After the most adorable lipstick last week, we'll keep exploring Guerlain's spring 2018 makeup collection today with their new face trio, the Météorites Heart Shape, described as a "strobing palette, blush and luminizer powder".

The Heart Shape palette comes in a round compact with a pink lid decorated with pink and silver hearts, and a large mirror on the inside. The powder is divided into three sections of three different shades and finishes, with the Guerlain logo in the center. The brand has used this same design before for their Terracotta Sun Trio bronzers. It also features Guerlain's signature violent scent, used for the whole Météorites line.


This palette contains the following shades: two blushes (according to Guerlain), a pale peachy pink with a matte finish and a very pale iridescent pink; a beige highlighter with subtle shimmer. Before I tell you how this little palette works for me, I need to share the brand's description: "an ideal strobing palette to sculpt and refine the face into a V-shape inspired by Korean contouring. In a single compact, three contrasting shades of powder — two blushes and one highlighter — come together to luminously sculpt the complexion and redefine the facial contours into a heart shape. A dark pink shade to bring out the cheekbones, an iridescent pink shade applied to the hairline, and a pearly beige tone to refine the nose and highlight lips."

The one thing to remember from this description is that this palette is inspired by Korean makeup. It means that it's supposed to deliver a subtle result - if you thought that the words "strobing" and "sculpting" hinted at a palette made to create a US-style contoured look with strong highlight, you'd be extremely disappointed. This is definitely not what the Météorites Heart Shape can deliver, and I think Guerlain created some confusion with the name of this product and how they marketed it.

The whole "heart shape" aspect is also completely lost on me. There is an insert inside the lid that shows where you should apply which shade to achieve this look, but I fail to see a heart here. Maybe an inverted teardrop? Anyways, it doesn't matter much, because the three shades are so subtle that they simply can't sculpt anything.


The top left shade is very pale and barely shows up on my complexion. I've used some pale pinks before that do add a nice rosy flush to my skin (like Benefit Dandelion), but I need to keep layering this one before I see a very sheer veil of pink. I think it's only usable as a blush for the fairest of skin tones. It is very finely milled, and for me it is best used as an all-over powder to add a very subtle rosiness to the complexion. Used this way, it makes my skin look more fresh and it corrects sallowness.

The top right shade is so pale that I don't know what Guerlain was thinking when calling it a blush. It's basically an icy pink with shimmer that only works as a highlighter. And it's a pretty nice highlighter on me, as it creates a beautiful glow rather than a strong metallic finish.

The bottom shade is supposed to be a highlighter. It is a slightly rosy beige that has the most subtle shimmer. Honestly you can't use it to highlight - and I'm saying that as a person who likes a very natural soft glow. This is just not a highlighter, but more of a luminizing finishing powder. Used as such, all over or just in the center of the face, it adds a bit of radiance and brightens the skin.

I've just spent the last three paragraphs telling you that none of the shades work as advertised, and you must be thinking that this is truly a terrible palette. And yet, I quite like it!


Here's the thing: in order to appreciate it you have to completely disregard Guerlain's description, and focus on the fact that it's a compact version of the Météorites. The Météorites pearls of powder, part of the permanent range, are a finishing powder that softly corrects the complexion and imparts subtle radiance and luminosity to the skin.

This is exactly what this Heart Shape palette can do. Forget the sculpting and the strobing, this is a rosy illuminating finishing powder, with a "slice" on the upper right that can be used as a muted highlighter. The other two shades can be used mixed together all over the face, or separately: the pink for a touch of sheer rosiness and color correction, the beige to brighten. Once you understand that it's a finishing powder, you can actually enjoy the effect!

Using it this way, I do love how it makes my skin look. It gives me a healthy dose of radiance when my skin is dull, and it adds luminosity to any matte foundation. Just like the regular Météorites really, with the bonus of a more visible highlighter on the top right. And just like the Météorites, it's basically impossible to capture its effect on camera. It looks too subtle and natural to be visible in a photo - even swatches are basically invisible on the skin.

I do really like the effect that the Météorites Heart Shape palette leaves on my skin, but I think that Guerlain did a terrible job at describing and marketing it. It's almost as if the creative team came up with this beautiful rosy Météorites compact version, but then the marketing team decided to use trendy keywords such as strobing, sculpting and shaping to promote it. Do not buy it if you are looking for a palette to contour and strobe, you would feel completely let down, especially for $63. On the other hand, if you are a fan of the classic Météorites, you might absolutely love the luminous, radiant result when used as a finishing powder.



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