Fifty shades of beige… how to get out of a highlighter rut

My highlighter journey from subtle to duochromes, some application tricks and the lesson to love the skin you’re working with: how to get out of a highlighter rut.

When the whole highlighting craze started, I was painfully aware of my not, in any way, perfect skin. Every time I brushed some highlighter onto my cheeks, I would check self-consciously for enlarged pores, fine lines and texture. While the nature of a highlighter is, well, to highlight, I wanted a highlighter that at the same time would hide skin I didn’t deem perfect enough. I also was still very susceptible for prettily embossed powders, and it was the heyday of MAC’s Mineralize Skinfinishes: oh, the quandary!

My skin + highlighter ≠ good?

Of course, I bought them. I tried, though, to find the least shiny finishes, and the ones closest to my skintone as humanely possible, to minimize an overly highlighted look. (My love for MAC’s subtle and pretty Lightscapade is well documented, and you see in the pic above that it’s well-used!)

And that, Ladies and Gents, is why I’m sitting on a veritable hill of highlighters that all look the same: the finish might range from subtle to just visible, but nearly all my highlighters come in the same beige-y white colour. (Due to my skintone being white as the proverbial wall. – I realise that those early years would’ve been different for me if I’d had darker skin. Highlighters for darker skintones is something the industry only mastered not that long ago.)

The life changing magic of…

That was, until two things happened: I got older and less likely to give an f about my skin and how that may look to anyone passing me on the street. Also, becca’s Light Chaser Highlighter in Opal Flashes Jade ended up in my stash. OFJ is a duochrome shifting between pink and green, and I fell in love.

I also unearthed all those flashy MAC Skinfinishes (remember Porcelain Pink or Perfect Topping?), and started to think about getting out of my highlighter rut. (Oh, and then I bought Maybelline’s Knockout that’s seriously the most amazing makeup item I bought in ages. It shifts from cool pink to warm gold and is super gorgeous on cheeks and eyes!) (Look at our instagram for a vid!)

Highlighter placement

Traditional placement

Makeup has borrowed a lot from art, and not least of all the traditional highlighter placement. Think of a portrait: a painter will use lighter paint for parts of the face he wants to stand out, and darker, shadowy colours for parts that he wants to recede. Both combined give definition to a face.

And that’s what we mimic with highlighting and contouring products. While each face shape is different, the usual places for a highlighting product are the cheekbones, cupid’s bow, browbones, the tip of the nose, and the chin.

Or not?

During my ‘ohemgee don’t look at my problem skin areas’-phase, I would only ever very, very carefully highlight the outer parts of my cheekbones. If you think your textured skin prevents you from regular highlighter placement, why don’t you go for areas like the cupid’s bow, inner eye corner or brow bones? 

I’ve also realised that really out there highlighters (look at all the great Fenty ones!) are working great as one-and-done eyeshadows. One swipe, and your eyes are clothes on shifty goodness. Pair with a liner and mascara and have the world’s most elaborate looking eye ever done in 5secs.

Application

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I used to apply all my highlighters with a rounded MAC 168 brush. It has a great width for my face shape, but heavy-handed me was never able to properly control the amount of powder I used. All highlighters came out blingy, shiny and yeah, my skin would indeed look textured.

Brushes

I then encountered the joys of a fan brush and never looked back. It’s totally possible to use very shiny highlighters and tone them down, or use a duochrome or coloured highlighter and not look totally out there.

Layering

As with all things, in makeup and in life, it matters a lot what you surround yourself with (and your highlighter). Layering blushes (especially matte ones) and blingy highlighters can have a very pleasing effect and give you the best of both worlds: wearing that totally crazy highlighter and not look crazy!

Balancing looks

I also try to balance my whole look when I’m wearing a very, very visible highlighter. I often like a very nude look to go with that and find it gives it a pleasing edginess.

Don’t give an f

In a lot of makeup tutorials about highlighters it’ll be stressed that you should make sure your skin is as perfect as possible – perfect base and blabla. I won’t. Because, see, that was the thing how to get out of a highlighter rut and make me wear fun highlighters without the fear of drawing attention to my skin: not to care that it draws attention to any perceived faults. It’s fun. No matter what your skin looks like. Also, no one has the skin that’s pictured in an IG pic.

The end.

Please note that this review is not sponsored in any way. We buy products ourselves, with our own money, and don’t accept exchanging goods, or money, for reviews. We are completely independent, and our reviews reflect that.