How to apply highlighter: Light Up Your Best Facial Features

How to apply highlighter is one of the essentials in face makeup. Highlighter application gives you a glow, not a bronzer, to emphasize parts of your face. As you read along, you will learn the full package of what you need to know about highlighter.

How to apply highlighter can bring out your facial features. Parts of our face that you can highlight are the arch of your brow, inner corner of the eyes, bridge of the nose, above your lips or the Cupid’s bow and the tip of your apple cheeks. You can have your highlighter in these parts of your face.

At this point, you are wondering how you can achieve the perfect highlighting after makeup. There are chances that your first try will not succeed. Alternatively, perhaps, what you have imagined will not be the outcome. Nevertheless, that is not an excuse to try it.

Most beauty experts have many trial and errors when it comes to makeup. You have to learn the techniques and essential details about highlighter.

What is highlighter in makeup? Highlighter is not an illuminator. If you can see the shimmery effect of these two, they still have differences.

For instance, the coverage of your highlighter focuses only in certain areas of your face. The areas should have direct exposure from the sun. You can make intense glow to your skin with a bone structure like under your brow bone and tip of your cheekbones. While illuminators can give full coverage of brightness to your face, meaning, you can let your entire face glow by using illuminators.

When it comes to highlighter, the colors that it offers are usually lighter in the shade. Keep in mind that highlighter makes certain parts of your face to be recognized. Therefore, you should choose lighter shades than your foundation or overall face makeup. You can have gold or other with gleam shade. On the other hand, illuminators can combine with your foundation or primers. Make sure you want the full coverage of glow in your face if you are going to mix it.

Highlighter is more intense than illuminators. It is a fact that you want to remember when giving your face a highlight. Make sure that you apply enough amounts of highlighter. An extra shine in your face can hurt anyone’s eyes. When using illuminators, you are making a natural glow to your skin. The combination of illuminators with your foundation and prime can create this effect in no time.

How to apply facial highlighter with your skin tone

So, how to apply highlighter to face? Like other cosmetics, your skin tone should complement with your makeup and highlighter. For highlighters, it is essential that you have the right shade for each skin tone. The following can be your guide to achieve the perfect highlight to your skin tone.

Fair to Light Skin Tone

You can have silver or lilac toned highlighter. As this tone tends to have a dull complexion, you will need highlights that accentuate certain parts with a natural glow.

Light to Medium Skin Tone

For your medium skin tone, peach or rose gold tones can work well with it. Those shades can make your skin glow with its warm color.

Medium to Olive Skin

Make sure you avoid silver or too cool tones if you have medium to olive skin. You can have more warm shades like pink or champagnes. So, these colors can make good highlighters with your olive skin tone.

Olive to Dark Skin

For dark skin tone, make sure you still have your warm highlighters. Like bronzer, warm shades can make your dull skin look glowing. It complements well with your skin tone.

How to use highlighter makeup in different forms?

Your highlighters can speak for you. With the different formulation of highlighters, you have many choices that best suits your skin tone and skin type. Having different skin type is a big deal with what kind of highlighter you will be using.

Highlighter in Cream form

If you have dry skin, you can have cream highlighters. Using this formula with dry skin can blend evenly without using a highlight brush. You can apply cream highlighter by your fingertips. Tap it gently to certain parts you want to highlight. If you’re going to use a brush, make use of synthetic shaped bristles. This brush does not absorb too much product.

Highlighter in Powder form

For oily and combination skin type, you can have the powder formulation. The powder properties are what make this highlighter suitable for oily skin. You can use a natural hair blusher or powder brush when applying the powder highlighter.

Highlighter in Liquid form

The liquid highlighter works well with any skin type. It has a more robust finish and higher glow compared to other highlighters. Given this, you can have it for full coverage with your base beauty products. Make sure that you will use liquid highlighter before powder makeup. For evenly and proper blending, use the duo fiber brush.

Highlighter in stick form

For beginners, you may want to try the stick highlighter. There are no special instructions in applying this highlighter. But, by simply drawing it to higher points of your face, you can blend it with your fingertips. There is no need for you to use a blending brush.

Highlighters in a single color palette

Tired of the traditional highlighter color? Then, if you are going to use highlighters but you want different shades of warm or cold, you can have it in a single palette of highlighters. Mixing different colors of the same hue can give a twist in your highlighter.

Highlighter in Potted Form

For natural face makeup or your no makeup look, you can have the potted highlighter. You can use this with your bare skin, without makeup at all.

Combination of Liquid and Powder Highlighters

This highlighter needs liquid illuminator as a base to your makeup. With two drops of the liquid illuminator, gently blend it with your fingers or brush. Afterwards, you can apply the powder highlighters over your makeup using a fan brush. Fan brush has a thin layer of bristles, which makes it suitable to highlight applicator.

How to apply highlighter

For better result of highlighter, make sure that you have the necessary preparations. Like other face makeup, you need to know when and where do you put highlighter on your face. So, here is the highlighter makeup how to step by step application:

1. Make sure you apply your foundation and primer. Your base makeup will make a good hold to your beauty products for a long time.
2. Finish with your eye makeup with your preferred look and style.
3. Conceal the areas that you need to cover. You can also apply concealer to areas that you need to contour and highlight later on.
4. Contour your face with correct shades and color.
5. Use bronzer to highlight the contour. The bronzer should complement your face makeup for a more confident and self-esteemed appearance.
6. For finishing makeup touches, get your highlighter and gently tap to the areas of your face that need to emphasize.

Once you completed your face makeup, it is essential that your neck and collarbone will have the same complexion as your face. Body makeup and highlighter should also be done to have a consistent appearance. You can use cream and stick highlighters when it comes to your collarbones and shoulders.

How to Apply Highlighter: Quick Tips

Now that you have learned when and where to apply highlighter, there are some things that you need to remember your highlighter. When it comes to face makeup, every application and beauty products to use are essentials.

Tip no. 1: Make sure you apply your highlighter to your cheeks, nose, and eyes. You can have the option to put highlighter in your Cupid’s bow.

For cheeks, apply highlighter above your cheekbone. Then, your eyes need highlighter in the inner corner that will connect to your nose. You can start from the bridge of your nose, between your eyes to the tip of your nose.

Tip no. 2: We know that it is fun to add some shimmer in your face but let us not to be exaggerated in using your highlighter. Just add enough amount of highlighter for the natural glow effect.

Tip no. 3: Consider the amount of light you are getting before you apply your highlighter. You can use bright highlighter at night and subtle highlighter during the daytime. Highlighter at daytime makes use of the natural sunlight. But at night time, all you can have are the lights from the lamps and spotlights. So, we advise you to add more sparkling highlighter at night.

Tip no. 4: Shades and color are not only for you to watch out in highlighters. Make sure that you are using the same formula of highlighter, foundation, and primer. In other words, if you are using liquid foundation or primer, you have to follow it with liquid highlighter. If you use cream or powder, the highlighter will follow. It is essential that these cosmetics will get along with their formulation to achieve the perfect highlight for your face makeup.

Brief reminder:

Indeed, highlighter will make you more attractive. But using beauty products with harmful compounds can cause serious skin problems. To avoid that from happening, make sure to consider using natural and organic makeup. You can also have those beauty products that contain hypoallergenic compounds. Like other beauty products before purchasing, seek medical advice from your dermatologist. Looking more glamorous does not mean losing the value of your skin.