Ever since highlighters hit the scene, there's been no looking back. Instagram celebrities flaunt an iridescent glow on their cheekbones, highlighter makeup tutorials are available by the dozen and the shimmery product simply flies off the shelf.
The purpose of a highlighter, however, is to bring into focus the high points of your face and give your skin that natural glow that looks like you've been drinking water and eating your veggies religiously for years. Unfortunately, many tutorials only get the former right and end up lending a stark line of highlighter to the skin instead of a glistening radiance. So if you're wondering how to strobe or highlight your skin to get a natural glow, not a glaze worthy of a donut, keep reading.
Step 1 - Find the right highlighter for your skin tone. Fair to wheatish skin tones can do with cool toned highlighters in lilac and pearl hues. For olive to dusky skin tones, opt for a highlighter in gold and bronze tones like those in Revlon's Highlighting Palette.
Pro tip: Make sure the shimmer in your highlighter is miniscule. If it has large, chunky glitter particles, skip it because it's only going to give an artificial looking shine.
Step 2 - Pick the right brush. Highlighting requires a narrow pointed soft brush or a wide fan brush which can disperse the makeup particles evenly. For newbies, start with a narrow brush and when you're more adept at highlighting, work your way up to a fan brush.
Step 3 - Dip your brush in pressed powder highlighter, dust off the excess on the back of your hand and apply it on your skin using small strokes. The high points of your face; the nose bridge, centre of your forehead, chin, cheekbones and cupid's bow are where highlighter is generally applied.
Step 4 - Once done, use the brush to blend it well into the skin. This will get rid of any unsightly visible edges.
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Step 5 - Finally, go in for a second layer, if and only if, the first one is too faint. Remember, it's meant to highlight your skin, not make it look like you're sweating - so go easy on it.
