Pat McGrath Skin Fetish 003 vs Voltage by Makeup Geek

So I got the highly anticipated Pat McGrath Skin Fetish 003. I got mine in Fine Gold because the other one was pink and I don't care for pink highlighters. So the set comes with like a thousand sequins or so and a brush which is super soft, a double ended highlight stick which is a colorless balm and then a gold cream highlighter on the other end. The pigment is a golden duo chrome. 

So you can wear this at least three ways probably more. 
you can use the pigment on it's own
you can use the balm + pigment over it
you can use the highlight + balm + pigment

The balm I feel can also be applied alone for a "wet" look.

This isn't just for cheeks but anywhere you want that highlight to "pop."

 Above we have from left to right:
balm + pigment
highlight + balm + pigment
pigment alone

So this is a great set no doubt about that. It's $72 and that's expensive. So I done a little test. I noticed that the balm was very similar in consistency to lip balm that is super slippery like in a squeeze tube. Nothing too waxy or with menthol. I'm not telling you to go out and do this, but I tried it on myself. You could easily use a face balm or cream highlighter. 

The pigment I noticed was very similar to Makeup Geek Voltage eyeshadow. So in the pic above is the PM balm + pigment in Fine Gold on the left and then lip balm + MUG Voltage on the right. 

The picture below is side by side comparison's of both the shadow and the skin fetish pigment.  

So let me get this out before everyone assumes I'm bashing this. The Pat McGrath set is bomb. It's got a nice brush, the double ended highlighter/balm combo is very cool and very good quality. The balm is an amazing base obviously and keeps your highlight intense through out the day. The pigment is of course beautiful. She does a great job with pigments as always. The brush I don't care for that much. I don't feel like it does any better than my Morphe highlight brush which I think is the M501 if I'm not mistaken, and I prefer the Morphe one to this one actually. The golden cream highlight makes this pigment darker so my women of color are gonna look gorgeous in this. That's the one up that this does have. I do think you could find a golden cream highlight for cheap as well. I know Wet n Wild just released some cream stick highlighters and the Benefit Watt's Up would probably work fine too if you already have that on hand.

Like I said, this set is awesome but it's $72 and knowing that Voltage which is $6 from Makeup Geek is very very similar... that makes it a really good cheaper alternative if you need one. I'm not saying one is better over the other, I'm just saying if you could find a cream base/balm to put under Voltage you would have the same effect and look. 

So there ya go. Take it or leave it.