I've wanted MAC Strobe Cream for the longest time. So I finally caved and picked up. Although, when I got it home and tested it I realised I had a few other very similar products, at a much lower end of the price scale. So I thought I'd do a battle post and see whether theres anything special about it that warrants a high price tag.
MAC Strobe | £24.50
This a multi task cream that is described as a 'quick fix for skin'. Its packed full of vitamins and anti oxidants to give skin an instant radiance boost. It can be used as a moisturiser, primer, mixed with foundation or on top as a highlighter. The cream itself is white with an iridescent, pearl like look to it. The formula is very light and melts into the skin quickly and leaves skin with a subtle, glowy finish. I haven't used this purely on its own as a moisturiser because my skin needs a little more. I tried to use it as a Highlighter on top of my foundation but it's too watery and moved my base. But as a primer this is very good! It really smoothed my skin, It was noticeably smoother! My foundation blended beautifully overly the top. With a lightweight base this gave me a luminous finish. I'm not quite sure if it actually prolonged my makeup wear, but it definitely kept looking fresh and glowy all day!
Seventeen 3 in 1 Skin WOW | £5.99
This has been a favourite if mine for a long time now. This can be used in 3 ways: as a primer, Mixed with foundation or as a highlighter. Unlike strobe cream this can be used as highlighter without disturbing my base underneath and leaves skin with a nice glow. Although, I didn't love it used as a highlighter. I like this best as a primer. Its much more shimmery and the consistency is a lot thicker than the MAC offering. But I actually prefer this, it means the glow can be seen underneath fuller coverage foundations. And it really smoothes out the skin and gives a good sticky base for makeup to adhere to. The only downside is it doesn't have the added skin care benefits that the MAC one does.
Freedom Pro Studio Strobe Cream | £8.99
Everything about this from the name to the packaging screams MAC dupe. This is described on the Freedom website as a rich moisturiser. I wouldn't say it's rich, in fact its very light as moisturisers go. The skin care benefits included shea butter and Olive. This one absorbed a lot quicker into the skin than the MAC one. The Product itself is white and has a similar iridescent finish to it. Although, once blended into the skin it wasn't as noticeable as the others. But it did leave my skin really smooth and my make up applied seamlessly over the top. However, because it doesen't have the same glowy finish it can't really be used as highlighter.
Overall
The Seventeen offer is a good multi tasking product and worked the best out of the 3 as highlighter. However, I didn't love it used this way. I found all of them worked best as a primer. In terms of price and effectiveness of the product the Seventeen skin WOW is brilliant. Although, the Mac one is a good all round product and it left my skin so smooth! I also feel I would like the Mac Strobe Cream in the summer when (Hopefully) my skin becomes less dehydrated. The Freedom one was ok - I didn't like it as much as the other two just purely because it didn't give the same glowy finish. Its a tough choice but I'm going to have to crown MAC the winner - purely because it really smoothed my skin and kept my makeup looking fresh!
Have you tried any of these? What are you thoughts?
Until next time...
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