Wet ’n’ Wild isn’t readily available in Singapore, so I’d like to think I can be forgiven for only just discovering it. Believe me when I say I’m making up for lost time though, starting with (of course) their extremely popular Reserve Your Cabana highlighter.
Technically labelled a bronzer (who knows why), it shows up as pale pink-champagne on my skin. I liked that there weren’t visible sparkles and was surprised that it had quite a refined sheen for a drugstore product.
Reserve Your Cabana is regularly compared to Hourglass’ Ambient Lighting Powder in Dim Light, but it also reminded me of Kevyn Aucoin’s The Celestial Powder in Candlelight. Candlelight is more than ten times the price and less than 1/4 of the size however, so while setting up to swatch these I was all, “please be different, please be different, OH PLEASE BE DIFFERENT.”
As you can see (click to enlarge), Reserve Your Cabana ended up being less sparkly than Candlelight and more metallic/reflective than Dim Light. But even though the high-end products had better textures, I have to be honest and say that the increase in quality didn’t quite tally with the price difference. So if you can’t justify spending $45 on either Kevyn Aucoin or Hourglass products, buy this. It’s not exactly a dupe for either, but stands on its own as a great product…even before you consider the $4 price tag.
Like Shiseido High Beam White, this sort of falls between a traditional highlighter and a finishing powder in terms of sheen. On my face, the result was a slightly-golden luminosity that was subtle but flattering. With a light hand, I could see this being a good all-over finishing powder if you have the right skin type for it.
In summary: If you like subtle highlighters or are in the market for a luminous finishing powder, I recommend this wholeheartedly…whether or not you’re on a budget. It’s not far behind its high-end cousins in terms of quality and finish, and in my opinion worth way more than it actually costs.
