Brand Spotlight: Natural Glamour

Welcome to my next instalment in my ‘Brand Spotlight’ series!

I’m all for finding genuine Australian companies who are cruelty-free, good quality and better yet, affordable and accessible to the everyday consumer. One brand who has really gotten my support recently is Natural Glamour.  They provide diversity in coverage, skin tone and levels of SPF in their products to cover all women whilst protecting them from harsh UV rays. They do this, so that we can protect our skin more effectively whilst radiating our natural, sun-kissed beauty, something that Australian women are very well known for!

They have both their permanent range including primers, foundations, bronzers and brushes – as well as their limited edition goodies. I was very generously sent their latest limited edition products to trial, and I’ll be reviewing them for you in this post – complete with swatches.

 Bronzed and Beautiful Collection

First up is there Bronzed and Beautiful Collection. This gained some huge popularity when it was released, because it looked like an exact dupe of the Too Faced Bronzer Wardrobe. I can’t really comment on this comparison though, because I haven’t tried the Too Faced bronzer book. I will however, provide my thoughts on this product.

Firstly, it’s beautiful to look at right? They’ve put some good effort into the packaging here. It’s super sleek and lightweight – not too bulky. And when you consider that there is 6 massive pans of bronzers in this palette, that’s pretty impressive.

Secondly, they have created a range of colours and shades with this bronzer collection. From lighter bronzing shimmers, to contours, highlights, to deeper bronzing shades. This retails for $39.95 and I think that’s absolutely fabulous when you consider getting 6 different bronzers in one palette! The other side of the book contains pictorials and instructions on how best to use each of the bronzers. You can follow these tips or use them to your own liking.

Swatches

From L to R: Safari Sun, Sunkissed Glow, Forever Summer, Contour and Highlight, Hint of Pink, Radiant Glow

Formula

These bronzers have an overall great formula. They aren’t hard to pick up with your brush at all. They are surprisingly so buttery and velvety. They all have a gorgeous shimmery formula, so if you are after something matte you won’t find it in here. The shade ‘Safari Sun’ is the most ‘glittery’, it does have a chunkier shimmer than the others but I don’t like using the word ‘chunky’ to describe it because it’s not actually a chunky glitter.

They are INSANELY pigmented! I was absolutely shocked. It’s important to go easy on the hand with these, you definitely don’t need much product at all to achieve a glowing complexion. However, I found the highlight softer than the others (as you can see in the swatches)- but it’s still awesome for a subtle glow. These shades are also quite warm too, so if you are after something ashy or cool toned again, you won’t find it in this palette. But I really do think they would suit a lot of skin tones nonetheless.

I don’t think you would need to use a blush or highlight at all with this palette, despite it being a bronzing collection. ‘Safari Sun’ and ‘Hint of Pink’ have a beautiful pink tone to them and Safari Sun works amazingly as a shimmery blush and is my pick of the bunch. Also, you can use the highlighter in the ‘Contour and Highlight’ pan as your highlighter, or the strip of white shimmer in the ‘Hint of Pink’ pan. I also think these would double as gorgeous eyeshadows too. I can see this product being a real winner in makeup artist kits!

Contour and Colour Palette

This is a multi-purpose palette that has products for your eyes, eyebrows and your face. I find these kinds of palettes so handy for travel or on-the-go! However I do admit that most multi-purpose palettes like these actually compromise on quality – but this one surprised me.

The packaging is sturdy but lightweight, and comes as a plastic safe lock clip top with a sizeable mirror. The back of the packaging has a ‘map’ of the palette so you know what each product is meant to be, and the finishes for each of the eyeshadows.

Plus, it comes with a gorgeous pouch to store the palette in for travel. How gorgeous is that pouch?! I’m feeling Mimco vibes here, and I love my Mimco.

Swatches

Note: I did not swatch the eyebrow powders or brow gel.

Eyeshadows:

From L to R: Smokey greys, smokey purples, smokey taupes

Formula

As with the bronzer book, these eyeshadows are quite pigmented. There are both satin and shimmer formulas for these eyeshadows. It’s also really easy to pick up product with your fingers or brushes as well. The colours are gorgeous, however I would have like to have seen maybe a green/khaki trio instead of the purple shades – but that is my personal preference as I generally don’t wear purples on my eyes. I like how there are variations in satin and shimmers as it gives the palette some versatility. They can be used to create a really neutral soft eye look or build up really well to achieve a dramatic smokey eye.

Face:

From L to R: Highlighter, Blusher, Bronzer 1, Bronzer 2

Formula

These are sooo pigmented (with the exception of the highliter)! The first time using it I wasn’t expecting them to be so pigmented and I ended up becoming a hot mess! Definitely, definitely need to go easy on the blush and bronzers here. However, the highlighter again was a lot softer than the other cheek products. It’s also a bit too warm for my liking. I go for more champagne/white highlighter shades but it’s beautiful to use as another eyeshadow from the palette.

The blush is gorgeous and a natural and neutral toned pink blusher. But as I said very pigmented so I need to be careful with this in future.

The bronzers in my opinion are probably too warm toned for me. You’re either a warm bronzer type of girl, or a cool toned bronzer type. I think I am more a cool toned bronzer especially when it comes to using them for contours. However they do work nicely as bronzers, but I avoid using them for my contour. There is a lighter bronzer and a stronger bronzer so it would work for many skin tones.

Bronzed Goddess

The Bronzed Goddess is a huge 20g bronzer disc that is yet another illuminating bronzer. If you want sun-kissed, almost wet look type of bronzers – than this is your baby. If you know Natural Glamour – you would know that they are popular for their bronzers and this is no exception. The packaging for this product is a bit of a let down though when you compare it to the packaging of their other products. When you consider it’s limited edition status, in my opinion their should be more effort on the packaging. Especially because the writing on the plastic cover has already started to rub off. No biggie though – it doesn’t change the way this bronzer works which is of course the most important part!

Swatch

Formula

From the swatch you’ll notice it’s a more golden bronzer than the bronzers in the Bronzed and Beautiful Collection and the Contour and Colour palette, but that’s what I love about it. The shimmer is definitely toned down in this bronzer, so it’s not as shimmery as their other ones, but it still manages to be a really illuminating bronzer! When I don’t want it to be so bronze, I focus my brush on the centre of the disc to pick up more the champagne and gold shimmer and it works beautifully as a bronze-y highlighter.

Again, a very pigmented product that distributes product really well. Buttery, velvety and soft. A gorgeous colour that I can see on those with deeper skin tones as well as those with fair skin.

Verdict

Overall, I’m so impressed with this brand. I’ve previously only tried their cream foundation and was hooked so I was really excited to trial more products. The thing that most impresses me with their products are their formula. They are just so pigmented and velvety powders, really on par with some high end products I’ve tried. My favourite product is definitely the Bronzed and Beautiful collection. Man, those bronzers are serious! And they’re super affordable and accessible to everyone, being sold at Priceline stores or on their website. Bonus, they are also Aussie owned and cruelty-free!

If you want to try these out for yourself, hurry! Because they are limited edition and won’t be around forever.

Have you tried any Natural Glamour products? Or, are you keen on trying any of these limited edition products? Let me know in the comments!

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*These products were provided to me for editorial consideration. However, the generosity of the providing party has not influenced my views and opinions of the product. All opinions expressed are genuine and mine own. As always, I am no expert so please don’t substitute my opinions for professional advice.