Archived Post
Highlighters for Cheeks & Face | 2014 Editor's Favorites
Oh, boy, there were some beautiful highlighters released this year (I reviewed a little over 50). Of all products, highlighters seem to be a weakness for me. They’re often products that I stow away in my basics drawer, which is really the most coveted of all drawers (for my makeup stash, that is), as it is where my go-tos live. Every single product mentioned below has found its way into this drawer (consequently, I have no room any more and need to pare it back!).
- Kevyn Aucoin Starlight — a light-medium peach with warm undertones and champagne shimmer
- Burberry Gold Glow No. 01 — a dirty, light-medium antique gold with a luminous finish
- Chanel Camelia de Plumes — the closest I’ve seen to cool-toned gold with a luminous finish
- Cle de Peau Sand Beige (13) — golden beige with hints of peach and a luminous finish; this is the shade I use most in the range, but I loved all the shades
- Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar — a highlighting/bronzing duo that has gained popular for good reason; superb textures, delicate finishes
- Chanel Dentelle Precieuse — a light, golden beige with a soft sheen
- Kevyn Aucoin Sculpting Medium/Candlelight — another duo, but this cream highlighter looks so glowy and luminous on the skin (hope they make it available alone, too!)
- Tom Ford Stroked — the texture of the highlighter is off-the-charts divine; it’s soft, silky, blendable, and buttery; another formula I hope will be find its way into permanence
- Burberry Nude Radiance No. 01 — a luminous, champagne-beige liquid highlighter perfect for mixing with foundation (my preferred usage)
- theBalm Cindy-Lou — a lovely rosy peach with a luminous sheen
Surprised Benefit’s Watt’s Up didn’t make the list. I never particularly cared for highlighters till I discovered this one. The shade, the finish, the lasting power… perfection.
I didn’t like Watt’s Up at all when I tried/reviewed it, unfortunately! I believe I covered in 2013? it was around when it came out 🙂
Edited: Oops! I was thinking of Fine-1-1. Watt’s Up I did like, but I reviewed back in 2011 so it wouldn’t be a consideration for a list of products from 2014! Sorry about that – I am a total dunce!
Wait, you didn’t like it, just personally? You gave it an A??
My mistake! I was thinking of Fine-1-1, which I didn’t like at all (and that’s the cream Benefit product I reviewed in 2013). Thank you for catching that! I’m such a dummy!
I recently got a sample of Cindy LouManizer in my Birchbox – I am in LOVE!! I’m pale and it also works as a blush on me. Gotta splurge on the full size soon!
Nice! It’s a great color – can definitely see it having more color on fairer skin!
I love Cindy Lou-Manizer for blush or eye shadow but way too dark for a highlighter but I love Mary Lou-Manizer for a highlight on us pale girls!
I also love highlighters and luminizers because my skin is SO matte, it needs that little boost.
I love love love Cindy-Lou. I also really love the Urban Decay naked illuminated even though their overt sparkle turns some people off.
I really want the white Cle de Peau!
UD’s highlighters can be really pretty, but yeah, the sparkle is not at all subtle, lol, so it isn’t always a fit.
Hi Christine, any chance you could suggest a highlighter for my NW25 skin. I am blond with blue eyes. A lot are not available in Australia but maybe something you suggest might be and we just got a Sephora store though they don’t stock a lot of brands. Thank You for your fantastic reviews I have been reading your blog for a very long time.
I’m not sure what brands are available in Australia! Is Becca? Their permanent range of highlighters are quite nice, and they have five (I think) shades, so there is usually something for everyone.
Juliana: Summary of brands we have here that make highlighters/illuminators.
Few shiny coins (Priceline, mainly):
Face of Australia (dupes for NARS, huge tube)
Australis (liquid)
Revlon (liquid)
Nude by Nature (liquid)
Luma by Jess Hart (cream).
TheBalm (David Jones)
Some more shiny coins:
MAC (Myer, DJs, their own stores)
Benefit (Myer)
NARS (Mecca Cosmetica)
Too Faced (Kit)
Hourglass (Mecca)
Many shiny coins (David Jones and Myer):
Burberry
Giorgio Armani
Becca
Chanel
Guerlain
Tom Ford (take out a mortgage)
Bobbi Brown (Mecca, too).
Ah, you’re a doll, Sonya! 🙂 Thank you!
theBalm is probably your best bet, since it isn’t too pricey and all of their highlighters are lovely. I know AUS pricing isn’t kind!
i love the camelia des plumes! i probably should have bought a back up because i’ve been wearing almost everyday and it seems so unique.
It’ll probably take YEARS to get through it, though!
Hands down…the Limited Edition Bobbi Brown Bronze Glow!
Honorable Mentions: MAC – Global Glow (I know…I’m tardy for the party) and Magnolia Makeup Highlighter is Soul Glo. It is absolutely stunning!
