St Tropez Skin Illuminator Swatches and FOTD!

One of the exciting shiny new products that have been released of late are their range of Skin Illuminators! These are making quite the splash, given that St Tropez's product range consists mostly of bronzing, self-tanning products and related suncare products. But here they are, with a line of products that appeals to people who wouldn't have an interest in bronzing.

The Skin Illuminators are making their debute for Spring/Summer 2011, and they are packaged in sleek, flat tubes.



Just in case you didn't know, although these are new products, St Tropez has actually had the Skin Illuminator out for awhile. The first Skin Illuminator was the Violet shade, and back then there was only one shade, so it was just called Skin Illuminator. It came in a smaller white tube, and contained 30ml instead of the 50ml that we have now. Yay for increased product size!

Anyway, the story goes that the first shade of Skin Illuminator proved so popular that St Tropez decided to supplement the Skin Illuminator with more shades, Rose and Gold. But for nostalgia's sake, here's the old tube:



The products come in a squeeze tube, and you can squeeze out a bit at a time, just enough for what you need.



Here are swatches of all the three products. You can see that they give off a distinct coloured sheen, which is very pretty.



L-R: Violet, Gold, Rose

And just because I know you guys will be interested in seeing the products up close and personal, here are close-up shots of all the the products one by one.

For starters, here's the Violet Skin Illuminator. This one doesn't have any discernable glitter or shimmer bits, it just produces a kind of purple-blue sheen on the skin, which I think is very cool. I can imagine this one being uesd for all kinds of effects, from subtle to out there. If you're afraid of having a blue glow on your face, it can be blended in. But the violet shade would be good for people with sallow yellow skins.



The Gold Skin Illuminator will probably be much sought after in the Western markets by customers looking to enhance a tan. This one doesn't give off much of a iridiscence like the Violet shade, but it has a certain glow. It also has more discernable bits of gold shimmer, but nothing that would draw your eye too much.



Lastly, the Pink Skin Illuminator. I can imagine this being very popular among Asian girls, since pink-tinged primers and creams are all the rage in this part of the world. This one has the least sheen adn iridiscence, and is the most subtle in terms of effect, so I think this could very well function as a skin primer under makeup as well. It has a soft pink glow, which is very pretty.



To end off, here is an FOTD (Face of the Day) I did with the Pink Skin Illuminator. The Skin lluminator is used on my cheeks, over a matte powder blush. As you can see, it just adds a soft kind of glow that isn't like a glitterbomb. I really like this effect.



As you can see, other than the colour, all three are slightly different. The Violet Skin Illuminator has the strongest sheen/iridiscence, while the Pink has the weakest. The Gold shade also features tiny speckles of shimmer, so depending on your preferences, one may suit you better than the other. Then again, of course, you could just get all three!

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)