Beauty Care: Kaleidos Solar Sailor Space Age Highlighter Review & Swatches

Solar Sailor

Kaleidos Solar Sailor Space Age Highlighter ($14.00 for 0.10 oz.) is a bright, white gold with subtle, warm undertones and an intense, metallic finish. It had mostly opaque pigmentation in a single layer, despite the actual base being more translucent, as it was chocked full of shimmer and pearl.

The texture was fairly smooth to the touch, so it wasn’t too firmly nor too loosely-pressed in the pan, but it was not the most finely-milled of powders. The highlighter applied evenly to bare skin, blended out well, and didn’t accentuate my skin’s natural texture. It wore nicely for eight hours before fading a bit.

FURTHER READING: Formula Overview for details on general performance and characteristics (like scent).

Top Dupes

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Moira Sweet Champagne (P, $14.00) is more shimmery, warmer (95% similar).
Pat McGrath Pale Gold 002 (LE, $30.00) is more shimmery, darker, cooler (95% similar).
Anastasia Helia (PiP, ) is cooler (90% similar).
Becca Citrine (LE, $38.00) is less shimmery (90% similar).
Makeup Geek Electrify (P, $20.00) is lighter (90% similar).
Clionadh Cremait (P, $12.50) is more shimmery, cooler (90% similar).
Give Me Glow Halo (P, $17.25) is more shimmery (90% similar).
Artist Couture Gold Digger (P, $27.00) is less shimmery, darker, cooler (90% similar).
Becca Pearl Flashes Gold (LE, $34.00) is darker (90% similar).
MAC Sky's the Limit (LE, $44.00) is less shimmery, cooler (90% similar).

View Swatches

Formula Overview

$14.00/0.1 oz. - $140.00 Per Ounce

The formula is supposed to have "vibrant, color-shifting" shades that have an "ultra-lightweight, smooth texture that practically melts onto skin." They are described as being "translucent yet highlight reflective" with a "multi-chrome finish." I had different experiences across the range, so it was not the most consistent of ranges. They did, on average, apply a little better in practice than they appeared initially swatched.

For the most part, the regularly-priced ($14 at the time of publishing) shades were more like intense duochromes than true multi-chromes to me, and I do think the price reflects that (as their true multichromes are $36 each). They had translucent bases across the board with some shades having stronger initial coverage than others, but they produced a noticeable sheen and shift on my skin.

The texture was what varied from shade to shade with some shades feeling drier, almost crumbly, and being particularly prone to emphasizing skin texture, even though I don't have that much visible texture on my cheeks (this is not a common issue for me, it can happen but it is infrequent that I really feel a highlighter emphasizes my texture!) while other shades were firmer but applied more smoothly on my skin.

I liked the tones and shade range more so than the formula, but a couple of shades were really lovely to work with. They tended to wear around eight hours on my skin before fading visibly, though the chunkier, more sparkly shades had visible migration around the six-hour mark.

Browse all of our Kaleidos Space Age Highlighter swatches.

Ingredients

Calcium Aluminum Borosilicate, Talc, Ethylhexyl Palmitate, Octyldodecanol, Synthetic Wax, Boron Nitride, Tin Oxide, Phenoxyethanol, Hydrogen Dimethicone, Hydrated Silica, Decylene Glycol, Triethoxycaprylylsilane, PTFE, Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891).

Disclaimer: Ingredient lists are as available by the brand (or retailer) at the time of publishing. Please always check product packaging, if it exists, for the ingredient list applicable to the product you're purchasing, or the brand or retailer's website for the most up-to-date ingredient list.