Dior Amber Diamond Shimmer Star Review with Photos & Swatches!

Dior Amber Diamond Shimmer Star

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION: A light-filled pressed powder enriched with Jeweled Microdust™. These five micro-shimmering tones set off sparks of brilliance, highlighting your complexion. The ultra-fine, super-blendable formula virtually fuses with your skin for a sheer, radiant luminosity. (SEPHORA)

Dior Diorskin Shimmer Star is available in two shades: Amber Diamond and Rose Diamond. They are both highlighting shades, but because Rose Diamond contains pink tones, it can also be considered a blush.

Amber Diamond contains five stripes of warm frosty shades: An ivory with golden-yellow frost, champagne, tan, bronze and golden peach. When all of the shades are swirled together, it creates a beautiful warm, champagne/tan glow.

I tried comparing it to other highlighters of mine, but it's actually very different than anything I own. The only thing I could compare is the first strip of color is almost identical to Nars Albatross or MAC Vanilla Pigment. From the looks of it, it may be comparable to Physician's Formula Shimmer Strips or Bobbi Brown Shimmerbrick, but from swatches I've seen, Amber Diamond seems a little less frosty & subtle. To be honest, at first I figured this highlighter was overrated. To me, it didn't look like anything special I should go run out and buy - but after trying it, I see what all of the hype is about. It is frosty - but when applied to the cheeks, it's so subtle and it almost becomes one with your skin. It's easy to blend and gives the prettiest glow that's not overpowering. (No disco ball, here!)

Yesterday my Mom had asked me what I have on my cheeks that's so glowy, so I handed her the highlighter to test out herself and she loved it. Right after, we went grocery shopping and this woman stopped us in the middle of the aisle and was like "Is this your daughter!?" Caught completely off guard, we nodded and smiled politely, and she was like "No wonder! She has your glowing skin!" She actually went on for a couple minutes and mentioned how nice it must be to go to Wal-mart and get complimented. As we walked off, I mentioned to my Mom that it must be the Dior. It was kinda funny.

Here is Amber Diamond swatched on my hand. As you can see, it's nothing over powering or too frosty.

Here are all of the shades swatched individually.

The lightest shade in Amber Diamond is exactly like Nars Albatross (color-wise). Left: Dior Amber Diamond, Right: Nars Albatross 

You can that Albatross is a bit more powdery and has more of a white cast than the similar shade in Amber Diamond.

PROS: It's not too frosty, blends easily, doesn't make my skin look dirty (some frosty highlighters do!) and looks very natural! Also, I think it would be well suited for any skintone!

CONS: I can't really think of any, other than it doesn't include a brush (not a big deal) and it's a bit expensive ($44 for .35 oz). If you think about it though, a Nars blush is .16 oz for $27 and MAC is .21 oz for $19.50. So, it's a little more expensive than MAC, but less expensive than Nars in the long run. It's all up to you if it's worth the splurge!

OVERALL: It's my favorite highlighter to date! I would definitely recommend checking it out while you're at Sephora or your local Dior counter.

Know any dupes? Let me know in the comments below!