Avon Face Pearls

The Avon illuminating face pearls were a product I had wanted to try for literally years, however I’d just never gotten around to it. Last year I finally purchased a pot from my mother who is an Avon rep. Here’s how I got on with them…

What are they?

The face pearls are basically little balls of face powder, which look like pearls, hence the name. The pearls are slightly different colours, but are mainly tones of beige and pink. The idea is that you swirl a powder brush over them to pick up the powder and your brush will have a little bit of each colour on it. You can then apply this to your face to highlight and give a bit of shimmer.

Packaging

Like most of the Avon make-up these come in a box. Inside the box the pearls are housed in a black plastic tub. It’s quite a basic looking tub to be honest, but I do like the plain and simple look.

Inside the tub you will see that Avon have put a circle of thick foam over the pearls. This is to stop the pearls being thrown about in transit as they are quite delicate and will become crushed easily. I’d recommend keeping this piece of foam, especially if you plan on carrying this around in a make-up bag with you, or taking the product on holiday. I should mention that although the tub looks large, it is only filled up about quarter of the way.

My experience of using them

Using them is really simple. Just take a large brush and gently swirl it over the pearls to pick up the powder. I’d recommend a large powder brush normally, but I have an angled brush from ELF (the blushing, bronzing and blending brush) which is also great for using with this product, especially if you want to apply to the contours of your cheeks.

The powder picks up relatively easily onto the brush, but I do find sometimes that the pearls can become stuck in the bristles of the brush, so I have to shake them off back into the tub.

I apply this in a few different ways. The first would be instead of a blusher. I have quite a reddish skin tone and my cheeks are especially red. If I’m wearing a light coverage foundation, I find that some of this redness shows through, meaning I do not need a strongly pigmented blush. As this product is more of a highlighter than a blush, yet still has some colour to it, I find it perfect for me. Sweeping over my cheeks gives a subtle pinky glow, with not too much colour and a hint of shimmer, which illuminates my cheeks and gives my skin a natural looking glow.

The second way I use this is as it is intended – a highlighting and contouring powder. I apply some to my brush and then lightly sweep it into the contours of my cheeks to give definition to my cheekbones. I also sometimes brush some lightly on my forehead, bridge of my nose and chin, to give a light shimmer in the places which will naturally catch the sun.

The final way I use this, is actually to sweep a little over my décolletage area. I would usually use a shimmer cream here – although only on nights out, not on a day to day basis – but being a lot more disorganised than I would like, I often can’t find any! I just sweep a light dusting of this over the top of the bust area and it gives a very slight sparkle and shimmer.

One thing I really like about this product is that you can build up the colour and shimmer to achieve many different looks. It does go on quite sheer, but sometimes a sheer dusting of powder with a subtle shimmer is all I want. If I do decide on a more intense look, it is simply achieved by applying more layers of powder. Even when doing this, I never find the powder to look thick or caked on.

I find that the powder stays on once it is on the skin and I’ve never found the need to top it up. It’s quite a light powder and I can’t actually feel it once it’s on my skin. I do have dry skin and don’t find that it clings onto dry patches as most powders do.

Price and Availability

The illuminating face pearls are available from Avon for £9.00. You can buy from your local Avon rep or online at www.avonshop.co.uk. As Avon have lots of special offers, you may be able to find this cheaper than the RRP. I believe I only paid £6 for mine, although it was a while ago now, so I’m not 100% sure.

To sum up

On the whole, I really like the illuminating face pearls and I would recommend them. I think their biggest selling point for me is simply that they are so versatile and can be used in so many different ways to achieve a range of looks. I don’t wear powders very often, but this is the exception and they get a full five stars from me.