The Urban Decay X Kristen Leanne Collection Beauty Beam Palette

Every time I open the $34 UD X Kristen Leanne Beauty Beam Highlight Palette and see the words “STAY GOLD” there in the corner, I think back to a phase I went through in high school when I would sign all of my letters — this was back before email and text, when we actually had to write things down on paper like animals — with the phrase, “Stay gold, Ponyboy,” hearkening to the book, The Outsiders…

I’m sure a lot of other people also did that… Right? LOL!

From what I understand, one of Kristen’s catchphrases is “Stay Gold,” and now those words are here, immortalized forever in this trio of face highlighters from her new LE UD collection.

All three of these powder highlighters are different shades of shimmery gold. There’s a rose gold on the left, which looks a little like BECCA Rose Gold highlighter from the Chrissy Teigan palette — a palette which, to this day, makes me clutch my pearls. I still love it so much.

And then there’s the highlighter in the middle, a white golden pearl with a BECCA Opal vibe, and the one on the right, a warm golden pearl similar to Now’s the Time highlighter from the UD Jean-Michel Basquiat collection.

Assuming you like to wear gold (I do!), caution is still advised with these colors because they seem to apply, at least on my skin, much lighter than they look in the pans.

Like, I went right in with my highlighting brush and the white gold in the center, and put it all over my upper cheekbones, thinking I’d be able to pull it off on my warm skin, but it looks almost chalky and stark.

It’s a very pale white gold…

Now that I think about it, all three shades are on the pale side, so that’s just something to think about it if you’re contemplating this palette.

I think they’re still very pretty. I just think they might cater more to lighter lasses.

UD’s hallmark quality is there, of course. The powders are fabulously soft, creamy, easy to blend (much like a BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector), and they’re perfectly shiny (i.e., they stop well short of disco glitter territory). Basically, they’re classy, like timeless gold hoops.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen