Florida is known as the ‘Sunshine State’.  Little did I know Guerlain had managed to press it into a compact and have it waiting for me on my trip to Disney World this past Easter.

Guerlain’s Terracotta Sun In The City Golden Illuminating powder–sun in a compact

I had no intention of buying this product.  That all changed with the MUA at the Guerlain boutique in the France pavilion at EPCOT swiped it on my skin once and raved at how it looked on me.  I was about to tell her she was blowing smoke up my skirt but one look in the mirror and I was floored.

And so I bought it.

Close up–the imprinting on this compact is insanely detailed.

Part of Guerlain’s Summer 2012 collection, the Sun In The City golden glimmer powder is a shiny addition to the Terracotta bronzing line this luxury brand is famous for. Weighing in at a hefty 15 grams (.52 oz) it comes in a plastic mirrored compact imprinted with the words ‘Terracotta’ on top and is about the size of an adult’s palm.  As with other memorable Guerlain pressed powders it has an imprint on it designed to impress.  Sun In The City has a gorgeous wavy imprint that makes it look like gold weaving in the wind.  It almost makes you not want to use the highlighter so you don’t mess up the pattern but trust me, you’ll get over it.  You need very little to get a rich brush of gold on your skin.

Closer shot of Sun In The City highlighter on my cheeks and nose bridge. Brings warmth and definition to dark skin.

The reason I love highlighters so much is because you can use them so many ways.  I like to use them to highlight the bridge of my nose, under my browbone and to emphasize my cheekbones before applying blush.  And of course there is the most common and alluring way to use a highlighter—to emphasize the tops of ones cleavage/décolleté.

Sun In The City highlighter on my cheeks (under Chanel Joues Rouge Contraste blush in Malice) and on the bridge of my nose.

As compared to two of my other favorite highlighters, Guerlain’s Sun In The City highlighter is more golden than theBalm’s Mary LouManizer and not at all pink and iridescent like Guerlain’s Cruel Gardenia released this past Spring.  I don’t own the Bobbi Brown Gold Shimmer Cheek Glow but it does look similiar to Sun In The City.  According to Temptalia.com, Guerlain’s highlighter is more opaque which is good for olive to dark skin. If you are fair to medium-skinned and price is an issue, I think you could use the Bobbi Brown gold shimmer cheek glow as a suitable dupe.

Highlighter comparison swatches from top: Guerlain’s Cruel Gardenia, Guerlain Sun In The City, theBalm Mary LouManizer (with Flash)

For those with deep to dark skin you need to be careful to choose a highlighter that is translucent enough to give you a glow and not look ashy.  Guerlain’s new highlighter, as with all of their highlighters I’ve tried, does this and more.  Try blending it with their Terracotta bronzer in #3 (yellow undertones), #4 (red undertones like mine) or #8 (all ebony skintones) to deepen the gorgeous warmth of dark skin.  The effect is similar to combining theBalm’s Mary LouManizer and Betty LouManizer but more opaque and richer color.

Guerlain’s Terracotta Sun In The City highlighting powder is great on dark skin!

At $70 the price for Guerlain’s Sun In The City  is steep however, there is more product than in Cruel Gardenia or Meteorites perles.  Because of its pigmentation and neutral coloring, and it’s manufacture in Italy (the best pressed powders seem to come from there) there is definitely value in this luxury product.  Unlike with Cruel Gardenia and Meteorites I didn’t notice the trademark violet scent.  This was somewhat dissappointing to me as I love the smell of violets synonymous with Guerlain products.

Sun in the City Illuminator is a limited edition item and is available at Nordstrom.com, Sephora.com and in freestanding Bloomingdales and Neiman Marcus stores.

Another shot of Guerlain’s Sun In The City highlighter (w/ flash

Guerlain Sun In The City Higlighter–heavily swatched and sheered out (w/ flash)

Highlighter comparison swatches from top: Guerlain’s Cruel Gardenia, Guerlain Sun In The City, theBalm Mary LouManizer (without flash)

HIghlighter comparisons from left: Without flash, with flash.

Gorgeous Guerlain Golden Goodness