instead of a letter.
Also, I’m not finding any of these liquid highlighters compelling enough to make me buy any more highlighters.
Fixed!
Really pretty shades, but do you find that highlighters in the liquid form dry up more easily?
I don’t!
Sin isn’t showing any rating for me. Is this an error on my end? Thought I’d give you a heads up. Thanks for your dedication to testing products and steering us away from poor quality!
It should be fixed! I’m so sorry about that.
They’re really subtle. I prefer my highlighters on the natural side, but I imagine that most UD fans expected something with a little more shine than that. That would explain why they’re getting rather low reviews on retailers websites.
I like both, but I think I like Luminous the best. I think I’d settle for the NYX dupe though, as I don’t use liquid highlighters that often. I also like most of the NYX products I have. I do like my UD products a lot as well, but I’ll just let my wallet chose 🙂
NYX is such a great alternative these!
A more subtle Pearl? OHHHH!