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5 Favorite Highlighters
I love a good highlighter, which I’m sure comes as no surprise to regular readers! 🙂 Many of my favorites are limited edition, but I also have a few favorites that you can get year-round and never have to worry about running out of. Check ’em out:
- NARS 413 BLKR — buildable, liquid highlighter
- Kevyn Aucoin Candlelight — pale, golden beige
- Becca Moonstone — a frosted golden champagne
- theBalm Mary Lou-manizer — a shimmery gold
- Illamasqua Aurora — a glimmering cream highlighter
I really love theBalm’s Mary Lou-manizer! I also love Benefit’s High Beam as it’s much more suited for my skin tone.
What do you use to apply High Beam?
It depends on what I have time for. I’ve applied it a lot of ways including with a beautyblender, a brush for cream/liquid products, and my fingers. They all work okay but if I don’t work fast enough with my fingers I can be left with an obvious streak. My favorite way is probably just a brush. It diffuses the product nicely, but again, you have to work kind of quickly.
I’ll have to try the Beauty Blender!
Yes,the blam Mary Lou is so beautiful , Bacca I have Opal and I love it.Illamasqua is now add to my shopping list 😉
Nice! Mary Lou is a classic.
fabulous list Christine 🙂 I can actually sit and go through your list of highlighters again and again 🙂 now pls do something like this for warm medium to dark skin tone .. above NC 35 – 40 pls 🙂 only if you can
my fav would be :
Benefit whats up ( i almost wrote whats app 😛 )
thebalm mary lou manizer
KA Candlelight
You seem like you’re covered for highlighters 😉
hahahahah you totally have a control over me 🙂
and i am surprised how beautifully you make me calm down Christine 🙂
and it happened not once but so many times you know 🙂
do you remember hahaha
like how you said once on NARS TIMANFAYA POST :
when i said i dont have any dupes and you asked said ” am surprised” hahaha
oh god … this is what makes you different 🙂
You’re always SO kind to me, Rashmi! Thank you so much for all of your support 🙂
Hey Christine, your skin has been looking so flawless lately, I was wondering if you still used the Clindamycin and Differin or what your skin care routine has looked like recently. I’m jealous! 😉
Hi Arrianne,
Yes, I do – they’re both part of my routine and have been for awhile (Differin for five years now? I think). It’s just foundation that gives you that illusion – Maestro just has a very flawless, near-matte finish in photos. My skin really isn’t that good!
MAC Soft and Gentle is my go-to highlighter! I love how it’s useable on a huge variety of skintones.
What brush do you like to use with it?
i mostly use my Ecotools fan brush for a light dusting across my cheekbones. Sometimes I use a large eyeshadow brush so I can highlight my nose bridge and add a larger concentrate of highlighter to the tops of my cheekbones.
Very nice! I love fan brushes for highlighters 🙂
I love the idea of a liquid highlighter. I don’t actually have one myself though. Just cream or powder formulas.
What are your favorite cream formulasa?
I’m just starting to use highlighters. My favorites are Laura Mercier’s Spellbound and MAC’s EDSF in Fairly Precious. The Balm’s Mary Lou Manizer was my first highlighter, but I have a hard time getting it to work for me.
What about Mary Lou do you have trouble with? Maybe we can help!
I think it looks too fake on me. Too shimmery, too gold, too metallic? Not really sure. I might have to bust it out and see what the problem is.
Have you tried applying it with a fan brush? Or a stippling brush (like MAC 188 or 187) – it’s a pretty pigmented highlighter, so it can get metallic quickly! Since you already have it, thought I’d pass that along 😀
Try applying loose powder to the brush first, tap off excess, then apply the highlighter. Or, after applying highlighter to your face, dust with powder. These tipsmay not work for you, but it never hurts to try!
Oh yes my favorite is the Chanel Poudre Signee which was Limited Edition! I do like The Balm highlighter too but its a bit much for everyday. M current go to has to be MAC’s Hush ccb, its quite effortless and very natural 🙂
Poudre Signee was a pretty one! 🙂 Do you apply Hush with fingers or a brush?
