Guerlain Terra Ora Sculpting Powder Contrast Highlighter


The star of Guerlain's Summer 2013 Collection comes in a real wooden case. The name and the signature of Guerlain are carved by golden letters, fitting to how it is called, Terra Ora. 

Wooden compact of Guerlain Terra Ora Sculpting Powder Contrast Highlighter

To open it, one has to twist the upper part gently so that three small magnets holding upper and lower part together loosens to reveal one of the most breathtaking powders I have seen this season.


Guerlain Terra Ora Sculpting Powder Contrast Highlighter, once opened

This post is forcing me to put thousands of photos, showing how excited I am about the design of Terra Ora Compact. It reminds me how badly we got used to plastic packaging and forgot how such a neutral design can be so appealing and effortlessly chic. The upper part hosts a mirror for the touch ups on the go and the powder.... *happy sigh*...


Guerlain Terra Ora Sculpting Powder Contrast Highlighter, the mirror (up) and the powder (down)

The sun is chained down in this powder and the big G must be indicating that this can only be done by Guerlain. Look closely at how elegantly each chain gets separated from the anothers as the circumference increases and tell me this is not a work of art...


Gorgeous design of Guerlain Terra Ora Sculpting Powder Contrast Highlighter

Alright, after everyone heard enough about how I will probably never be able to use this beauty by fear of loosing the design, I still owe you a review, so here it goes. After I ran my fingers on the extremely finely milled surface of this out-of-earth bronzer/highlighter, its golden and peachy shades reminded me of Armani's Face&Eye Compact, which was reviewed here. So I took it out to shoot some comparison photos.


Guerlain Terra Ora Sculpting Powder Contrast Highlighter side by side with Armani Face & Eye Palette Summer 2013

Top tier of Armani's palette which is a highlighter/bronzer is similar to the outer ring of Guerlain's Terra Ora. Armani is just a tad more orange and Guerlain is leaning slightly more red. The inner Ring of Terra Ora is a gorgeous golden shade which is rather satin than shimmery. This compact does not have a matte shade. I think a slightly darker matte shade would make it much more versatile, nevertheless it does work wonders as highlighter on me. But before we come to that, I would like to point out that once inner and outer shades are mixed, the result comes close to the peachy eye shadow shade at lower tier of Armani's palette. As one would expect, Terra Ora is sheerer than Armani's eye shadows though so to get the same effect (such as the swatches below) one has to swipe eye shadow of Armani once and Terra Ora several times. 


Swatches of Guerlain Terra Ora compact and comparison to Armani F&E Summer 2013 Palette

I applied Terra Ora combined with Guerlain's Fard Metal loose powder in Cuivre Ora on eyes, reviewed here. Terra Ora gives a subtle from within glow, not over the top but surely noticeable. For the photos below I used it alone. Combining it with a Terracotta bronzer, ( shade 03 reviewed here), also gives good results since those are matte. I found the outer ring of Terra Ora to be too light for my NC 20-25 skin for contouring, thus for me it is a highlighter and contributes to sculpting in only this way. If you are very pale, having NC10ish skin, the outer ring may show up more and can really used for sculpting but even then I would recommend combining it with a matte bronzer for the best effect. As you can see in the photos below, the powder does accentuate my cheek bone by highlighting the upper part, even when used alone. Unfortunately I have to report that it also highlights some of the pores slightly, even though ( I was thinking that) I don't have many, check out around the nose...


Guerlain Terra Ora in action

Final thoughts: This must be one of the prettiest designs I came across this season. It is quiet expensive too so it has to be mentioned that it doesn't provide much versatility starting from light medium (NC20-25) complexions. It is a gorgeous highlighter though, so if you already got your Terra Cotta and if you want to add some oomph to that for special occasions, it is a product that you can consider investing for. Terra Ora is limited edition, contains 16 g / .56 OZ and retails for 57 EUR / 72$. 

What do you think about Terra Ora? Worth the splurge or just an expensive adventure?

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18 comments

  1. Holy cheekbones Sara! I looove it on your skin,it makes quite a difference! Quite a msart idea to use it on the eyes too, it a great combo with your eyecolour ^^. This is without a duibt the most stunning powder of the year!

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    1. LOL! Thanks Teri, I love it, just have to make sure not to bring it close to my nose to the center of my face, as it slightly accentuates my pores, but I think most highlighters would do that. Design on this one is breath taking.

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  2. That is incredible looking. Guerlain really makes some drool-worthy bronzers.

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    1. Thanks Belly, I think Guerlain is the true Brinzer Master ;-)

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  3. It's so pretty!!!! It looks lovely on you Sara! I swatched this last week but didn't get it. I have so many highlighters and it was a bit too warm for me. :( But boy, was it smooth!

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    1. It is really smooth yes, oh and Tracy, you really have an army of bronzers and highlighters! ;-) I unfortunately ordered it sight unseen (before it hit the stores) and after seeing how close it is to Armani's face&eye I was a bit disappointed. Both of them are gorgeous but a girl doesn't need them both i suppose.

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  4. Bezaubernd und reich - wahnsinnig schön...

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    1. Das ist wirklich sehr schoen, fast zu schoen um es zu benutzen ;-)

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  5. Absolutely stunning! I need a matter bronzer like this

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    1. Thanks, it is rather shimmery than matte but in a nice elegant way.

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  6. Would you use this as an all over face glow or is it too orange?

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    1. Hi,
      I think it can be used as an all over face glow, which would be one of the best ways to use this product. It isn't orange on my skin (I am NC 20-25 with neutral undertones).

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  7. Perfect!! I was debating between this powder, hourglass radiant light or the limited edition Mac golden elixir strobe liquid. As you can tell I love my JLo Glow!! Haha! What do you think?

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    1. This would definitely give a JLo Glow ;-) but since I haven't tried the others, it is hard for me to help you. Maybe you should consider if you like liquid or powder first. I like powder highlighters more and this one definitely gives a glow which is definitely hard to miss but does it in a nice elegant way.

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  8. Thank you so much. I appreciate the quick response. Hmmm.. I do like to set my foundation so maybe I should consider this as a last step instead of the liquid.

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    1. This is exactly why I like powder products because for me highlighter is the last step after setting and blusher. Some still tap some liquid highlighter in top though.

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  9. After reading your blog I made my purchase from beauty-enhancement.com and it's truly beautiful. Finishes off your makeup perfectly. Thanks for the tip off Sarah xx

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    1. I am so happy you liked it, it is truly an exceptional highlighter/ all over Bronzer. Have fun!

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