I am SO excited about today’s post! I don’t get this excited about a new brand normally, but when Samantha Ravndahl announced Auric and I saw the products, I just KNEW deep in my soul that I was buying the products no matter how much shipping and customs were to the UK!
I’m going to break everything down for you in this review. Cost of products, cost of shipping, ordering process and of course everything you need to know about the products. There’s the Glow Lust which is a liquid luminizer. It can be used a a highlighter, as a makeup base, mixed with your foundation and mixed with skincare.
The second product is the Smoke Reflect. These are cream, metallic shadows with a powder topper. There are three shades and I have one of them.
I love that Auric is championing real people and real skin. Not touched up, filtered skin that doesn’t look real. It’s for everybody no matter your age, skin colour etc. They want to create beautiful, luxurious products that make us feel confident in our own skin and I can definitely get behind that.
Now, let’s delve deeper into everything Auric!
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COST
The Auric Glow Lust Radiant Luminizer is $45/£32 for 35ml of product. This breaks down to $1.20/£0.87 per ml.
For some comparison: The Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter is £34 for 30ml. Giorgio Armani’s Fluid Sheer Liquid is £30 for 18ml.
The Smoke Reflect is $39/£28 for a 5g cream shadow and 1.65g powder shadow. Per gram, this product is $5.86/£4.24 per gram.
Tom Ford have their Cream and Powder Eye Duos and they are £51! The only weight I can find is 2.2g, but I don’t know what the individual weights of the products are. Charlotte Tilbury has her Eyes to Mesmerise cream shadows without the powder top. Those are £22 for 7g.
ORDERING PROCESS
Let’s talk about the ordering process and cost of shipping/customs. I was armed with my card and ready to go as soon as this was released. However, I did have some issues. I was seeing on Auric’s Instagram that the site was launched, people were managing to order and it was a breeze. However, a few people (me included) couldn’t get the site to work. I tried my laptop, phone, different browsers, cleared my cache etc. Auriccosmetics.com would not work. (This has since changed and I can now access it by clicking the direct link!)
Someone then mentioned in a comment if you typed the full URL of the product then it would work and it did! Another tip was to turn the Wi-Fi off on your phone and that worked too. It was odd and I spent 10 minutes desperately trying to get on, but I’m glad I finally managed it.
The actual checkout process was very easy and smooth. I added both products to my basket and had checked out in under 2 minutes.
SHIPPING
Shipping to the UK is $25/£18 which I don’t find to be too bad actually. There are places that are cheaper, but equally there are places where I point blank refuse to order because their shipping is $70/£50!! For a start up I’m impressed that they ship to the UK as a lot of places don’t to begin with and then expand.
It stated on the website that customs/duties would not be paid for UK orders, so I was expecting another £25-£30 in Royal Mail fees and customs. However, I was very surprised when my door went and there was my Auric parcel. No customs!
In total I paid $109/£78 (£83 with the fee for changing GBP to USD on my card). You may look and think that’s expensive, but when you think about how much use you will get from these products, I don’t think it’s too bad. Auric also never advertised themselves as an affordable brand, they’re luxury, so I don’t have a problem with the pricing.
My order was dispatched 6 days after purchase and arrived 4 days later, which I was happy with. I’ve had things from the US take weeks before, so 4 days is pretty darn good!
PACKAGING
I mean, can we just look at these products. Box and all. Simply STUNNING. I’m not one to buy “just for packaging” but if I want the product and the packaging is beautiful then it’s a bonus.
I love everything about this packaging. From the gorgeous boxes to the cap on the Glow Lust. It’s all so gorgeous and Samantha knocked it out of the park.
Each product comes in a beautiful cardboard box and they are both in glass packaging. The Glow Lust is in a frosted glass bottle with a plastic cap. The gold detail is beautiful and the cap does not feel cheap at all. It’s thick plastic. Samantha was saying in her video how they tested and tested the cap and pump to make sure the cap would not fall off and the pump would not break. As far as caps and pumps go, these are fantastic. That cap is not going anywhere, you have to give it a good pull to get it off. The pump is very smooth and doesn’t splatter. It also feels like you have a lot of control, it’s not just a one push and you get a pump. You can do half a pump/quarter etc.
Now, the Smoke Reflect. The cream shadow comes in a frosted glass jar. The powder bit has a plastic cap which then twists onto the cream shade. This plastic feels a bit more lightweight, but again, nothing is feeling cheap here.
I’m impressed with the packaging, it’s both gorgeous to look at and very practical. I love how much thought has gone into every aspect of these products.
SWATCHES
Let’s look at the Glow Lust first. I bought the shade Morganite. It’s the lightest shade and is described as a “light cool beige”. There are 7 shades in total Since this is not a foundation or something with coverage, I believe most people will be able to find a shade. There’s an even split of light and deep shades which is really good.
Here’s Morganite on my hand. See that subtle glow. It’s not too much at all. And once blended on the face, it looks natural!
Now, let’s look at the Smoke Reflect. This is the shade Temper which is described as a rose gold. On me it pulls more bronzey with a hint of pink, but I still love it. There are two other shades of Smoke Reflect: Defiance and Ego. Defiance is a bronze/warmer gold and Ego is a cool toned silver.
From left to right: the cream shadow on its own, the powder shadow on its own, the powder tapped over the cream.
COMPARISONS
I’ve seen lots of comparison to the Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter, I don’t own it myself. However, from what I’ve seen and heard, the Glow Lust is a thicker product and has a more natural look. The Hollywood Flawless Filter is more reflective/shiny. I’m not one to go for a shiny face, hence why I haven’t been interested in the Flawless Filter.
