Huda Beauty 3D Highlighter Palette Review

Ahh, Huda Beauty. The Dubai-based beauty queen is at it again, this time dropping two stunning highlighter palettes to add to her ever increasing collection of beauty essentials - but are they any good?
I've waxed lyrical about her liquid lipsticks - in my opinion, they are some of the best formulas on the current market, comfortable and easy to reapply, the same goes for her lip liners or 'Lip Contours' as she dubs them. I'm also pretty die hard for her Samantha Lashes too, so I had high hopes for the launch of her 3D Highlighting Palette. I opted for the Pink Sands Edition. 

Now, I'll be honest. I wasn't entirely convinced of the 3D highlighting concept. As Huda herself demonstrated on her Insta Stories, she's developed the palettes around a four step highlighting principle:
1. First you PREP with a cream highlighting base
2. Next you SET with the lightest shade to really bring out the glow and lock the cream base in place
3. Then you SCULPT using a darker highlighting powder underneath the cheekbones to add dimension
4 Finally, you FLUSH with a pink-toned blusher shade

I wasn't sure if the whole concept was genius or a tad gimmicky. She's not the first beauty blogger to endorse using a powder highlighter over a luminous cream base to bring out a more intense glow so I was intrigued to see how her palette performed once all the steps were followed.
Here's my face without any highlighter or contour:

Here it is after using the Pink Sands Edition Palette... FYI, I have scary brows right now!

So here's my thoughts:
Firstly, I think the powders are really pretty swatched. They're very finely milled and have a beautifully soft texture that blends out well. Applied with a natural fibre brush, the highlighters aren't as intense as I anticipated them to be, which I don't necessarily mind, but it's something to consider if you like your glow to bounce off Jupiter. Santorini is the lightest powder in the Pink Sands palette and it has a subtle gold shift to it which works really well with my skin tone. Ibiza, the blusher shade is also stunning. It reminds me a lot of one of my all-time favourite MAC blusher shades, New Romance and sparks all the same wonderful feelings of joy. 
Okay, so here's where it gets confusing. 
Capri, the cream highlighting shade. It's a champagne-beige-toned glossy highlight. I don't know if it's because I live in Duabi and well, it's hotter than hell outside currently but the formula itself is very 'wet'. You only need the slightest touch to pick up ample product on your fingertips. Now I don't know if it's just my usual aversion to cream highlighters speaking, but I don't love the way this sits on my skin. It heavily emphasises texture and pores and doesn't give the flawless finish that I'd like. Layering the powders over the top just leaves everything looking choppy and so I've been forgoing the cream step altogther. 
I also don't really understand the inclusion of the 'Sculpt' shade, Azores. Whilst yes, it's a gorgeous pale gold highlight, putting it underneath my cheekbones feels weird - and involves adding way more shimmer to my face than I currently feel comfortable doing. Maybe that's the reason why they're not as intense as I'd anticipated! And then on top of all that, I don't think this palette alone is enough to give me the sculpted cheeks of a Victoria's Secret Angel so I still have to go in with a contour powder to chisel out what my mamma never gave me... and five steps later I'm wondering what happened to the good old days when you didn't need an hour to fake what 10 minutes standing out in the Dubai sun can offer you for free?
Maybe I'm just being cynical but for me, it's four steps too many. I can't be bothered. Plus, at AED 250 or roughly £50 a palette, I honestly don't think it's all that necessary. Yes, the powders are nice and yes, the packaging makes my ovaries tingle but unless you're an absolute highlighting palette junkie or you don't have anything similar to the shades on offer, I'd give this one a miss. 
Sorry Huda... I'll just stick to stockpiling your lipsticks instead.