How essential is a cheek highlighter? Must-have for everyday? Only for special occasions?
I love cheek highlighters! They are so pretty to look at, and they’re equally pretty once applied. You can totally get away without wearing one, but in my world, it’s something I’d wear everyday!
Have a question idea? Submit yours here.
We're here to help you make better beauty purchases that you'll enjoy and love! We recommend signing up to take advantage of personalized features like tracking products you own, viewing dupes that you already have, and more!
Here are some useful resources for you:
Curious how two shades compare to each other? Type in the shades below to get instant side-by-side swatches!
Comments that do not adhere to our comment policy may be removed. Discussion and debate are highly encouraged but we expect community members to participate respectfully. Please keep discussion on-topic, and if you have general feedback, a product review request, an off-topic question, or need technical support, please contact us!
Please help us streamline the comments' section and be more efficient: double-check the post above for more basic information like pricing, availability, and so on to make sure your question wasn't answered already. Comments alerting us to typos or small errors in the post are appreciated (!) but will typically be removed after errors are fixed (unless a response is needed).
We appreciate enthusiasm for new releases but ask readers to please hold questions regarding if/when a review will be posted as we can't commit to or guarantee product reviews. We don't want to set expectations and then disappoint readers as even products that are swatched don't always end up being reviewed due to time constraints and changes in priorities! Thank you for understanding!
We try to approve comments within 24 hours (and reply to them within 72 hours) but can sometimes get behind and appreciate your patience! 🙂 If you have general feedback, product review requests, off-topic questions, or need technical support, please contact us directly. Thank you for your patience!
I only wear it when I go out at night 🙂
I absolutely love cheek highlighters~ I don’t use them everyday, but a lot of the time I’ll put on the blush I want to use… and it just looks so plain and empty without a highlighter. So I’ll end up using one anyway! I really love the way they look :)!
I feel like you do! Sure, you can skip them – and sometimes with a shimmery blush, it’s redundant. But having a little shimmer or sheen in the cheek area is just such a pretty look!
I personally don’t find the need for it on a daily basis. I have really high and defined cheekbones so I can sneak by without having to wear it. 🙂
VERY essential.
i wear a highlighter everyday and my subscribers know it! haha (:
i feel as if it brightens up your face no matter the weather.
its also my favorite makeup item. i think highlighters are gorgeous/pretty and when you wear it, its beautiful!
and i could wear highlighters everyday as well!! 😀
I wear highlighter every day! I feel it really brightens up my face and brings out the blue in my eyes
I always wear one. I use Benefit’s Watt’s Up, and since it’s so easy to apply (no brush needed!), there’s really no reason not to wear it. It really brightens me up; I love it!
Not an essential, must-have, feel-naked-without product, but they are just SO GORGEOUS. I’m a total fiend for highlighters, and they are one of the products that I will buy tons of different ones just because I love them so much. I wear them frequently! I feel like there are so many different types to play with and so many different areas that can be highlighted. They are a definite must for special events and nights out, but I tend to wear most days, too. I don’t think it’s too OTT during the day at all. People seem to forget there are really natural versions that aren’t so “bam, in yo face!”
I’m in absurdly humid Indonesia right now, and my skin is oily enough not to need highlighters. I still love it, though, and I do abuse highlighters whenever I stay in Australia or Seattle.
Considering I typically only use regular blush on special occasions, but I highlight & contour for my usual every day face, I find highlighters extremely essential. I go for a very subdued highlighter, though, not too much shimmer. I like the definition they provide, but I don’t care for any additional color on my face.
I won’t say that I never leave the house without one, but I absolutely love highlighters and I always find that a look is more polished when I have one on.
I never gave them a second thought until I watched a video detailing how to utilize them. While I still prefer a more subtle, matte look for my makeup, they’re definitely on my list of things to grab the next time I do a big makeup sweep.
If you prefer matte looks, many people highlight with concealer and foundation, or even lighter matte powders! 🙂 It emphasizes the high points of the face by brightening rather than by drawing light from the shimmer.
Hah, I wouldn’t have thought to use concealer for that. I mostly just used one of my white highlighter pens and rubbed it into the blush on the rare occasion I tried it. Thank you for the recommendation, though! I’ll have to try it when I get a chance.
