Becca Cosmetics was initially known for having a very inclusive shade range of complexion products and making shades for the deepest of skin tones that few companies at the time were willing to create. But the main hype around the brand, what it’s best known for, are their shimmering skin perfectors. They became even more popular within Beauty Youtube after collaborating with Jaclyn Hill to make Champagne Pop.

In 2014-2015, my makeup obsession wasn’t as strong as it would later become. After swatching the Becca Perfectors in-store, I firmly believed they were the best highlighters on the market, but I wasn’t about to drop $38 on just one. During the holidays in 2015, Becca released the Champagne Glow and Afterglow palettes, which allowed me to have multiple shades for the same price. So, I’ve been using Becca’s highlighters ever since! Although Becca has dropped in popularity, and their place among the top highlighter makers is wavering, their formula is still in my top 3.

I acknowledge half of my Becca collection should be retired to my products-too-old-to-use shelf, but they’re still just as good as when I bought them. I threw out all my liquid and cream Perfectors, but I plan to use the oldest powders for a little longer.

For consistency, I am wearing MAC’s Pinch Me blush, Nars Sheer Glow foundation, and Tarte Shape Tape concealer in every photo. I did not use contour powders or bronzers in any of the pictures.

Pearl

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Other than for testing purposes, I never use this color on its own. I only wear it mixed with Topaz. It’s described as a “soft luminous white,” which I expected to be incredibly stark and unwearable on its own because it’s the whitest shade of highlighter in my collection. However, this has a semi-transparent base that doesn’t leave a powdery white cast that other highlighters in my collection, which are technically darker, can have. I still prefer a warmer highlight, but it’s nice to know I could wear this if I wanted without it looking too crazy. Pearl was originally said to be a limited edition shade that Becca later made permanent.

Golden Mint

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This is a website exclusive “minty green that transforms into a wearable gold.” It was supposed to be limited edition, but three years later it’s still for sale. On social media, Becca asked followers which shade between Smokey Quartz and Golden Mint they wanted to be produced. They removed those posts from their Instagram after later criticism, but I have screenshots other accounts reposted.

Smokey Quartz supposedly had the most votes and was released within days. Then three months later, Becca released Golden Mint anyway. It was very clear for everyone to see that both colors had been in production long before they asked anyone for opinions. This deceptive marketing move left a sour taste in my mouth, but no one explains it better than the ladies at Beauty News, whose video I will link here.

I was annoyed with Becca but still bought it anyway during a promotional discount event. I do absolutely love this shade. The slightly green-tinged white powder transforms into a peachy gold shimmer. For anyone curious, I have reviewed this shade in the past. It’s more pigmented than Pearl and can actually look harsh if I apply too much, so I typically use my Wayne Goss 15 Fan brush with this product.

Moonstone

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Like Pearl, I only wear this if mixed with Topaz. It’s described as a “pale candlelit gold,” and is an extremely common shade for a highlighter, but I don’t have that many shades which are this light in my collection. Moonstone was part of Becca’s original launch of Shimmering Skin Perfectors.

Champagne Pop

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This “soft gold with peachy-pink pearl” shade is the one that catapulted Becca to mainstream fame thanks to the collaboration with Jaclyn Hill. The previous highlighters I’ve mentioned can be applied lightly to give a more subtle glow. Champagne Pop was intended to have a strong beam, as is Jaclyn’s highlighter preference.

Prosecco Pop

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Prosecco Pop was Jaclyn Hills’s second collaborating shade. It’s described as an “ethereal gold with rich golden bronze pearl” and that bronze is what makes this shade a bit better for my complexion than Champagne Pop. Although I don’t think this is quite as finely milled in terms of glitter particle size, I still like it.

Royal Glow

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This is a limited edition, “bronzed opal shade infused with shimmering gold pearl,” but is still available for sale. I bought it mainly for the pretty crown embossing, and therefore, I don’t use it as often in order to preserve the imprint. This highlighter has the most subtle shimmer and reflectivity of the Skin Perfectors in my collection.

Rose Gold

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This shade is a “rosy pink with warm gold pearl.” I usually dislike pink highlighters, and the same can be said of this one. The pink tone doesn’t show on my skin. It just looks slightly ashy (less ashy thanks to the addition of gold pearl) and cool on my cheek. It looks better in photos than it does in person. I don’t wear this shade and haven’t tried to mix it with any of the others.

Gold Lava

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This limited edition “24k gold with light pink pearl” highlighter is still available. It is the most glittery of the Skin Perfectors that I have. In terms of color, this shade is similar to Champagne Gold and would be more “wearable” if the formula was smoother with smaller glitter particles. Because this shade isn’t as old as Champagne Gold, I was hoping this could be a nice replacement for when that highlighter goes bad, but I rarely use Gold Lava and I don’t see that changing in the future.

