It’s been a long time since we’ve seen any new “beam” sisters added to the Benefit highlighter lineup, but 2012 is off to a good start with the launch of Benefit Sun Beam ($26 USD / $30 CDN), a golden bronze model in a bottle. Let’s check it out.

The Packaging

Most Benefit liquid face products come in a nail-polish type bottle with a screw off top and a brush applicator.  I think it’s interesting, it doesn’t give any added control or benefit over a doe foot applicator or even a squeeze-top, but it works just as well. The bottle is really beautiful- a golden bronze hue.  The difference between Sun Beam and it’s High Beam & Moon Beam sisters in terms of packaging, is that the bottle itself isn’t actually see-through.  This is a bit misleading, because the highlighter is a much lighter beige tone then seen on the bottle and its a bit difficult to see how much has been used.

Benefit Sun Beam

Benefit Sun Beam

Benefit Sun Beam

The Product

This thick liquid-creme product has a gorgeous champagne tone with gold microshimmer, giving it a warm tone and a nice healthy glow.  It’s definitely a lot warmer than High Beam, which is a light pink highlighter with a cool silver shimmer and more wearable then Moon Beam, which is a yellow-gold highlighter with a opalescent pink shimmer.  On the skin, it gives a nice highlight and glow to cheek bones, brow bones and anywhere else you want to give a little lift to (check out the video and I’ll show you how I like to use it).

I feel like the “golden bronze” description is a bit mislead, just because this doesn’t really give you a tanned/bronzed look at all, its a highlighter, meant to be used sparingly…so while it does have a beautiful glow, it’s not something you would use for color.

Benefit Sun Beam

Benefit Sun Beam

Benefit Sun Beam (Swatched)

Benefit Sun Beam (Blended out)

Benefit Sun Beam (left) and High Beam (right)

Benefit Sun Beam (left) and High Beam (right), blended out

Although it’s much warmer than High Beam, they both really give the same glowing effect on the skin. I don’t think you need both if you already have High Beam (but need is such a subjective term…haha).  Medium to dark skin tones might find Sun Beam a little more flattering, yet it will still look beautiful on light skin tones too (unlike High Beam which can sometimes look too light on darker skin tones).  It’s by far my favorite out of the three, because I really like champagne highlighters, but like I said if you already are happy with High Beam, it’s not something to rush out to the store for.

See More

• Video Review

Summary

• Price: $26 USD / $30 CDN
• Availability: Sephora
• Overall: A gorgeous champagne highlighter that leaves a warm, natural looking glow. Description is a bit misleading because it doesn’t really deposit color, but still has a nice highlighting effect. While its warmer, it still really has the same effect on the skin, when worn sparingly.
• Rating: A