SAFIYAH TASNEEM : Sunday Swatches: NYX Away We Glow Review

You know when you have a long to-do list and something crops up that you push to the top? Well that's what happened with this post, simply because I'm in loveee with these NYX Away We Glow Liquid Highlighters that I was sent along with a few other new releases this Spring, which all have a mermaid-y unicorn-y theme to them.
These liquid highlighters stole the show for me though, namely because they reminded me strongly of my Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Spotlight that I love to use with the corresponding pressed powder for an intense glow. So I immediately thought "ooooh, dupe?" Read on to find out if it is 😉

top: natural daylight; bottom: with flash

Packaging As with the Lip Lingeries and Lid Lingeries, the packaging is in a handy (thinner) clear plastic tube with a wand to apply the product with. The wand on these isn't your standard doe foot applicator though, it's like balloon shaped with a dip in it so you can get more product out. Because of this, pulling it out of the tube can be a bit tricky but a little extra tug will get it out nicely without any spillage.
Colour & Pigmentation The pigmentation is definitely there and a little will go a longggg way with these! They are all a shimmery/pearly finish and here are the shades above as described by NYX website:
State Of Flux: Lavender Pearl Liquid Prism: White Opal Iridescence Moon Glow: White Pearl Crystal Glare: White Champagne Pearl Daytime Halo: True Champagne Pearl Moonbeam: Soft Pink Pearl Gold Rush: Bronzed Gold Pearl Rose Quartz: Rose Gold Pearl Golden Hour: True Gold Pearl
As you can see, there's literally a highlighting shade for every skintone and mermaid/unicorn being!
My eyes were first drawn to Crystal Glare and Daytime Halo as best suited to my skintone through the tubes. Once swatched, I also loved the look of Moonbeam so these are definitely my top three that I predict will be the most popular and sold out shades (although in the US all shades are sold out at the time of writing this blog post!) Despite these 9 shades being available, weirdly none of them match the Becca Opal highlighter I have (see pictures below).

NYX Away We Glow vs Becca Opal Shimmering Skin Perfector Spotlights

Application I've played around with different methods of application and I feel like the best method for me is to first apply the highlighter to the back of my hand and then dab my damp beauty blender sponge into it lightly then bounce it on the top of my cheeks where I want to highlight. I feel like this gives a more realistic natural glow for a daily basis (yes it's that good it's been added to my daily makeup!) and you can either apply it before or after baking/setting concealer or foundation which is perfect.
These also can be blended with a brush (I recommend synthetic brushes) or of course your fingers, but I feel like the dotting on the face method can leave me with patches if I've set my makeup or I can accidentally add way more than necessary.
You could mix a tiny amount with your concealer to help look more awake but make sure it is actually a tiny amount as these are pretty concentrated.
If I want more of an intense glow, I'll go and add a powder highlighter like Mary-Lou of Gilded Honey, but that's if I want to blind someone (or for an Instagram look which are always more heavier than what I wear in real life!)
Finish Once blended they stay fairly dewy, so if you're prone to oiliness you may want to prime first or powder on top.

Scent: No real scent.
Longevity: I found the shimmer to last all day which is always a plus!
Price: These aren't in store until the beginning of April but they're available online at Boots (£8.00 each) here! (The Becca Opal pressed and liquid mini set is £20 here).

They are also already available online at the NYX UK website directly if one or the other is sold out.

Overall rating Again, as I mentioned in my Lid Lingeries post, I feel like liquid products and using products with our fingers are the in-thing of 2017 and personally I don't mind this on myself, but as a makeup artist I prefer to not use my fingers as much as possible for hygiene reasons! They are fairly hygienic though, if used on the back of the hand/a palette and definitely easy to apply. I absolutely love the versatility of a "natural" glow effect when I use a beauty blender to apply this or a dramatic glow if I were to use with my fingers or combine it with a powder highlight. I give these a 4.5, despite not finding an exact dupe shade for my Becca Opal, they're definitely a steal for me!