MAC Strobe Cream |Pinklite|Review and Swatches

The MAC Strobe Cream is an iconic product, and thousands have talked about it already. A lot of people swear by this illuminating cream to get a uniform, radiant glow that looks stunning under most lighting conditions. I recently received a mini of the MAC Strobe Cream in the shade Pinklite as a part of a PR package, and the teeny tiny tube gave me more than 10 uses of the product (still going strong), allowing me to test it out in different ways. Without further ado, here is my review of this strobe cream.

The MAC Strobe Cream comes in 5 different shades, each with slightly different undertones, which is clear from the names – Silverlite, Goldlite, Peachlite, Pinklite and Redlite. The formula is in the form of a light-weight cream with tiny shimmer particles running through it, and the cream in itself has a luminescence to it. The shade Pinklite has a pearlescent silver-pink sheen to it with the small shimmer particles adding to the glow under direct light, giving a wet finish without being chunky. While I love the glow that this cream provides, I feel that a warmer shade such as Goldlite or Peachlite would have shown up better on my skin and would have complimented my warm undertones more.

While there are multiple ways to use the cream – under foundation, mixed in with foundation or on top of foundation, I feel that the glow does not show up much when I use the product under foundation, probably because most of my foundations provide medium to full coverage. In my opinion, this cream works the best when mixed in with a dewy foundation or applied on top of a dewy foundation, because it can go on patchy on top of some matte foundations. I feel that the best way to use it is to mix it in with a sheer to medium coverage dewy foundation or cc cream, to get an overall glow on the face. It also works well as an eyeshadow base if you are going for a dewy eye look.

The brand claims that the cream is hydrating and non-acnegenic and is enriched with botanicals to improve the clarity of the skin. I agree with the claims that the cream is moisturising, and yes, I haven’t experienced any breakouts due to this cream. It does contain some skin-loving ingredients such as sodium hyaluronate and green tea extracts, but I personally use so many potent skincare products that it is hard to decipher whether this cream is offering any long-term benefits to my skin, but it will surely not be detrimental to the health of your skin, and it doesn’t seem to have any fragrance either.

The one downside, is, of course, the price – INR 1200 for a 30ml mini and INR 2950 for a full-sized bottle containing 50ml of product. It is obvious that the mini version is a better deal, even though you get a simple tube instead of fancier packaging. Also, I have seen more affordable strobe highlighters in the market (from Sugar Cosmetics, Nykaa, PAC, NYX etc), even though I haven’t tried any yet. I would say that if you are a massive fan of cream highlighters then you can grab the mini or the full-sized version during a sale. For those who prefer powder highlighters anyway, you wouldn’t be missing out on much by giving this one a skip.

Click here to buy the MAC Strobe Cream in the mini version.