Dior V Hourglass: Which face palette is best for all-out glow?

Getting that dewy, supermodel “just got back from holiday” look has been something of a holy grail for lots of us.

And now there are so many highlighters and palettes out there promising to give you that inner glow, that it can be hard to know just which one to plump for. 

We’ve put two high-end palettes head to head to see which came up top in the glow stakes. One is a recently launched number from Hourglass, while the other is Dior, and both contain four powders designed to give you that sculpted, sun-kissed look.

While both palettes are on the luxury end of the beauty scale, there is a £21 price difference between the two, with Dior’s costing £36 and Hourglass’s a heftier £57. Both compacts offer similar powder formulas inside and claim to deliver the same results, so we were keen to put them to the test.

Even if you don’t know much about make-up, you’ve probably heard of Dior. The French fashion house was founded by Christian Dior in 1946, originally producing perfume and clothing before entering the world of beauty.

Its “five couleurs” eyeshadow palettes are particularly renowned by make-up fans, and now it’s making waves with its "backstage: collection, which includes this face palette in a number of colour stories, as well as more eyeshadows.

Hourglass is a relatively new kid on the block, originally launching in Barneys, New York, in 2004. It prides itself particularly on the fact it’s cruelty free: five per cent of every sale of these helps to save caged animals via the Nonhuman Rights Project.

It has become best known for its ambient lighting powders, which are featured in this palette. The brand releases new “unlocked” palettes every few months, usually featuring six shades, but we’re looking at its mini edit, which came out just in time for the holiday season.

We’ve been wearing both of these (not at the same time!) over the past few weeks, testing them out so we can help you decide which to go for if you're torn between the two. Or maybe you have a Dior palette like this already and are wondering whether to splurge on the Hourglass one too. Read on for our verdict.

You can trust our independent reviews. We may earn commission from some of the retailers, but we never allow this to influence selections, which are formed from real-world testing and expert advice. This revenue helps us to fund journalism across The Independent.

Dior’s “glitz” offering (10g) has been designed as a multi-use illuminating palette. It features four colours: two highlights, a bronze shade and a peachy holographic shade for cheeks (or to be used all over as it’s rather pale as a blusher). 

The formulas are the same for all shades, though the two top pans, which are highlighters, have some glitter chunks in them. Packaging-wise, if you were hoping for a mirror, you’ll be disappointed. The lid is transparent so you can see the gorgeous powders inside, and Dior’s name is embossed on top.

Both bottom shades (the bronze and the pale peach holographic “blusher”) blend easily and are super-soft. Be aware that the slight sparkle in the top highlight shades means these can draw attention a little to imperfections on the skin.  

You can use this palette in a number of ways, putting the different colours in particular places or swirling all of them together with a big brush and covering your entire face. We’ve also used the bronze as an eyeshadow which is a really nice way of ensuring your make-up comes together in tone. Wear time was good and, with a primer, it still looked pretty much unchanged after 10 hours.

If you’re not sure about this particular palette, Dior has three other versions: one (simply called 01) with a darker bronzer and plum blush, which we think would work well on darker skin tones, a rose gold option with three pale-ish pinks and a metallic peach, and its latest, “pure gold”, which includes a yellow gold and platinum gold with metallic finishes and two warm golds with a shimmer finish.

One more thing to note: the bronze shade isn’t too dark in this “glitz” palette, but it does have a sheen. If you’re worried about looking too shiny all over, you may want to use a regular matte bronzer underneath and pop this lightly on top so it’s not quite as dazzling. 

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This latest Hourglass palette (5.6g) features four colours: a highlighter, bronzer, blusher and setting powder. Each powder has a set purpose with this palette, as it’s been designed as more of a "sculpting” compact than Dior’s “glitz” offering (or its other three).

We were originally tempted to go for the new, larger six-shade palette from Hourglass, but at £81 for that one, decided to save some pennies and stick to the mini. The packaging is sensational: chunky and gold with an excellent quality mirror. If you don’t like finger marks on your make-up compacts though, keep in mind you’ll be cleaning this constantly.  

The blusher looks dark in the pan but can be built up gradually, so it’s possible to do subtle. The bronzer has enough depth for light to medium skin tones, but it has been a criticism of Hourglass that its palettes don’t work for darker tones, and we think that applies to this one.

That said, the quality of the formula is as exceptional as ever from Hourglass: the highlighter has more impact than some from its earlier palettes and melts as though it’s a cream when it’s on.

We’ve been using this for no make-up days when we’re not going anywhere but fancy a flush of colour to keep us looking healthy. It’s so easy to use you really can’t overdo it because the powder is so finely milled and soft, and we love the fact there’s a setting powder here too for a quick but “done” look. We use this after the bronze and blusher but before the highlighter, to keep the latter’s glow full max.

We can safely say that both these palettes will give you buildable glow in a jiffy. They’re of a quality we’ve come to expect from Dior and Hourglass respectively, and while we know you can buy cheaper, if you are looking to treat yourself to a top-end beauty grab, we love them both.

If we had to opt for one though, we’d say Hourglass tips the balance. While it probably doesn't work as well as Dior with the “use a big brush and swirl them all together” technique, it’s so easy to sculpt with the different shades that it’s worth a little more effort and a few more brushes.

We also really like the slightly “domed” pans with Hourglass which seem to make them mishap-free: we’ve dropped this one a couple of times (gulp!) and there’ s no hint of cracking, breaking or even flaking.

That, plus the mirror is a big added bonus, and the fact you’re giving back to charity when you buy makes this our winner.  

For more beauty inspiration, read our guides to the best gift sets for under £50 or the best make-up brushes for flawless application