Hello my lovelies! My post on “Do You Always Wear A Bronzer?” garnered such a lively debate that I thought something similar would interest you…

Do you always use a highlighter?

For me, the answer is a resounding “YES!” I think a highlighter is one of those makeup products that can subtly change your look from a flat matte face to a glowy one with a few strokes.

I used to think I only needed one highlighter and didn’t care about the quality or the shade. Just some shimmer was enough, thanks! But I realized that yellow or golden undertoned highlighters look best on me and the texture is so important too — so far I prefer the traditional route of powder highlighters.

But if a powder highlighter doesn’t impart much shine, you could find yourself swiping on too much powder which makes your face look cakey or too powdery in certain areas (culprit: Bourjois Delice de Poudre Highlighting Powder). I also prefer a highlighting powder to be pressed because I have a mineral highlighting powder in loose form and it’s such a pain to shake it onto a separate surface (I usually use a tiny glass plate) before using it.

I do love some of the highlighting shades on my blush palettes like Jill Stuart’s Mixed Blush Compact Sweet Lock which has a lovely pale yellow one with a slighter shimmer though it looks quite matte in the pan and Visee’s Mineral Cheeks Baby Finish blush that has white and pink highlighters that depart a pretty glow when mixed. Esprique Precious’ Gradation Layer Cheeks 02 Pink Rose is also great for an all-in-one blush and highlighter compact.

But I still got the big daddy of all highlighters….I’m obsessed!

NARS Albatross…

It looks very white here but when swatched it has a lovely subtle gold tone and the shimmer is very finely milled. My only complaint about this highlighter is that it’s way too easy to be heavy handed with this and you can look too glowy — I’ve actually had to put on more finishing powder to make myself look less weird, so I always swipe my contour brush very very lightly on this palette before I highlight my face.

I’ve never explored liquid highlighters except YSL’s Touche Elcat which didn’t do anything much for me and I suspect I have the wrong shade for my skintone too. I have this preconceived notion that liquid highlighters wouldn’t show if I dust on finishing powder over it and I wonder if can they work over powder…?

Now it’s your turn…

Do you use a highligher? If so, what type and tell us why!