I did consider Bronze Glow but iultimately didn’t make it to my list – it’s a nice one though 😀
I I’d have had the money I’d have gotten the Chanel because it was so perfect!
It was lovely!
The pain.
I know you probably have tons of amazing highlighters in your stash! Any favorites from this year?
TF Candlelight, The Balm Mary Lou-manizer for high end. Budget: e.l.f. Gotta Glow, Sleek Face Form light’s highlighter.
I gotta try Sleek’s highlighter!
I like it because it’s a little more neutral. Most of my lean either yellow or pink. It’s not white, but definitely more subtle than most of what I own. It’s a nice change of pace.
This year I have discovered becca shimmering skin perfector in opal, I like to wear it under my foundation, it gives such a pretty glow.
The pressed or the liquid? I’m thinking the liquid if it’s under but I could be wrong!
Yes the liquid, it so pretty and glowy!
Camelia de Plumes <3 I wish I wasn't working tonight, else I'd have that front and center on my face tonight. Gold Glow No. 1 was also gorgeous and unique!
Hope work went by quickly for you, Veronica!
Thanks for all these round up posts!! Do you happen to have a recommendation for a highlighter for extremely pale ladies like myself? I’m finding it impossible to find something that actually shows up on my skin. I’m thinking that lighter Chanel one might be an option!
Chanel’s is, just because it is almost cool-toned and lighter. I also think Cle de Peau might have one you’d like – they have four shades and two of them are cooler/pinker!
I got both the liquid and powder burberry highlighters but they barely show up on me! So disappointed, especially the liquid. Much, much prefer KA Candlelight….
So sorry that you were disappointed, Malia! 🙁
Whaaaat, no Mary-Lou? It’s my favorite from thebalm. Works better on my warm toned skin than Cindy-Lou.
Only products I reviewed in 2014 are considered for these lists – they are not all-time.
Beautiful lists! I’d be quite thrilled if you included face powders as well as foundations and perhaps keep choosing the best of all time but updated? 😀 Happy Bew ahead, Beautiful Lovely Temptalia Blog People! Congratulations, Christine! Another year? 😀 <3!!! xoxo I love everything and everyone here! Much love!
I include face powders/foundations in the Editor’s Choice Awards if that helps 🙂
Happy new year!
Chanel Camelia de Plumes, hands down! The most glorious highlighter I’ve ever tried 🙂
Have an amazing New Year, Christine!
So glad you got one, Marina!
Happy new year!
I am totally not a highlighter person (still using Chanel Fantasme to coat myself in sparkles for special occasions/performances), but I *really* want the Charlotte Tilbury, the white/silver /Holiday Chanel and that intriguing taupey Holiday Burberry one. Would I ever actually use them? Probably not. Do I really want them all the same? Why yes! 😉
You gotta get into highlighters! You’ll never go back!!
Hi!
Which highlighter would you recommend for my NC20-25 skin? I got a Nordies gift card and I’m trying to decide whether to get the CT Filmstar Duo or Burberry Gold Glow. I have tons of highlighters so the Gold Glow looks really unique but I know that I’ll probably use Filmstar much more often. Also, is Filmstar glow as frosted as Becca’s Opal. Opal makes me look like a disco ball lol.
Thanks in advance and have a great new year!
I’d probably go Filmstar 🙂 It less frosty compared to Opal for sure.
I love Hourglass lightening palette
That’s a nice palette!
Both Chanel highlighters are AMAZING!!! I also love Cindy-Lou!
Not shocked at all Chanel did so well this year for highlighters!
What about budget-friendly highlighters??
Sorry, I don’t think I tested any that were favorites for me! 🙁 Here is my budget-friendly face post: http://www.temptalia.com/top-10-2014-best-budget-friendly-blushes – which ended up to be just blushes because that’s what I liked the best this past year. Makeup Geek Spellbound might be a highlighter on some!
Aww, maybe there’s something you remember from other years that you enjoyed? Or someone else who can comment?
🙂 Thanks!
Hard candy tiki!! You can find it at walmart for $9. So gorgeous!
I really enjoy Cindy-Lou Manizer! I also like Benefit’s Watts Up n
I’m so glad theBalm put out a new highlighter like Cindy-Lou!
I’m still mad at myself for not taking the plunge on that gold Chanel highlight. It’s so, so gorgeous!
I love highlighters/illuminatiors too.. I liked MaC Illuminayting liquid a lott this year but i wanna try The balm Cindy, burberry nude radiance because it liquid and Cle de Peau ( a luxury ) too 🙂
Becca opal is my HG… Soo perfect for my nc 30 skin tone.. Happy new year Christine !!
Hello! New commenter here regarding luminizer.
First: I am fair/light (I wear Clinique CC in Fairly Light and use Bare Minerals power in Fairly Light over the CC). I think I would be NW15 or 25 maybe??
For blush I use: Orgasm, Tarte Exposed, Stila self-adjusting bronzer (both as blush and bronzer), and just got Clinique’s Ginger pop per your review (I am interested in several more blushes, but that is another post).
