Getting The Glow... Hopefully

Highlighting has always been the area of make-up that I have struggled to get right. I would see so many YouTube beauty guys and gals look absolutely fabulous with cheeks on fleek, and I just could not get the same effect. Over the years, I think highlighter formulations have improved as the popularity for it grew especially in the drugstore and I think that has really helped me out. Now I am still no way near the level of professional make-up artists or influencers, but my highlight is looking much better then it used to and I really think it is down to the products. So if you are a fellow highlight newbie, check out the rest of this post for some recommendations.

Powder Highlighters
Out of the two different formulations, I found powder highlighters the most difficult to use. For years, I just felt that all the highlighters I had tried were too shimmery, and not in the good way. Although many highlighters and illuminators have a shimmery base, some look gorgeous and glowy, others look glittery and silly. The first powder highlighter that gave me more of a proper glow was theBalm Mary Lou Manizer from my The Manizer Sisters palette. Whilst it still had some shimmer, it reflected a really nice glow and I finally saw why people would recommend being light-handed with highlighter!

The Manizer Sisters palette and the singular Mary Lou are both over £20 which might be a little too much for some people's budget but never fear, I have discovered a palette which is just as good (if not the teeniest bit better) for half the price. If you haven't tried the Sleek MakeUP Solstice Highlighter palette, you need to run down to your local stockist right now. I mean it. I will admit that I had pretty low expectations due to my previous bad luck with drugstore powder highlighters but this blew me out of the water.

The two highlighters on the right hand side of the palette are ridiculous. I swear you could see your cheeks from Mars. The top left is a cream highlighter and on my skin tone, it is slightly too pink and dark to wear alone as a highlight but works as a great base for the others. It also has amazing lasting power, even if my blush and bronzer had started to fade - the highlighter was going no where!

Liquid Illuminators
I have had more luck with getting a glow with liquid highlighters and illuminators like I'm sure many people have. The first one I had tried is the L'Oreal Paris True Match Illuminating Liquid 101 Gold and it is amazing. It gives such a gorgeous golden glow to the skin and works amazingly alone and underneath foundation. I used this so much in the summer as it just accentuated my summer tan and really helped me feel glamourous. Sadly, once my tan had departed I could not really use this anymore as it is slightly too dark to use alone and the only other shade they made is pink-toned. However, I still think this would look stunning on those of you with darker skin-tones. I am looking forward to next summer to crack this out again already.

So I was in need of a illuminator that still gave me a gorgeous glow as the L'Oreal one, but was slightly lighter so I could use it going into autumn and winter. Whilst I was in Spain, I bought a smaller size of the Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Opal. I knew going into buying this that it was popular with the beauty blogging community and I was very pleased to see the glow it gave me. The full size of the Becca SSP is £34 so it is a little pricey but it comes in a lot more shades than the L'Oreal one so, it is one that you could put on your Christmas list!

So these are the products that have made such a difference to my highlighter game and I hope that if any fellow highlighter novices gives them a go, it works out just as well for you!

Ellyn xx

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