Highlighter - Round-up and Application

Highlighting is my favorite technique to add a touch of healthy glow and define my face features. I especially love using matte natural foundation and highlighting only areas I want to bring forward - cheekbones, center of forehead, bridge of the nose, chin, and cupid’s bow. Naturally, smaller brushes will do the jobs. I love two types of highlighting brushes -a dense and nearly flat top and a stippling duo fiber brush. 

The dense nearly flat top brush (e.g. MAC 109) will pick up quite a bit of products hence intensifying the pigmentation. It's ideal to color-block highlighters like Bobbi Brown Shimmer Bricks or Laura Mercier Shimmer Bloc. 

The stippling duo fiber brush (e.g. MAC 188) either small or large depending how large you’d like to apply the highlighter is perfect for mosaic or pigmented highlighters that requires lighter hands. 

Bobbi Brown blender brush recommended for shimmer bricks herself but I find it more suitable for blush than highlighters due to its fan-out shape. 

Now that I shared my thoughts, let's take another look at all of the highlighters I love.

What is your favorite highlighter? What brush do you use? 

Review: Highlighter - Dior Shimmer Star Amber Diamond

I should admit when it comes to my holy grail products, my reviews are sort of biased. My fingers trembled a little while typing this particular post on Dior Amber Diamond. I was afraid my words wouldn't do the justice of THE truly must-have product. Please bare with me when I run away with my emotions...

Dior Amber Diamond ($44 for 0.35 oz) is a gorgeous copper-tinted slash golden sheen. It's extremely flattering on warm skintone although it looks beautiful on cooler skintone as well. I tried Amber Diamond grudgingly. I was mainly curious about the natural from-within glow that it's been well-received for. And I understand why many people swear by this wonderful highlighter. Amber Diamond has the outstanding combination of color (coppery instead of purely ivory that might wash you out in daylight) and micro-finely milled shimmer (the shimmer is so fine that it blends instantly into your skin). If used at just the right amount depending the depth of your skintone, it truly delivers a healthy natural glow as if you owned it. Amber Diamond looks most natural when blent well.

You can also create different shades and intensity using different color combinations, which makes Amber Diamond even more versatile. I also find it compliment both cool and warm blush colors.

Here is a quick comparison with other highlighters....

Amber Diamond has the deeper tone and the most natural compared to the others. It doesn't look metallic when swatched heavily, meaning it's foolproof. Hardly can you go wrong with it.

Well, you can see I'm biased but for a very good reason. It's certainly pricey but when would you finish 0.35 oz of the shimmer powder that only requires two swipes on each cheek? If you've never had good luck with Dior (really? have you tried their 5-color eyeshadows and Dior Skin Nude foundation and their mascaras?) you might be converted with Amber Diamond. A MUST-HAVE. Period.

Review: Highlighter - TheBalm Mary-Lou Manizer

Mary -Lou Manizer ($24 for 0.3 oz) is a beautiful beige ivory sheen. As true as its packaging, Manizer is a fund product. You can use it as a face highlighter or an eyeshadow. It gives a wearable glamorous glow on my cheeks especially if you have neutral undertone and light to medium skintone. The neutral undertone of this highlighter can match any skin tone beautifully. I think it's the most versatile highlighter - color-wise- that I own or know of.

The texture is buttery smooth and easy to go opaque. A light hand would do the wonder. It's less shimmery than Nars Albatros but still rather prominently frosty for daytime looks. Manizer is housed in a sturdy case that's also attached with a large mirror. It's the kind of mirror that I can actually look at while doing makeup rather than a decoration piece. This highlighter slash eyeshadow in a durable sleek case is a perfect travel companion.

 If you want a nice easy-to-use highlighter that lasts a long time without breaking your wallet, Mary-Lou Manizer is for you.

For reviews on my other favorite highlighters, please click on the highlighter label of this post.

Review: Highlighter - NARS Albatros

Nars Albatros ($27 for 0.16) is described as sheer light golden sheen, which I half-agree with. The golden sheen is very visible and opaque. When applied, the light cream base lies under the golden shimmer layer regardless how I blend it. I'm OK with separate color finish but the golden shimmer is too obvious for my taste even with evening looks. The texture is buttery smooth. It glides on easily and stays put. I love to apply Albatros lightly on top of my blushes rather than my bare checkbones. For the sake of pictures, I swatched all highlighters heavily. When blended out, Albatros looks much softer and wearable.

Albtros is the second most shimmery (Tarina Tarantino Sparklicity wins the title) among the hightlighters I own. Here is a quick comparison with other highlighters of the same family color. TheBalm Manizer has beige undertone. Dior Amber Diamond is a golden copper. Bobbi Brown Pink Oyster has pinky beige base.

If you're medium to dark skin, you might want to test Albatros in person before purchasing. Lighter-skin ladies would love this daring highlighter, particularly if you love shimmer. I like NARS packaging the best for traveling - slim, sleek, effective and durable.

Sneak peak - my beloved highlighters

I'm the type of person who rock glowy cheeks year round, regardless of the occasions. Overly shiny or shimmery never grow on me but a natural sheen on the cheeks is my must-have. Unsurprisingly, I own quite a few highlighters that I trust and use frequently. When I'm obsessed of a product I've gotta share. 

The next few posts will features only powder highlighters since I do prefer them over cream or liquid formula. I need to work harder on the swatches as these babies look barely different under imperfect light conditions. Happy Tuesday!