I remember J-Lo being everywhere when I was in high school. Her album On the 6 was released around my freshman year (sometime then. You figure out how ancient I am). Her film career was sizzling, she wore some green Versace dress to the Grammys (what was the big deal about a modest dress? *rolls eyes*) and she dated Puffy Daddy (he’ll always be Puff Daddy to me). Her wardrobe, hairstyles and booty were scrutinized, as if she were Venus rising out the foam– limo, I mean. Everyone wanted to know one thing: how did she get that glowy, golden complexion?
You thought I was going to say “how did she keep that Versace dress on?”, right?
Jenny from the Block was one of the famous people who popularized the shimmering, glowy, tanned look. Naturally, a lot of companies made a lot of money off of the new look. A slew of bronzers, both powder and liquid, popped up on drugstore shelves, and the pricier salons and spas touted their custom blended self-tanning lotions and oils. Always offered, of course, is the quickie product that’ll get you glowing in 5 minutes flat.
This is not said to mock the PF Shimmer Strips. It does a fine job of highlighting my face. I only mean that it’s a powder product. Yes, that is what I mean. No messy highlighter creams or oils. J-Lo’s glow can be had in a square pot of sunlight.
I really like Sunset Strip. It comes in 5 other shades:
-Malibu Strip/Pink Sand Bronzer
-Riviera Strip/Sand Bronzer
-Miami Strip/Healthy Glow Bronzer
-Waikiki Strip/Peachy Glow Bronzer
Vegas Strip/Light Bronzer
Description:
- Use all over face as a Bronzer, sweep over cheeks as a Blush or use each individual shade as an Eye Shadow.
- Silky smooth texture for a radiant complexion.
- All shades blend together for the ultimate glamorous, tan glow.
I use this as a highlighter for my cheekbones. The swatch is below.
As you can see, it’s rather sheer to be used as an eyeshadow or blush. As a shimmery product, it wouldn’t work too well as a bronzer.
What surprised me about this was how fine the shimmer is and how well it blends onto my skin. It’s not grainy or chalky, as I thought it might be.
Because I have oily skin, I only use this on my cheekbones. If you have normal skin, you can sweep a little along the edge of your nose, on your chin and a little on your forehead.
Recommendations by skin tone:
Light Skin: Malibu Strip, Vegas Strip
Olive Skin: Riviera Strip, Miami Strip, Waikiki Strip, Vegas Strip
Tanned Skin: Waikiki Strip, Sunset Strip, Miami Strip
Dark Skin: Sunset Strip, Waikiki Strip
*Please note: these are only recommendations. It would be a good idea to look at them in the store before buying.
I took a couple of face shots (ack! scary!) to show you how sheer the highlighter is
Taken in indirect light:
Taken in direct light:
You can see in both there is a nice glow to my face. It is more obvious in the second photo.
Pros: Relatively inexpensive ($12.95 for 8.5g). I got mine using a $3 coupon. Sweeps on smoothly, finely milled powder, comes in several colors.
Cons: Packaging doesn’t look sturdy for travel or accidents, doesn’t offer many shades for dark skin.
Grade: A