I just bought MUFE’s sculpting kit, it comes with a matte contouring powder and matte highlighting powder – I really like it for everyday use, then I can add a shimmering highlighter for nighttime!
I want to love them, but they look terrible on me because I have such flat cheekbones. There’s nothing there to define, so they end up looking like a weird shimmery blob on my face.
Where do you highlight, exactly? I feel as you do, so I only highlight at the cheekbone portion that starts below my pupil then do a “C” shape up around my temple and slightly above my brow at the highest point, and I feel this method gives me a better result. Have you tried this method before?
I do about that. The problem is that my actual cheekbone is very very small and up around my eye. The bone only pushes out from my skin by a couple of millimeters on the side and not at all in the front. So the area under my eye is actually a bit sunken in, with my eyeball being the most prominent point. It’s hard to explain, but really everything in the area around my eyes is very very flat and the only shape comes from the fat in my cheeks (and only when I smile), which is much lower.
I believe I get what you are saying about the structure of your cheekbones. For me, I feel that area of my face looks quite flat, too. Because of my weight, I feel it sort of hides any cheekbones I may have until I smile or suck in my face for contouring then I notice that they are kind of there. I hope that makes sense. Anyway, the method I described doesn’t make a super dramatic different, but I feel it sort of lifts the cheekbone a little and adds that brightening effect, and the “C” sort of shape sort of takes away from that random blob of shimmer effect for me. You may not find it works for your face, but just something to try! 🙂 Face shapes can be a PITA to work with at times.
actually, not that I think about it, I haven’t tried going above the eyebrow, so that might help a little.
I have the same problem.
for a round face like mine i really need a highlighter above my blush to make the cheeks pop and for big occasions it really makes a difference when you’re being photographed :), i dont wear it for daily work though bcoz its so noticeable..i have Dior Amber diamonds and i love them..going to look out for a pink one next.
Try Benefit High Beam or NARS Copacabana Illuminator for a liquid, MAC Shell CCB for cream, and for a powder the only one I like is the Rose Diamond from Dior! I’m not sure your skin tone, but these are some of my favorites for pink highlighters as an NC20-25ish tone at the moment. I will say that I hate the multiple version in Copacabana because for some reason it looks more silver and ashy on me than pink, but the illuminator seems to have a pinker tinge. HTH!
I wear one every day (that I have makeup on)! For special occasions I just pick up a different one!
Personally, I find products like highlighters and bronzers to be be useless. I rarely, if ever use them.
But I agree that they are pretty to look at, like most makeup 🙂
I’ve never consciously thought, I’ll not wear a cheek highlighter. I mean…really, why not?
I love cheek highlighters! NARS Copacobana, MAC Blot Powder and a nude MAC Paint over my eyelids is my holy grail lazy-day makeup.
for day to day wear i prefere a highligiting blush or a dewy foundation to highling, but at night a highlighter it lovely!
I agree! I have so many because I just love them. Since I have dry skin, I love putting the “glow” back in my skin. I wear highlighter for all occasions, day or night.
Some of my faves include:
-MAC Hush and Improper Copper Cream Colour Base
-MAC Belightful powder
-MAC MSF in Light Flush
I’m incredibly pale, so I find highlighters in general essential. Sometimes bronzers AND blushes can look too harsh on someone with my coloring, but a highlighter always looks right. 🙂
I’ve explored this area, but no matter what product or what application technique is used, highlighting never looks great. Even the products that only have a “sheen” or whatever, look just unnatural. And even if it were to look natural, it’d be what I normally look like if I don’t blot… oiliness! Haha. While some guys look great with a slight overall shininess to the skin, my skin isn’t smooth enough to allow for that. Any shine just highlights my imperfections like enlarged pores and acne scars.
I never highlight. I find since I’m quite pale enough, as long as I contour, my skin will natural become highlighted.
I totally agree with you Christine. I did go for a while without wearing one, having worn it every day, but now I’m back to wearing every day and I don’t know why I stopped!
