Review: Dior Shimmer Star in Amber Diamonds

In my search for the perfect highlighter, this product often topped the list of best or Holy Grail highlighters. Bloggers and professional artists alike seem to love Dior's Amber Diamonds for imparting that healthy glow to the face. Its become kind of a cult classic and naturally, it was on my shopping list. However, due to its hefty price tag, it took me a while to finally bite the bullet, but I must say, I am pleased with my purchase.



The Product
So I'll just cut to the chase and begin by describing the product. Dior has two different "palettes", I guess for lack of a better word, in the Shimmer Star line. There's one that is palette of pink shimmers and another with more golden shimmers.  Amber Diamonds consists of exactly 5 stripes of various shades of gold and bronze. The palette is absolutely beautiful and is etched with a kind of criss-cross, "diamond" design and "Dior" in the bottom right corner.

As shown in the picture above, there is a very thin stripe of white, a stripe of light champagne, a stripe of a rather dark bronze and then two more strips of a bronze and a golden peach. At first sight, this palette seems like it would be too dark for a highlighter, especially with the bronze shades. It almost seems like it could be a light shimmery bronzer.  But, with the colors are all swatched together, it actually gives a very nice soft peach highlight with no hint of bronze whatsoever. The bronze in this palette is not very pigment at all and the mixture of all the colors really helps to give this highlight a nice warm without being too yellow or too stark white.


Application
I apply this with a Real Techniques synthetic contouring brush. I find that it is the perfect size to sweep over my cheekbones and because its synthetic, it doesn't pick up powder product quite as well as a natural bristle brush. In this case, its perfect because I don't want to overdo it.

I am wearing Amber Diamonds on my cheekbones and a
little bit onto my temples in a C-shape.

Wear
I do think that if applied too heavily, this can look very shimmery. I choose the word shimmer because unlike other highlight, this is a shimmer. It's not a sheen and its not a glow, it is a shimmer. While the shimmer is still finely milled, I do detect very fine, multidimensional sparkles when I really look closely. For this reason, I do think that to play it safe, it's probably more appropriate for a night out.
Now don't scared by this description. 
The overall effect that you get on your skin is still a diffused shimmer that looks like a healthy sheen. Out in the daylight, the shimmer can be more obvious, but honestly, I have worn this during the day and have never really had a problem with it. It looks beautiful in photographs and nobody's close enough to me to able to detect that I'm wearing shimmer on my cheeks. This is a beautiful highlight, although it is probably one of the more shimmery ones out there. The name Amber Diamonds is really quite fitting because you do get a very multidimensional highlight.
I don't have a problem with this product lasting on my skin, or oxidizing or really changing in any form from the time I apply it to the time I take it off. If you have problem with enlarged pores or oils, I would avoid putting this in those areas. I don't apply this to my forehead or the bridge of my nose for that reason.

Packaging
Like all other Dior products, the packaging is very luxurious and it comes in a beautiful plastic container that has Dior etched in silver and a the holographic CD that is on a lot of their other packaging. The inside of the palette has a good-sized mirror and this product does not come with any brushes.


Similar Products

Swatch of each of the stripes of shimmer. This is a HEAVY swatch. 

The bottom stripe is with all the colors swatched together.

MAC mineralize skinfinish in Soft and Gentle can give you a similar effect. They are both pretty shimmery in my book, although I do prefer the more champagne tone of the Dior highlight. The MAC might be just a touch more shimmery.

Recommendation
It is a great highlight but it is definitely a shimmer. If you are looking for a more natural sheen, this might be a bit too much. In my opinion, this highlight can be a bit tricker to work with and if you are new to highlighters, I would start with something more subtle like the Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector.