Highlighters: How to Choose the Perfect One

Highlighters should be applied to areas of the face that naturally catch the light - the cheeks, brow bone, nose, forehead, and corner of your eyes - you don’t want to apply everywhere, or you risk looking like a – disco ball! -. Use your fingertip or a highlighter fan brush to delicately strobe the areas you want to highlight, creating a veil of illumination that catches the light. Don’t be too heavy-handed and remember less is more when it comes to application.

For A Natural Glow: The HOURGLASS Vanish Flash Stick provides an instant flash of light to skin in just a few light strokes. The weightless texture effortlessly blends into the skin for a natural, long-lasting look.

For A Golden Look: To create a subtle golden glow all year round, the BECCA Gradient Sunlit Bronzer offers the perfect blend of multi tonal highlights. It contains ultrafine luminescent pearls that absorb, reflect and refract light to amplify your natural radiance and provide a silky texture to the skin.

For A Unicorn Effect: Our love for unicorn beauty knows no bounds, as this gorgeous TOO FACED Diamond Light Highlighter clearly shows. The sparkling multi coloured powder is designed to illuminate your cheekbones, nose and eyelids with just one sweep for rainbow perfection.

For A Light Dusting: The SEPHORA COLLECTION Sun Disk leaves skin looking naturally sunkissed without appearing overly tanned. Apply with a highlighter brush on the cheekbones and bridge of the nose.

For A Dewy Look: This effect is best achieved by using a stick illuminator, like this Nudestix illumi-naughty Nudies all over the face glow. . With the dual ended application, simply draw directly onto the skin, dab gently with your fingertips or blend with the brush to achieve a naturally soft and dewy glow.

Just like bronzers and blushers, highlighters come in various shimmering shades that will look different depending on the wearer. There are a few basic rules to observe that will help you pick the right highlighter for your skin tone: if you have fair skin, you want to go for a pearlescent highlighter with an almost icy sheen to it; the light pigment will add just the right amount of radiance without washing out your complexion. For those with a medium skin tone, you can afford to go for bronzed highlighters that will give you a hint of a golden glow without looking overly tanned. If you have darker skin, then rich tones of rose gold and bronze will provide a gorgeous contrast to illuminate from within.

Knowing what works for your skin tone is only half of the equation to finding the perfect highlighter, you also need to think about what texture will suit your skin type. For those with combination or oily skin, powder highlighters offer the best finish without being too dense; simply apply with a highlighter brush to create a subtle glow that will hold all day. If you have dry skin, however, then opt for a cream or liquid highlighter instead that you can tap onto the skin with your fingertips for a natural illuminated glow.

One of the reasons why highlighters are so popular (aside from the obvious beauty benefits to our facial features) is because they are so multifunctional. Layer across your eyelid for a shimmering daytime glow that will hold all day, or over your lipstick to add a metallic sheen. To achieve a glowing complexion each day, simply highlight your cheekbones, inner corners of the eye, cupid’s bow and brow bone for a radiant, yet natural look.