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We tried GloWish, the new beauty brand from Huda Kattan – this is what we thought

Worlds away from Huda Beauty’s signature full coverage products, the new line focuses on natural finishes

Louise Whitbread
Tuesday 01 June 2021 08:36 BST
The brand is launching with a dewy skin tint and a powder bronzer
The brand is launching with a dewy skin tint and a powder bronzer (The Independent )
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Since 2013, Dubai-based make-up artist and blogger Huda Kattan has made her mark on the beauty sphere with her eponymous brand, Huda Beauty, followed by a fragrance brand Kayali in 2018 and skincare label Wishful in 2020.

Known for her glamorous make-up looks, with full coverage foundation, contouring, big lashes and bold eyeshadows being synonymous with Huda Beauty, the MUA recently unveiled her newest venture, GloWish.

The beauty mogul’s new collection launched on 1 June with just two products – a skin tint and a bronzing powder – and is all about embracing your natural skin, which is world’s away from Huda Beauty’s branding. It stems from Kattan’s own evolving relationship with make-up as since 2020, she has begun gravitating towards skincare and focusing less on high-glam looks. GloWish aims to be a beauty brand with a more natural approach that lets your skin shine through, instead of covering it all with full-coverage make-up.

While there’s just two products for now, it will be expanding, and according to Kattan, each new launch will be vegan-friendly, fragrance-free and made with a minimum of 80 per cent naturally derived ingredients.

We put the debuting brand through its paces to see how it differs from Huda Beauty and how well each product performs, rating them on staying power, texture, consistency and finish. This is our verdict.

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GloWish multi-dew skin tint

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This complexion-enhancing product promises a radiant glow to brighten, soften, and subtly smooth, and can be worn alone or added to your foundation for a luminous boost to your base. There are 13 shades to choose from, which are described as stretchable, ranging from fair to deep skin tones.

The formula is vegan-friendly and packaged in a container made from post-consumer recycled material. It’s infused with Damascus rose oil, red bell pepper extract, and squalane, which, when combined, work to lock in moisture and clarify your complexion. It’s part of GloWish’s aim to be a hybrid between skincare and make-up so you can have a flawless looking, but not heavy base that will benefit your skin as you wear it.

The formula is housed in a translucent tube with a pump applicator, which is helpful to see when you’re running out. The texture is thicker than we expected, and we found it’s better applied with a brush than with your fingers for an even finish.

The coverage is medium, so it sufficiently covers blemishes and concealed redness, while allowing your skin to shine through beneath it as promised. It did a lovely job of evening out our skin tone and we only added a small amount of concealer to brighten our under-eye bags.

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Throughout the day, our skin looked glowy and bright, but without the cakiness or heavy feeling that can sometimes come with full coverage foundations. It lasted well, though if you’re wearing a face covering, touch-ups on the nose and around the mouth will be needed.

In all honesty, it feels more like a lighter foundation than what we’re used to seeing from Huda Beauty, but it’s not as lightweight as other similar base products we’ve tried.

That said, if you want a glowy base that isn’t full coverage, this is a good choice that lasts well, leaves skin looking fresh and noticeably softer once applied. You also get 5ml more than the OG Huda Beauty #FauxFilter luminous matte liquid foundation (£34, Cultbeauty.co.uk), despite the tube feeling much more compact and travel-friendly.

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GloWish soft radiance bronzing powder

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As soon as we opened the bronzing powder, it was clear Kattan had taken inspiration from many of her famous eyeshadow palettes, as the swirling light, medium, and deep tones in the circular compact look just like a larger version of the Huda Beauty eyeshadows.

When we took our brush to it there was zero fallout, which is immediately impressive, and the marbled pigment swirl in the pan allows you to customise what you apply. For example, during winter when we’re paler, you can use the lighter sections and vice versa for when you have a tan.

It’s very sheer, but buildable, which is worlds away from the full impact, super high coverage we’re used to seeing from Huda Beauty products. As a result, it does take longer to build up colour and add warmth than a cream-based formula would.

Read more: 10 best lightweight foundations for all skin types

This isn’t a bad thing however, there’s a lot to be said for buildable colour products that contain less pigment as it allows you to gradually apply the perfect amount for your skin tone, and most importantly, easily correct any mistakes with a clean, fluffy brush to blend it out.

There are five shades to choose from and while this isn’t a bronzer for everyone, if you’re keen to warm up your complexion but find contouring or lots of blending intimidating or too time-consuming, this is a fuss-free powder product to have on your radar.

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The verdict: GloWish

Pleasant, easy to use with a buildable colour payoff, the first products launched with GloWish would make a nice addition to your make-up bag if you’re keen to keep your routine lightweight, glowy and fuss-free to use. While for the price, we would like to see a bit more luxury in the packaging, both of the debut products are ideal for post-lockdown, summer make-up routines, where you may be favouring a more pared-back approach.

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