I love my glitter and shine, so Bobbi Brown’s shimmer brick (which lasts incredibly well on my face and in the pan)is the one for me 😀
This is a step that I usually skip, mostly because I’m always running out of time and my cheekbones are quite high as they are. I’ve been digging MAC Sunday Afternoon for this reason. Applied altogether, the color is too shimmery for my taste. If I use the matte part for blush and the shimmery strip for highlighting however, it’s just pretty! That and I don’t need to open a second compact haha
I am addicted to highlighters.. The difference between wearing one and not is just so massive. It gives me instant cheekbones, a healthy glow and makes me look more fresh and awake! I can get away without wearing one of course, but I wear it almost everyday 🙂 Love them. x
I pretty much never go without one- since I work super early and don’t sleep much, I need all the help I can looking awake! Right now I’m in love with theBalm’s Mary Lou-manizer, best I’ve ever used.
For me, it’s not. I rather use a slightly shimmery blush and skip the highlighter. I’m also very lucky with my bone structure, my cheekbones pop without putting anything on them, I don’t need to emphasize them too much.
I usually save them for going out rather than for work-a-day makeup. I like how highlighters look but I always worry that they’ll be far more visible in daylight or the light of my classroom than they are in my bathroom so I tend to avoid them except for evenings and special occasions.
i don’t own one but i want one badly because it makes people look way prettier 😀
Not a necessity for me at all. I tend to have oily skin so if I’m not wearing matte finish foundation, I get glow-y on the tops of my cheekbones anyhow. Just powder the T-zone and viola! : natural highlighter! It’s the one thing having oily skin is good for.
I often use highlighters esp. in the spring/summer. I love powders or liquid highlighters, it depends on my mood and my make-up.
I love highlighter on the very top of my cheek bone & in the inner corners of my eye. Since I like to place my highligher in specific areas of my face, I tend to gravitate towards matte blushes. I have a few blushes with shimmer & like them,but I still prefer to be able to seperate the colour and the shimmer.
Cheek highlighters are not essential in my every day beauty routine. I own 3 highlighters, but I just use them for special occasions.
I love cheek highlighters. I wear them day or night. One of my favorites is Benefit Girl Meets Pearl. When I’m in a hurry and don’t want to add the extra step, I’ll wear a shimmery blush to act as a two-in-one product.
I’ve always tried to use cheek highlighters but I can never find the proper way! Is it similar to a bronzer? (below cheekbones) Or is it higher?
I love my highlighter !! I use it everyday.
For me a Highlighter is essential. So easy to put on and really makes my face look glow-ier. So I wear one every day that I put on makeup!
Absolutely essential!!!It’s kind of weird, but I was planning to submit this question since “Once upon a time” last episode 1×13. Totally swoon with Ginnifer’s cheeks when she become a siren!!!!How would you get that dewy-wet look Christine? I’m always in the haunt of that…tried everything from copacabana to amber diamond…any suggestions ladies?
Try sonia kashuk’s super sheer liquid tint in poppy on the cheeks ($10 at Target) with a highlight on the cheekbones! I’ve never seen that show, but this combo makes my cheeks so glowy 🙂
Thank you!!!^_^
I try to wear my beloved Dior Rose Diamond every day but, if I’m going for the bare minimum or only have 5 minutes, I just wear cream blush on the cheeks.
It’s the best face sculpter, so essential!
It’s essential EVERY time that I’m wearing makeup.
It isn’t an essential, but it does a lot! My favorites are guerlain meteorites cruel gardenia or Mac snow globe for when I don’t wear bronzer, but when I do I like guerlains terracotta sun in the city 🙂
They add the finishing touch to any look
This is so strange. I really wanted to ask you to ask this question, but I didn’t know how. Anyway, I have one highlighter. I rarely use it. In fact, the last time I used it was my wedding, which was about 9 months ago. I feel like highlighters are pretty, but I never find myself reaching for it.
I am addicted to the cheek highlight and I worry when it will really go out of style.. I use BB shimmer brick and have for years.. as someone with dry skin, I feel like it really wakes up my complexion and gives it a little something special. I find the shimmer bricks buildable .. I only use a dash .. a few years ago I used to pile it on when I wanted the dewy look. Now I’m kind of leaning towards trying blush with a bit of shimmer.
