Since Clinique came out with its range of up-lighting liquid illuminators several years ago and since then, I’ve wanted to try them out but didn’t get round to it till recently when I asked for a sample to be drammed into a small container as they don’t have samples in sachets.

The thing about getting samples drammed into containers is that they should be used immediately or in any case, as soon as possible. Don’t be like me and wait for months to try them out otherwise the product is likely to thicken and in many circumstances, be unusable.

Luckily, in the case of the up-lighting liquid illuminator sample, it had thickened slightly but was still very usable when mived with liquid foundation. I got a sample in peach 02 which is for fairer skin tones while shades 03 and 04 are for darker skin tones although I believe blush 03 would be quite suitable if used on the cheeks for fair skin tones.

So what exactly are the up-lighting liquid illuminators? Well, they are basically highlighters not unlike MAC’s Strobe Cream or Lustre Drops. They can be used alone, mixed with moisturisers or foundation. You may want to use them to just highlight a particular section of your face such as cheekbones or brow bones.

What I did was to mix the illuminator together with Sephora’s perfecting cover foundation as I wanted an all-over glow. There are very fine particles of shimmer in the illuminator but it doesn’t show up when mixed with the foundation. What appears is a sheer glow and subtle luminosity on my skin. I like it! It certainly brightens up my skin instantly without adding shine or excess shimmer.

The illuminators come in pump bottles which makes it convenient to dispense the amount needed which is not much at all. Normally, I’d by-pass Clinique cosmetics other than their lipsticks but I’ve always had my eye on the illuminators.

They are one of the good buys in Clinique’s make-up range and the price is reasonable compared to illuminators of other counter brands. The up-lighting liquid illuminator is 30ml/RM100.