The comparisons have to be made don’t they? At just £3.50 for the pale gold E.L.F Gotta Glow compared to £19.50 for NARS iconic Albatross highlighting powder… who isn’t hoping for a remarkable dupe?
The NARS on the left.. E.L.F’s Gotta Glow, on the right.
I’m not gonna talk about the differences in packaging. They’re there… NARS is annoying and icky sticky, E.L.F’s is sleeker but hella cheaper looking. Do you *really* care? I don’t.
But what about the product?
E.L.F’s Gotta Glow is slightly more yellow toned in appearance and the gold shimmer is less refined looking in the pan… chunkier. This is pretty much what I expected. On close inspection, you can see a visual difference in quality.
The texture? Again… this lives up to expectations.
NARS Albatross is smooth and very finely milled… there’s no flaking when you brush the surface of the pan and no fall out upon application. The E.L.F version can’t claim the same. It’s powdery and there is fall out if you don’t give your brush a tap off before applying.
But how about this? Please look past the hairy arms… I have enough hair elsewhere on my body to frankly give a crap about hairy forearms.
That’s pretty simillar no?
Take a guess before reading on… which one costs £3.50 and which one costs £19.50? I’d love for you to tell me if you got it right in the comments…
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Ready to find out?
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Sure?
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Oh ok… Well… E.L.F’s Gotta Glow is on the left and NARS Albatross is on the right. I think that I can tell the difference between the swatches… the E.L.F one looks slightly less pigmented and a bit ‘chunkier’. But is that *really* a £16 difference? Not when you take into consideration that once applied and blended… I truly struggle to tell the difference on my face at all.
Before I get really excited though… there is one point to note that although not an issue for my skintone, may make ALL the difference on someone else. I see a slight ashiness with the E.L.F incarnation that I’m not seeing with the NARS original. It’s only noticeable when I swatch on my fingertip… but I’m thinking that on a darker skintone, the E.L.F Gotta Glow may leave a slight white cast along with the golden sheen.
Has anyone tried it with a darker skintone than mine? How are you finding E.L.F’s new Gotta Glow highlighting powder?
E.L.F Gotta Glow is available online and priced at £3.50 – a bargain if ever I saw one.
Wow, Impressive.. I thought the swatches were the other way around. I wanna check this out xx
Thanks for this. Had been looking to buy this for ages but thought, why? Won’t it just make me all shimmery and glittery? For £3.50 I’ll take the plunge.
I got it right 🙂
Pretty simillar though and the slight difference isn’t worth £16 to me.
Impressive!! 🙂 Thanks for the swatches! 🙂
I have the ELF version, unaware that it was a Nars dupe- I just wanted a nice highlighter for my super pale skin! I have yet to try it though, because frankly, I was a bit bummed at the gold tone (which, on my skin, looks gold, not highlighting.) I’d be intersted to hear how this looks on deep skin-I’ll try it myself as soon as I get the chance!
I thought it was the opposite. gosh, the ELF one looks better to me.
Wow! Surprisingly I got it right! I have been wanting to get the ELF powder for a while! I think I just might do it now.
BTW, you’re too funny about “Please look past the hairy arms”- anytime I do swatches, I always think “OMG, people are gonna look at my hairy arms!”
WoW! great review I have the ELF one on my wish list x
I could tell the differences in the swatches based on quality but I think once blended the elf would work really nicely. Especially as I don’t think I could justify spending that much on the NARS version. Love your blog, one of the highlights of my day!
Wow, that’s impressive! Thanks for letting us know!
ELF’s is chunkier and slightly more gold but good enough! You could buy a different NARS blush instead and I do have my eye on Deep Throat…
I guessed right, great comparison 🙂
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Glad I guessed correctly since I only recently shelled out on the Nars. However I’m super happy with it having used the No7 LE shimmer and being dissapointed with it. I may be strange, but I like the Nars packaging, what can I say I must have thing about rubber…
I got it wrong wrong wrong, but then anything with a hint of yellow makes me look yellow. Nice pics. Jan
Yep got it right 🙂
But I’m fairly light so I don’t think I’ll splurge on the NARS.
Great review as always, Charlotte!
Thanks Bernice!
Maybe its time I finally put together my ELF order. I have wanted Albatross for a long time. I am concerned if it will do an ashy thing but but I am sure I can make it work somehow.
If you do get it, please come back and let us know if you had a problem with any ashiness! Good luck xx
yay i guessed correctly! thanks for the comparison!
Oooh, I think for personal use I’d totally go down the ELF road. I have to say though, for my kit and use on shoots, etc I’d have to go the NARS. Just because I need to be quick and have complete confidence in the products I’m using. For that reason I couldn’t go past NARS and the ELF just needs too much work. xxx
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Thank you for the review, great read as always!
Great job, perfect review!