NYX Liquid Illuminator Review – Born To Glow: Ingredients, Before & After

Glowing cheeks and nose tips are the ‘must’ of makeup in the last several years, and more and more types of highlighters are created. While some give you unnatural shine, others make your face look dewy and natural. NYX Born to Glow is supposed to do just that. This is why I have decided to test it out.

Last updated on March 14, 2024 11:49 am

What Does It Offer?

NYX Born to Glow is a liquid illuminator that is said to give your face a natural glow. With it, you can highlight the high points of your face and give you that photogenic look. It isn’t a typical highlighter that will make you shine to the moon, but rather give your skin that dewy look.

Born to Glow is said to give you a soft glow and brighten your look. It comes in natural skin color so that it won’t look weird or too forced. At the same time, you should be able to give your entire skin a brightened look if you mix it with the foundation.

What Is the Product Like?

The packaging is relatively standard but nice at the same time. It comes in a skin-colored tube that has a pretty shine to it. The cap and the letters are black, creating a nice contrast. The illuminator comes in four shades, and the color of the tube depends on the color inside. I have bought the shade ‘sunbeam’, as it was the only one that seemed bright enough for my pale skin. The other three shades are ‘gleam’, ‘pure gold’, and ‘sun goddess’. If your skin is darker than mine, I would assume you could use any of the lighter shades; I didn’t want to risk taking a darker one, but I guess ‘gleam’ could give me that nice summer bronze tone.

At the first swatch, Born to Glow looks a lot more like a strobe cream than a highlighter. As strobe creams tend to be at the medium price range, having a similar product worth around $7 is rather lovely. It has a thick consistency, similar to a foundation. However, you can blend it much easier, and it is a lot lighter. The product does have a chemical smell to it, but it isn’t too strong, and once you’ve applied the product, it goes away. This shouldn’t cause too many concerns, as the advertisement said Born to Glow doesn’t contain any fragrances. Fragrances only mask the scent, so this isn’t anything new or unexpected.

I tried using the product as a foundation primer at first. It doesn’t feel heavy on the skin, but it does give you a prominent glow. The shade I’ve picked has a pink undertone, which I’m not too fond of, but this is a mistake on my part. Foundation does look good on top of it; It is evenly spread, and it doesn’t look cakey. However, other than on the photos, you couldn’t really see any glow coming through the foundation.

If you use it as a highlighter, it can give you a subtle but effective look. It does contain smaller glitter particles, so if you’re not fond of that, this might not be the product for you. Although I don’t really like glitter highlighters, I didn’t mind this one, as the glitter is very subtle. Also, the pinkish undertone doesn’t look bad on top of the foundation. Quite the opposite, it probably looks a lot more natural than if I was to use ‘gleam’. Another important feature – it doesn’t remove the foundation underneath it.

You can also mix this product with your foundation. It won’t really change the performance of your foundation, but it will make it shinier. However, matte foundations can look a bit more artificial if mixed with it. Personally, I prefer using this product as a highlighter. However, it indeed does a good job of making your foundation look dewy.

As for longevity, this product isn’t sticky, and it dries really well. This makes it last for a long time. I wore it the entire day, and it only takes off once the foundation starts falling through. All in all, this was better than I have expected from such an affordable product.

Ingredients

As I’ve already mentioned, this product is fragrance free. Other ingredients that it’s free of are coconut, gluten, dye, soy, lanolin, nickel and propylene. Despite the chemical smell, this actually makes it rather chemical-free. However, it does contain parabens and some preservatives, which isn’t the best, but I guess you can’t have it all. Other than that, I didn’t find too much wrong with this product.

Before and After


The product comes in four different shades. I suggest you use the one that resembles your skin tone the most, or up to two shades lighter as a highlighter.


The product gives you a nice, natural glow.


It does have fine glitter particles, but they aren’t too noticeable.

Is It Vegan And Cruelty-Free?

NYX is one of the brands that is recognized as cruelty-free. None of its products or ingredients are tested on animals, and NYX doesn’t sell them in countries that require animal testing on imported products. It isn’t a vegan brand, but many of its products are free of any animal-derived ingredients or animal by-products – and Born to Glow is one of them! So, yes, Born to Glow is a vegan product, and you can use it without any concerns, as you’re not harming our furry friends.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for an affordable product that has the same effect as strobe creams, Born to Glow might be the right one for you. It gives your face that natural, soft glow that can last for hours. You can mix it with your foundation if you want your entire face to look dewy, mix it with foundation. If you just want to highlight some parts of your face, blend it with your finger on the spots you want to glow.

However, this product isn’t the best if you’re looking for something that can give your face extreme shine. Also, I wouldn’t recommend using it as a foundation primer, as it doesn’t do much. Other than that, this is a great product that can be used in multiple ways.

Last updated on March 14, 2024 11:49 am

Leave a Comment