My Favorite Summer Highlighters and One That's Totally Lame-o

Summer is all about the highlighting. It’s time to take advantage of that gorgeous sun and make our skin literally glow! Highlighters are up there in my favorite products ever, so I wanted to share some of my collection with you guys and hear about which highlighters you really love. Highlighters can be used in a variety of ways. Traditionally, I wear them on my cheekbones, temples, down my nose and above my top lip on my cupid’s bow to give my skin a shimmery glow.

MAC Strobe Cream is one of my most versatile highlighting products. For a start – you get so much of it! I could literally be using this for years and not run out. It has quite a runny consistency, so a little goes a long way.  I break highlighters down into warm and cool for the most part, and this is definitely a cooler toned highlighter, throwing off a cool, pink-toned shimmer when the light hits it. It feels lovely and light to wear, and blends very quickly and easily. I have added MAC Strobe Cream to tinted highlighters, moisturizers, used it on my shoulders and my legs, basically everything, and it works like a dream. The running consistency does take a little getting used to, but I consider this to be one of those must-have MAC products.

NARS Albatross is frequently recognized as one of the best all time highlighters. I have to admit, I totally agree. It’s a simple, sheer powder with gold-toned iridescent shimmer. The gold shimmer works particularly well with my skin tone, and I love how flattering it is. I find powder highlighters slightly less flexible to work with than cream ones, but this product more than makes up for that with its beautiful, not too sparkly shimmer than instantly wakes up your face. I find that this looks particularly amazing at night, when you might be going for a stronger, more done look. It really does scream glamour!

Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips in Miami Strip are a recent discovery, and I’ll admit that the first time I wore them, I was a little overwhelmed. As you can see, it's one of the more shimmery ones I have swatched here. However, I’ve learnt that with a light touch, they can be an amazing, hard-working, multi-tasking super product, ready to give a natural, my face but better glow all over. They come in lots of different shades, so I’m sure there’s the perfect color out there for you, and at a price that’s hard to beat.

NARS Orgasm Illuminator came out last winter to much fanfare as an update to the ever popular Orgasm line. As a huge fan of the original blush in cream format, I was very eager to try it out. I’m not going to lie, at first I was disappointed and confused. The consistency is incredibly thin and sheer, so it can feel quite difficult to control. The color is gorgeous rose blushing pink with gold shimmer in the tube, but again, is so sheer on your skin. However, it’s gorgeous as a subtle glow from within look, and I love, love wearing it during the day as part of a natural, sheer look. 

All four highlighters compared

L-R MAC Strobe, NARS Albatross, Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips, NARS Orgasm Illuminator

I also feel obliged to post about one product which really didn’t hit the mark for me: Elf’s All Over Highlighter stick. This stick is modeled and marketed as a cheaper alternative to NARS’s Multiple, especially the incredibly popular Copacabana shade. There are Elf products that I love. This is not one of them. Even if you had had zero experience of NARS Multiples (I have, but not Copacabana), you would find this product horrible to work with. It is a sheer white cream based stick with shimmer through it. I have 2 HUGE problems with this highlighter. The first is the feel of the product – it is sticky!! It’s like putting lipgloss on your face! But less liquidy than lipgloss. Maybe more like glue? So that is very unpleasant. Secondly, the color is simply not sheer enough, and gives you a white cast wherever you use it. Again, maybe as if you’ve applied glue to your face? Either way, even though it is a dollar, it is most definitely a wasted dollar. 

So there you have it – a couple of awesome highlighting products, and one definite dud. What products did I miss, or do I need to try?

Nars Illuminates The Way

 

The NARS Orgasm line has become the brand’s biggest success stories, and every year it seems another Orgasm product is developed. The latest addition to the line is the Illuminator, a tube of pink tinged shimmery highlighter in the signature shade.

My first impression of this product is that there is a lot. The tube is 1.1oz ($29), which is comparable to a tube of foundation. It is a gorgeous shimmery pink with a touch of gold to it. This shade is known to be almost universally flattering. I do already have Orgasm in cream blush as part of a blush/bronzer duo, and it is one of only two products that I’ve ever hit pan on (All That Glitters MAC Eyeshadow is the other).

The picture is of two identically sized dots, one sitting on my hand, and one blended out. Once the color was blended out, it was incredibly hard to photograph – that’s how sheer this product is. It is an illuminator – it is not meant to be a blush or even a stain, but more like giving your skin that glow from within look. The liquid is incredibly light, and a little does go a long way, so it can take some getting used to in that respect. The pea sized dot shown on the back of my hand would be enough to sweep from my cheekbones up to my temples.

It can be used over or under foundation, depending on how much shimmer you like.  I think I prefer it under, as it is a little more subtle, and too much moves from “dewy” to “shiny”, and that’s not my favorite look at all. You will definitely need blush as well. It very much reminds me of MAC Strobe Cream, although the pink-tones make it so much more flattering. I do like Strobe, but it can come off as quite cool in some lights. Like MAC Strobe, it is also great for mixing with other products to create custom blend, and I can definitely see myself mixing up a tinted moisteriser with a drop or two of this in it in the summer as a light base that catches the sun. Finally, because of the lovely warm tone and the lightness, it is also great over shoulders and collarbones.

There are some people who may be put off the sheerness and thin consistency of this product. If that is the case, I would highly recommend checking out The Multiple in Orgasm instead. However, if you are looking for a subtle, warmed tinged golden highlighter that will add a healthy glow and gleam to skin, then this is definitely worth taking a look at.