It’s no secret that alongside liquid lipstick, my favourite item of makeup is HIGHLIGHTER. I mean, it’s having its moment in the sun right now – everyone is all over this exaggerated, borderline obnoxious highlight and I just love it. What’s not to love about smothering yourself in glitter?! Obviously, you’ll get some people (Debbie Downers) who think that the current trend is ‘too much’ buttttt that’s not what BBHb thinks 😉

I have been collecting highlighters for some time now, and the purpose of this post is to review all of my highlighters, mentioning their strengths and weaknesses and who each one is best suited to. Let’s start, shall we?

These are in no particular order, per se… Each has its own merits and deserves a place on this list – the hardest part is choosing which one you want!

1. Mary Lou Manizer, TheBalm £17.50 for 8.5g

This is an oldie but a goodie, it’s an intense champagne coloured highlight that you’ll be able to see from space. It’s not the smoothest or the butteriest, but it’s fairly blendable and has decent pigment. It’s a safe investment and will work for most light to tan skin tones. Darker girls may struggle with this as it’s so intense from first stroke but it could work with some clever foundation blending. It lasts for a good 7 hours from first application.

• Pigmentation – 8/10
• Texture – 6/10
• Longevity – 8/10
• Price – 7/10
• Overall – 7/10

2. So Hollywood Illuminator, Anastasia Beverly Hills £28 for 9g (currently out of stock)

This was a cult product. It flew off the shelves like nobody’s business, much like everything ABH releases. It’s a warm golden highlighter, or ‘illuminator’ that capitalises on the intense glittery highlight trend. The glitter particles are rather large in this one, it’s great for parties but it’s not a natural glow like some others on this list. It’s also really pricey. It would work for warm light to medium dark complexions as it’s so gold but I have to say, my favourite way to wear this illuminator is on top of another more subtle highlight to diffuse the blending.

• Pigmentation – 9/10
• Texture – 7/10
• Longevity – 9/10
• Price – 6/10
• Overall – 8/10

3. Wisp and Teasecake, Colourpop $8 for 4.2g (roughly £6 each)

So I bought these a little over a year ago – when they first came out. Though I was always reluctant to recommend them to my friends over here in the UK because back then, colourpop was near impossible to get hold of. Despite spelling ‘colour’ the British way, this American brand and their weird moussey formulas did not share the goods. I am now happy to report that as of July 2016, they have started shipping internationally! Yayyyyy!

Wisp is a beautiful, soft golden colour and has a mix of high glitter and intense sheen. It is one of my all time favourite highlighters because it’s intense but so easily blendable. With these colourpop ones, or cream highlights in general, you can apply the product with a damp beauty blender after foundation and it just does all of the work for you. You aren’t left with any harsh lines of glitter but you can build up the intensity on the highest points of the face easily. The formula is weird. It’s soft and spongey and moussey all at the same time. It dries to a powder like finish but it’s a dry mousse sort of texture? Idk. It lasts on the face for AGES, longer than any of the other highlights on this list and retains its intensity.

Teasecake is a lovely pink/gold highlight. I like to use it as a blush topper as well as a highlight when I’ve got cool/pink tones on the eyes. It’s very pretty and gives a healthy flush to the face. Both shades work for light to tan skin tones, in my opinion.

• Pigmentation – 9/10
• Texture – 9/10
• Longevity – 10/10
• Price – 7/10 (it seems a great price, but you get almost half the product as the bigger pans!)
• Overall – 9/10

4. Gilded Honey, Laura Geller £21 for 4.5g

This purchase I can fully blame on beauty bloggers and youtubers. Ahem; Amrezy, Lustrelux, Desi Perkins.. I’m looking at you. It’s gold… Like really really gold. And really glittery. It doesn’t reflect as much light as ABH So Hollywood but the difference is pretty negligible. One might say they are ‘dupes’ for each other. However, drastic price difference. Although the ABH one is expensive for a highlighter, this one is HALF THE SIZE! If you have the ABH, pass on this and if you have this, don’t worry about adding the ABH to your collection. They look very similar on the skin. Because this one pulls a tad more gold, it may be unsuitable for very fair skin tones. It will, however work for most others. Although it’s a powder, and there’s a fair amount of fall-out on the pan when you swipe a brush into it, it has a creamy, buttery texture that can be blended out with a little extra time. The packaging is also pretty basic considering the price tag. It’s a nice highlighter, but I’m not gonna lie – I rarely reach for it.