I have quite a few highlighters but my favorites are: Becca Opal (liquid and powder I just couldn’t decide they were both so amazing) and Nars Copacabana with MAC Silver Dusk on top—can you say gorgeous combination?!
What do you use to apply Silver Dusk? I find it to be so glittery and always pass on it!
I’m a sucker for a good highlighter. I loved Chanel’s Poudre Signee de Chanel Illuminating powder LE so much until I discovered Kevyn Aucoin’s Candlelight which is my new favourite, so fool proof to apply and just a lovely glow. I really liked Mac’s Superb (loved this formula) too but also LE. There are a ton of good ones out there now, spoilt for choice and I so don’t need any more but bet ya I will get some more especially after this selection, most of which I don’t have. Thanks Christine! x
You and me both, Kate… I just love highlighters. I think because when they’re done well, they just make the skin look more beautiful.
I’m pretty loyal to Becca SSP
Which shade?
I really want the NARS illuminator and Mary Lou bronzer. They’re so gorgeous!
Agreed! What’s your current go-to highlighter, Fancie?
I’m another huge fan of Mary Lou-manizer. I also really love Guerlain’s LE Cruel Gardenia and MAC’s LE By Candlelight. I also like Clarins Instant Light Complexion Perfector/Illuminating Base (new name/packing and old name/packaging but basically the same product). I need to get my hands on one of the Becca highlighters (likely in a lighter shade that what is show here)
I will have to look into the Clarins’ one! That sounds like it’ll be up my alley.
I’ve heard so many good things about Mary Lou-Manizer, but can’t justify purchasing it as I have my fair share of highlighters as is!
It’s lovely, but once you have a really good one, you don’t *need* too many more, lol!
I love the Becca ones and Mary Lou-Manizer, too! For drug store brands, the Physician’s Formula Mineral Glow Pearls in translucent is awesome!
I will have to check that one out! Always looking for budget-friendly recs to offer, too!
Hi, Christine. Which of these highlighters would you say is the least glittery? Thanks!
Kevyn Aucoin By Candlelight for sure. Becca’s is GORGEOUS but so pigmented that it can be easy to over-do it, though I wouldn’t say it is glittery (shimmery, yes, but not actual glitter).
I have swatched them many times on my hand, and seem super pretty, but make me feel intimidated. I feel like I would shine too much. The Becca ones… How do you compare them to the liquid version?
I am a Gal Meets Pearl fan, which I stipple under my blush with a BBlender. Look very subtle and almost there kinda. Great for everyday kinda look, I think.
Have you tried the Cle De Peau Luminizer? Ok, that is a lot of questions…
The liquid version is much, much subtler. They’re really not the same, to me, functionally speaking since one is like BAM! and the other is quite subtle.
Haven’t tried Cle de Peau’s!
Thank you, love.
Ok, thank you! I will have to check out the Kevyn Aucoin. I may have to look at Becca, too. The Becca bronzer in Topaz is a gorgeous bronze color – I wanted to wear it as an eyeshadow. Through some experimentation, I discovered that if you mix Sephora Sunday Brunch with Urban Decay Baked, it is almost an exact dupe! 🙂
Ooh, nice – glad you could dupe Topaz 😀
Another wonderful highlighter is Spotlight by Lorac. It’s so pretty and subtle it applied correctly.
I’ll have to check that out! Thanks, Ammara!
You’re welcome! I used to think it emphasized pores but I don’t think I was applying it correctly (with my fingers, haha) and after switching to a proper brush, I rediscovered it. I’d love to see your take on it. It’s officially called Perfectly Lit Oil-Free Luminizing Powder in Spotlight.
I wish Benefit would make a powder highlighter. Their blushes have the prettiest sheen to them.
Some highlighters tend to be that way – it’s the application that matters! 🙂
Spotlight is amazing! One of my Top 3, along with NARS Multiple in Copacabana, and KA Candlelight.
Laura Mercier is my personal fav! It’s absolutely beautiful on many skin tones and buildable.