Champagne Gold

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This limited-edition “soft warm gold” shade was released around October 2014 and I wanted it so badly! However, my frugal side refused to purchase it for the full price. I was waiting for a sale from Sephora or Ulta, but it never came. For an entire year, I was kicking myself for not getting it while I could. But in November 2015, Hautelook put it on their site for $30 and I finally got my hands on it!
Champagne Gold was not a popular color. This was long before Fenty’s Trophy Wife, and there were a lot of complaints about how this particular shade of yellow wouldn’t work for a majority of skin tones. I don’t know how well it suits me, but I still used it a lot within the first year of having it (even though you can’t tell by looking at the pan). The base color is very pigmented, so I used it frequently but sparingly in the amount of product applied.

My theory is that Becca produced a small enough batch that rather than putting the rest of their stock on sale, which could lower the brand value for customers at their biggest retail partners, they unloaded their remaining inventory onto Hautelook, a much lesser-known website that still holds more prestige than TJMaxx because of its connection to Nordstrom. This shade might have even been sold at Nordstrom Rack, but I didn’t live near one to be able to confirm that.

The most telling indication that Champagne Gold didn’t do well is the fact that Becca never re-released it. Anything that sells well, Becca always brings back or adds it to the permanent collection. They were able to save face with Champagne Gold, but after that it was unavoidable. The Light Chaser Highlighters and Khloe Kardashian/Malika collection have been on sale for years now. The evidence of the brand’s dwindling popularity hasn’t been a secret for a long time.

Dreamsicle

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Real Dreamsicles are a combination of orange and vanilla. I expected this shade to be more on the orange side, but this limited edition “soft tangerine shade infused with white gold pearls” appears more peach on me. As is the case with Champagne Gold, I don’t know if this shade is flattering or not, but I like it. I don’t use it often though because it has become more of a collector item in my eyes.

Topaz

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I can’t remember if this, “warm bronze with gold pearl,” shade was part of the original highlighter launch with Moonstone and Opal. I do know that this was the first one created for those with darker skin tones. Many years ago, when I was several shades lighter, Topaz was just on the cusp of being too dark to highlight with. However, this color is perfect for me now. Either that or the top layer is lighter than it’s supposed to be due to the frequency in which I mixed Topaz with other shades.

There was a time when the only way I could get a highlighter as dark as this was to use a shimmery bronzer. When I see the highlighter offerings today, even from Becca who has made even darker shades like Chocolate Geode, it makes me happy.

Bronzed Amber

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The only description I could find for this shade is “warm bronze.” It’s a little more on the pink side, which isn’t my preference, but it looks much better on me than Rose Gold. I bought this shade out of pure curiosity and although it doesn’t look bad, I wish I skipped out on getting this (along with Gold Lava).

Blushed Copper

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This “warm copper” shade is categorized as a blush and has been discontinued. Even though it looks dark in the pan, it blends in very well on my cheekbone and paired with my very pink blush. For some reason though, I never wear this as blush or highlighter.

Own Your Light

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I knew full well this highlighter wasn’t for me, but I wanted it anyway purely for packaging, so I bought it at a steep discount from a third party seller.

It’s hard to capture the shift on this “warm gold-infused [Perfector] with luminous peach and pink pigments.” The pink is less pronounced in these pictures, but in certain lighting, it is extremely strong. I can use this if I’m in the mood for an uncommon highlighter shade, but realistically I won’t touch it again. It’s purely a collector item for me because this is yet another limited edition item. I saw this for $22 at Ulta during the holidays, so if anyone is interested in this shade, you can probably get it on sale if you keep an eye out!

SWATCH COMPARISONS

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As can be seen in the cheek swatches, although Becca makes a variety of distinctly different highlighter shades, they essentially look the same on the cheeks: whitish gold, yellow gold, or pink. Some of the colors are brighter and more intense than others, but there isn’t a need to have as many as I do. Out of the 14 Perfectors I own, the only shades I would miss are Golden Mint, Champagne Gold, and Topaz.

Although this is one of my favorite highlighter formulas, I’ve never thought these were worth $38 and I haven’t purchased a single one at full price. If you can get one in the $25-$30 range, or one of the mini sizes, then I could confidently recommend these Perfectors. However, Nabla’s Skin Glazing highlighter in Amnesia has become my most used highlighter for a year now and it’s $24. There are stunning highlighters at more affordable prices, which also adds to my hesitation recommending the Shimmering Skin Perfectors, despite how great they are.

Thank you for reading!

-Lili ❤