Lips: Dolly has been a staple, though I just got into lip color and can easily wear Bite’s Gavi or Glace daily. I also have BB’s Apricot and OC’s Psycho and have decided I love color on my lips!
I do nothing to my eyes but curl lashes, use painterly, sometimes liquid but always wear mascara. I have nice eyes, so I try and let them do their own thing. 🙂
HELP: I currently use Sephora’s luminizer and Watts up! but I am looking for something that adds a bright glow to my skin. I also have prominent cheeks and like adding some shine!
I don’t want something I can use as a blush, because I am trying to branch out with blushes, so I would prefer something that functions mostly as a luminizer that I can wear with a blush.
I am thinking of Becca’s line (powder or liquid?), Hourglass ambient lighting pallet or Clindy-Lou Manizer (too subtle?).
Any suggestions? I would buy Chanel’s in a second, but I have gotten really into splurging on products in the last year, and know this will continue, so I am trying to watch the cost. 🙂
Thanks SO much, so glad I discovered you!
Hello! New commenter here regarding luminizer. I posted earlier which is pending, but now I have my profile attached, if that matters at all (probably not!).
First: I am fair/light (I wear Tarte BB and mix Light and Fair, then use Bare Minerals power in Fairly Light over the BB). I think I would be NW15 or 25 maybe??
For blush I use: Orgasm, Tarte Exposed, Stila self-adjusting bronzer (both as blush and bronzer), and just got Clinique’s Ginger pop per your review (I am interested in several more blushes, but that is another post).
Lips: Dolly has been a staple, though I just got into lip color and can easily wear Bite’s Gavi or Glace daily. I also have BB’s Apricot and OC’s Psycho and have decided I love color on my lips!
I do nothing to my eyes but curl lashes, use painterly, sometimes liquid but always wear mascara. I think I have nice eyes, so I try and let them do their own thing. 🙂
OK, HELP: I currently use Sephora’s luminizer and Watts up! but I am looking for something that adds a bright glow to my skin. I also have prominent cheeks and like adding some shine!
I don’t want something I can use as a blush, because I am trying to branch out with blushes, so I would prefer something that functions mostly as a luminizer that I can wear with a blush.
I am thinking of Becca’s line (powder or liquid?), Hourglass ambient lighting pallet or Clindy-Lou Manizer (too subtle?).
Any suggestions? I would buy Chanel’s in a second, but I have gotten really into splurging on products in the last year, and know this will continue, so I am trying to watch the cost. 🙂
Thanks SO much, so glad I discovered you!
Camelia de plumes is amazing! I also love the Burberry highlights and i too use the liquid to mix with my foundation so gorgeous! You have similar taste in highlighters i need to see if the rest of the products on your list are available! Random q i bought the meteorites compact in shade 3 medium but im kinda underhwelmed. Is it just a finishing powder??
I only own one highlighter, Burberry Nude Radiance 01 and I rarely use it :).
I have six of the ten you listed—-falls on face. Who knew??? LOL
So glad you recommended the Kevyn Aucoin cream duo, as I bought it after seeing it on this list and am in love! It’s also great to have a product like this which is small and lightweight enough to carry in my makeup bag. Thanks for a great list! xx
Kevyn Aucoin’s Candelight has been my absolute HG highlighter (I have the powder version) its really worth the money, Ive been using it for ages and I still haven’t hit pan, it needs so little but gives the perfect glow without distributing any color (i hate pink/gold/silvery highlighters since no one “glows” naturally like that) and just gives a “candle lit” glow that is undetectable as makeup. No glitters or sparkles. OBSESSED
Kevyn Aucoin Candlelight ALL THE WAAAYYY!!!!
I’ve tried sooo many others, and I just love the velvety feel of the KA one. I use my fingers to apply it and you get a more concentrated highlight that way – like it’s a big stronger. I literally own NO OTHER highlighters but that one.
I’m trying to buy a highlighter, but I have no idea which one to get. I know that they are very different, but what would you suggest to somebody who runs slightly warm/neutral and is a more fair/medium skintone? Also, which is the best highlighter overall between Mary Lou-Manizer, Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed (opal), and Kevin Aucoin Candlelight? Thanks in advance!
Candlelight, IMO! 🙂
Thanks so much!
Thanks for this list Christine! What would you recommend as your top 3 for darker skin tones (NC 50+)?
From this list, Kevyun Aucoin Starlight, theBalm Cindy Lou, and I’d go off list and recommend Becca Topaz or Rose Gold.
I have 5 of these beauties if I counted right! A weakness of mine as well. Cindy lou and Clea de paeu sand Beige are very high on my wish list. I scoured when this list first came out looking for the Tom Ford Stroked. Have you seen it re-released? Hoping summer brings some nice highlighters!
Woohoo!! 🙂
I haven’t seen it re-release, but you never know!