Written by @Twist.It.Tea
I am sadly not solely convinced that Milk Makeup’s Holographic Stick in Mars will give me the highlight I truly want and deserve. I was planning on turning Mars into my everyday luminizer, especially because there’s enough in the full-size container to highlight an entire army for like 3 years. If you don't know about Milk Makeup's Holographic Stick Family, Mars is the sister shade to the infamous, Supernova, but in a more “down-to-earth” rose gold/peachy shimmer. This is a very beautiful and cool-toned luminizer that is universal to all skin shades which is amazing and also why I LOVE Milk Makeup products.
Credit: Milk Makeup
Anyway, I was very much in love with Supernova over the summer, which you can read about here. I was ready to fall head over heels all over again with Mars, but I was sadly mistaken. Going into trying the new addition to the family, I knew exactly what to expect from these highlighters – especially due to the lovely and (very) prominent ingredient, Avocado Oil which gives it a super smooth application. They’re notoriously difficult to apply to your skin straight from the stick – it WILL shift your BB cream or foundation, and end up on the stick which is not fun. It’s best to apply the highlight to your preferred areas by tapping the formula on with your fingers. It’s honestly not my favorite way to apply highlighter but since I loved the way Supernova looked on me I was willing to put my differences aside and try this baby out. Well, Mars is a beautiful shade in concept, but once it’s on my skin it doesn’t really wow me at all, and that is definitely a personal preference. A LOT of people love this shade and formula, but it’s too subtle for my taste! For me, it falls very flat and forces me to continually apply it to my skin until it’s pretty greasy. So, on the plus side – it is buildable but it doesn’t have the most pleasant ending. It is very sheer compared to Supernova and that made me sad because I love an intentional glow, but since I do appreciate it as a base I love to sweep some Anastasia Sugar Glow Kit over the top. At this point, I am definitely wearing an ‘out-of-this-world’ type of highlight, but there are pretty light peach undertones that come through when sunlight hits. I like to use Gumdrop because it compliments Mars so well with the rose gold flakes.
When I would wear the formula alone, it would eventually leave very fine lines on my cheekbones which I did not appreciate having to buff out in the middle of the day, and also didn’t give me that “ethereal glow” I was hoping for. Instead, I think I would really benefit from this if I used it as a body highlighter during the summer. I can only imagine how sexy and effortless this would gleam on collarbones and with a bronzey tan. I won’t give up on Mars just yet, because I truly want to love it as much as it’s big sister, Supernova. So, since summer is still a few months away, I am going to try a cool suggestion I received in the meantime; apply the highlighter under my BB Cream. I am not truly convinced here, mostly because of the oily feeling it gives me sometimes, but I am definitely going to test it out because I’m willing to make this relationship work! If anyone has any other suggestions please reach out!