I absolutely wear them a lot! But not only do I like them, I have to somehow justify having more highlighters than blushes… I counted recently and it was about fourteen to twenty-two, and No, None Of Them Are Redundant! And you can’t borrow them!!! My Precioussss.
Lol, I really like highlighters. And small shiny objects.
Absolutely essential! I wear one every single day, even on minimal makeup days and on days where I don’t contour. I didn’t start highlighting daily until this past year, and it really does make such a huge difference! It just brightens up your face and gives you that lit-from-within glow. Who doesn’t want that?! I loooove Benefit High Beam for a dramatic highlight, but daily I use Hard Candy Baked Blush in Honeymoon or Physician’s Formula Happy Booster in Translucent. They’re both cheap and work really really well!
It’s pretty essential for me! I do tend to go without one more often in the summer because my skin gets pretty oily. But all the other seasons I’m normally wearing a highlight! Like someone else mentioned, it can really pull a look together. If I want to do a smoky eye in the summer I like to wear just a highlight and some bronzer and just forego the blush because I don’t need to worry about looking washed out. Without the highlight there, it just doesn’t look as good 🙂
I love wearing one. Haven’t found my HG yet but I really like Artistry Gossamer highlighter, MAC Porcelain Pink MSF, MAC Too Chic beauty powder or MAC Redhead MSF.
I don’t even really understand what they are…do they take the place of blush, or do you wear it on top? Obviously I’m a novice when it comes to makeup, haha.
Hey, Jennifer! Highlighters are used to create a glow/sheen, brighten, add dimension to the skin, and/or emphasize features. It doesn’t necessarily take the place of blush, but it can be worn with or without blush. Also, it can be added under blush or over, really. Many other areas can be highlighted aside from just the cheeks. For example, I highlight the tops of my cheekbones, down the bridge of my nose, along my cupids bow (along the curve of the upper lip right in the center), and on my brow bone. I also add a highlight on my collarbones, shoulders, decolletage, and/or down the center of my legs for more special occasions. Hope this could help some! 🙂
It helps a lot! Thanks! I’ll have to give one a try and see how I like it.
The basic idea behind using a highlight and a contour is that you can create light and shadows of your own, to bring certain features forward and emphasise them, or to put some features back in shadow, like your eyeshadow crease. Your crease appears deeper when you use a dark colour, and the same concept can apply to any other feature. So, if you want to use a highlight to enhance the shape of your face, you need to get an idea of where light and shadows would fall in the most flattering way on your face. Here’s a nice tutorial by Xiao at Messywands!
http://messywands.blogspot.com.au/2011/07/mini-contourhighlight-tutorial-with.html
Never thought this was THAT important until one time when I had extra time to do my everyday makeup, I used my high beam on my cheeks and BAM! Instant cheekbones! Sometimes it’s not really contouring that would immediately give you that gorgeous defined face, but a combination of both contouring and highlighting. What I noticed in highlighting is that it not only makes your cheeks more defined, but it gives you that gorgeous glow and makes your skin dewy, without the need of a dewy finish foundation that wouldn’t sit well on oily skin people. So definitely very important in my book. 🙂
I’m realising that I find the subtler things in makeup more beautiful – if you can imitate the way light would fall in a flattering way on your face, then that’s more important to me than any amount of interesting eyeshadow shades. Even if the eyeshadows have more pan-appeal.
I rarely have time for face make up, I’ll cover up a few blemishes here and there or my under eye circles. If I do wear more on my face, I think I aaaalways need a cheek highlighter. Just brightens up the whole face
I think it depends on where you’re going and what you’re doing. Its not necessary everyday that’s for sure. Its great for days and nights you get dressed up extra fancy lol
I only wear it for special occasions or when I’m going out at night
I wea a little every day. Makes me feel pretty
I always always always use highlighter ever since reading Carmindy’s 5 minute face book. I love Highbeam, LORAC perfectly lit powder and theBalm Mary Lou-manizer. I also have MAC’s Redhead MSF but it’s too glittery for me to use normally.
Its totally up to your skin type. If u can’t wear it it can’t be essential.
I love them! I wear one every day! 🙂
It’s a must everyday!! 🙂