Which one from Laura Mercier?
I can’t put down NARS Albatross at the moment. ADDICTED!
Fun shade!
Someday, I will manage to try Becca and Kevyn Aucoin!!…
…and Illamasqua,, and more NARS, LOL 😛
Haha! 😉 What’s your favorite right now that you do have?
I have a soft spot for highlighters. Cannot go wrong with K Aucoin or Becca. For pink undertones, I like Illamasqua Lies (cream) and Chantequille, Les Petales de Rose (powder). The latter, I’ve been told, is brought out for the Christmas season, which may be the best time to find a limited edition, gorgeous highlighter. I find the best way to apply, whether by fan brush, small synthetic brush, or fingers, is to slowly build up the coverage. A little goes a long way! MUFE makes a tiny fan brush (actually made to sweep away undereye eyeshadow fallout), which is perfect for applying precision powder highlighter.
Love Chantecaille’s as well – will have to watch for it this holiday again.
Remember those LE Bare Minerals Luminizers (The Shining Moment and The Love Affair) that got a Temptalia Recommends when you first reviewed them? I recently discovered that they are both available in a (permanent!) duo! They swatched so beautifully in the store and I totally understood why you recommended them 🙂 They had a gorgeous sheen, anf I couldn’t detect a speck of sparkle/glitter! Unfortunately, an Ulta SA applied five pounds of the stuff on my face which turned me off the product. In hindsight, I wish I’d gotten it, so.I will during the Sephora Fall Sale or next time I’m at Ulta 😉 Thanks for the rec!
OOH, that’s awesome!! So glad you loved it – here’s hoping you can grab it in the fall!
i think my fav highlighter that i have tried so far is fyrinnae in the spotlight
i love it its not sparkly but it has an amazing sheen
Yay!! 🙂
Great list Christine! I own a couple from your list, but my absolute favorite is the Laura Mercier matte radiance baked powder in the color highlight. I have the some of the bronzing colors as well but the highlight one is superb!
I don’t think I’ve tried that one!
My 5…
Dior Amber Diamond (Still. So. Sad.)
Becca Opal
Josie Maran Argan Illuminizer
Kevyn Aucoin Candlelight
NARS Copacabana… The Illuminator. The multiple is ashy as f on me.
And one more…MAC Diamonds CCB. Wish this was permanent.
Oh crap, and Hourglass Luminous Light…
I love highlighters. Clearly. I’ve been eyeing Bobbi Brown Beige Shimmerbrick, too.
And now you got me wanting Aurora! Which…I thought I already had. Hrrrmmm?!
It’s crazy that Dior had this CULT FAVORITE, discontinued, and NEVER replaced it.
Really very pretty highlighters. Sad to say I don’t have any of them. Candlelight looks gorgeous, I think. I think I’ll check out the NARS one when I next find myself at Sephora.
I’m quite OK though with the few I have, Illamasqua Gleam and MAC Strobe, Both quite versatile, I think and very blendable. Strobe is almost used up, so I might try Candlelight or NARS.
I also love Kevyn Aucoin’s liquid version of Candlelight, though Strobe has more of an impact (more pigmented in a sense).
I still need to try Mary Loumanizer.
It’s a really nice option!
Gorgeous favs!! I’m a fellow highlighter lover also…I was recently swept off my feet by Chanel Dentelle! I wanted to ask, do you like the KA Candlelight liquid? It looks so gorgeous and I wanted to see what you think of it :). Thank you and have an awesome day!
Love the liquid – I have a review on the site as well 🙂 Put it this way – I bought a second bottle after I ran out of the first.
NARS BKLR and The Balm Mary Lou-manizer is on my list.. both are verryy prettyy but yes i would love to try Benefit high beam and MAC Soft and gentle one too..
and when it comes to luxury.. i think Hourglass Ambient highlighters need a mention. 🙂
Great picks, Poo!
My favorite goes to Shiseido Luminizing Satin Face Color PK107~The most subtle highlighter for light-skinned gals~
Thanks for the rec, Wynnce!