When Samantha was showing the products in her video, Glow Lust looked so natural. Like your skin is lit from within and that’s the look I’m more into. It’s more a fine pearl than large shiny particles. It doesn’t look like you’ve just smeared highlighter all over your face. I’m all for glow, but I don’t want to look like a greaseball. Happy to report no such thing with the Auric Glow Lust.
I don’t own any of the Charlotte Tilbury Eyes to Mesmerise. However, I have felt them in store (when we were able to swatch in store. Remember those times!!?) and they do feel very comparable. They’re smooth, pigmented and there’s a good amount of colour base in there.
I do own one of the Revlon Colorstay cream shadows and the Auric Smoke Reflects are 100 times better. More pigmented, smoother, easier to work with and it doesn’t go patchy or crease.
For the powder shadow, it feels a bit like a pressed glitter with extra slip. They do feel creamy, but are not a full on metallic shadow. These are meant as topper shades, so that’s to be expected. I’ve got a few topper shades in palettes I own and the Smoke Reflect topper is better. It doesn’t have large chunks in. Sometimes I find with topper shades big chunks that actually feel scratchy. Not what you want near your eyes. Smoke Reflect is smooth and soft.
GLOW LUST APPLICATION AND WEAR TEST
There are a few different ways to wear the Glow Lust. You can use it as a liquid highlighter, as a makeup base, mixed with your foundation or mixed with skincare.
The first time I wore Glow Lust I mixed it with my foundation. (It was the IT Cosmetics Your Skin but Better). It made my skin look dreamy. I was already having a good skin couple of days, but Glow Lust made me look healthy, glowy, radiant and like I was having the best skin day of my life.
It mixes and blends like a dream, there are no chunks or bits that won’t mix. I find it glides over the skin with fingers and with a brush and doesn’t sit on top of your skin unflatteringly. It sinks right in and looks as one with the skin.
I didn’t look shiny or greasy. It didn’t make my foundation wear any differently, it wore all day without needing to be touched up. My skin is combination and tends to get a little oily in the t-zone. I was wondering if Glow Lust mixed with my foundation would mean my oils would show through more so than usual, but if anything, it was even longer until I got oily. I kept looking in the mirror expecting to see oil, but there was nothing. Just glowy, healthy looking skin! I got a full 14 hours out of my makeup and I looked healthy and radiant all day long.
I wouldn’t say it adds hydration per se. But it certainly doesn’t dry my skin out either. It didn’t cling to any dry patches, but it doesn’t make your skin feel like you’ve put moisturiser on or anything. It didn’t exacerbate any texture which is a definite plus. I always worry when mixing products that it will change how the product performs, but I had no such issues with Glow Lust. It somehow manages to make you look like a goddess, while not changing anything at all. It just is. I don’t know how else to explain it!
After mixing Glow Lust with my foundation, I also used it as a highlight on top of my foundation. It’s truly stunning as a highlighter. The way it hits the light, I just can’t tell you how good it looks. It looks so natural and like your face genuinely just glows when the light hits it.
Here’s me with Glow Lust mixed with my foundation and as a liquid highlighter:
I then mixed Glow Lust with my SPF moisturiser, added a little mascara and brow gel and was good to go. I don’t usually mix skincare with anything makeup-like, but since Samantha specifically said it could be used like that I decided to test it like that. I’ve mixed it with two different moisturisers now; my Alpha Daily Essential Moisturiser SPF50 and my Skin Aqua Moisture Milk SPF50. I love it with both. My skin just looks so radiant. If I’m having a good day acne wise, I would be more than happy to just apply the Auric Glow Lust and be set for the day. It mixes really easily with moisturisers too.
Here it is mixed with moisturiser. Look at that glow!
I have also tried using it as a base and applying my foundation on top. But I didn’t notice a difference compared with mixing it with your foundation, so I didn’t bother taking photos. It wore the same and looked the same as I’ve described above.
Here is it just worn as a highlighter on my cheeks:
SMOKE REFLECT APPLICATION AND WEAR TEST
Starting this off by saying I am not a pro at eyeshadow. I can do a basic look, but nothing special. However, I’m here for anything that can look like you’ve spent ages doing your eyes when it took you 30 seconds.
I applied Smoke Reflect with my fingers and a brush and they both worked well. It’s so easy to just tap your finger in and spread it over your eyes. I then like to buff out the edges with a brush. Again, super easy to do. I like a cream shadow that you can move around a bit, but once it sets it’s set for the day. I find Smoke Reflect is like that. You have time to blend it and move it around, then it dries and doesn’t budge.
I used my finger to tap on the powder shadow and it’s sooooo pretty. They’re pretty individually, but together – stunning! I didn’t have any fall out from either shadow. They both applied easily and stayed put all day. I didn’t even have fall out from the topper after 14 hours of wearing it!
These shadows feel like butter, I really love how they look and perform. It makes me want to buy the other two shades when they’re back in stock! In the last 8 months or so I’ve really got into cream products and have built up quite the collection.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
If you haven’t guessed yet, I am totally in love with both Auric products! I think Samantha did a fantastic job with everything from packaging to the formula. I will be wearing Glow Lust alllllllll the time and I can’t wait to see what else Auric has to offer. Some cream blushes and foundations would be top of my wants list! I’m glad that this lived up to the hype I’d made in my own head!
I was so darn excited, I would have felt disappointed if the products didn’t live up to my expectations. I think Glow Lust will work for any skin type and age. It doesn’t accentuate lines or texture, it wears beautifully. I do also adore the Smoke Reflect, I’m amazed at how budge proof they are and they’re ridiculously easy to work with too.
Overall, I would recommend both of these products, I don’t have anything bad to say about them!