• Pigmentation – 9/10
• Texture – 9/10
• Longevity – 8/10
• Price – 5/10
• Overall – 7.5/10

5. Golden Rose, Autograph at M&S, £15 for 10g

Okay, if you’re wondering how M&S made it on to the same list as Becca and ABH then oh my gosh you need to go look at the autograph range in store. It is excellent. This highlight is one of the few things I have from the range but it’s as good as, if not better than some high end or cult buys. I loved this one so much, I got my mum another of the highlighters in the range and she loves it too. This golden rose shade is pretty pink, but it’s a warm pink and goes nicely with yellow/golden undertones, unlike some other pink highlights. It’s got pretty chunky glitter and is another one that can be seen from space but it definitely deserves its spot on this list, the light reflection is in.sane. The wear time is slightly compromised due to the chunks of glitter but its easily blendable and can be made to look very natural and rosy. It’s not dark enough to be a blush topper so I use this for highlight with warm pinks on the eyes.

• Pigmentation – 9/10
• Texture – 8/10
• Longevity – 7/10
• Price – 9/10
• Overall – 8.5/10

6. Sunbeam, Topshop Beauty £10 for 6.5g

I really like Topshop makeup, it’s always very pigmented and well priced. This yellow gold highlighter is no exception. It’s truly YELLOW. It looks amazing on medium, tan and deep skin but I feel like lighter skin tones might not be so accommodating. It’s the kind of glow you want after a holiday in the middle east. The glitter is not chunky, but it can be built up to deep intensity. It can also be brushed over the cheekbones lightly for a “lit from within” look. (I hate that phrase so much, however it’s accurate in this context). It lasts for a good while on the skin but the colour does fade. As it is a ‘baked’ product, it’s meant to give more of a wash of colour than provide intense pigment and butteriness but this is very pigmented regardless.

• Pigmentation – 8/10
• Texture – 7/10
• Longevity – 7/10
• Price – 9/10
• Overall – 8/10

7. That Glow Glowkit, Anastasia Beverly Hills £39 for 4 x 7.4g

Here’s a clearer picture of the swatches:

This is another one that was really highly anticipated, but for good reason. It gives one of the glowiest glows ever. It doesn’t have huge glitter particles and gives more of a sheen but that’s why it’s so flattering. You can use the colours individually or mix them for a layered and super intense effect. I like to mix Dripping in Gold (a pure gold) with Bubbly (a cooler champagne gold) as a base and then spray my face with Urban Decay all nighter setting spray (or MAC fix+) and apply Sunburst to the very highest points of my cheeks. This adds dimension to the highlight and avoids the streak of shiny stuff. Golden Bronze is one of my all time favourite bronzers to use as it acts as a true bronzer and not a contour. All in all, every single shade in this kit is versatile and useful and considering the size of the pans, it’s extremely good value… Especially compared to the ABH illuminators.

• Pigmentation – 7/10 (it’s not the most pigmented – it’s all about layering this one and it’s actually a good thing)
• Texture – 9/10
• Longevity – 8/10
• Price – 9/10
• Overall – 9/10

8. Albatross, Nars, £23 for 4g

This is a relatively new addition to the family. I got it because I can hardly call myself a highlighter collector if I don’t have Nars albatross! It’s a classic and I guess I can see why… When it first came out all those years ago it didn’t have the same competition from every other cosmetics company and it really does give you a strong glowy highlight. It looks white in the pan but the actual pigment is clear so you only see the reflects which pull VERY STRONGLY gold. Surprisingly, it’s most like topshop sunbeam on this list than any other once brushed on to the cheeks and blended out! It claims to be “universally flattering” because of the unusual concept of transparent pigment, and I guess that’s believable. I would stay away if you wear pink toned foundation and you’re fair though, as it might just clash.

• Pigmentation – 7/10
• Texture – 7/10
• Longevity – 7/10
• Price – 7/10
• Overall – 7/10

9. Sun Beam, Benefit, £19.50 for 13ml

This was one of the first highlighters in my collection. I’ll be honest – I don’t use it often. It had more of a place before the Becca SSP as I used to mix it into my foundation for a nice glow. It’s more purse friendly than the Becca, so if you’re happy to spend under £20 for a liquid highlighter, this won’t disappoint! Although I will say, the applicator is pretty impractical – a pump would be better!

• Pigmentation – 8/10 (sheers out quite a bit)
• Texture – 8/10
• Longevity – 8/10
• Price – 8/10
• Overall – 8/10

10. Moonlight Shimmering Skin Perfector, Becca, £34 for 50ml

I saved the best for last. This is my all time favourite highlighter because it does everything… It’s a thick liquid consistency that can be mixed in to your base, you can also pat it straight on to the high points of the cheeks and it lasts forever! It’s super blendable and you will never get the dreaded highlighter streak. It doesn’t alter the texture or longevity of your foundation but does make it ever so slightly lighter so bear this in mind if your foundation errs on the light side. It’s yellow toned and pulls champagne on medium skin. There are a few colours – Pearl for the very fair, and Moonstone and Opal for medium skin and Topaz and Rose Gold for tan-dark skin. They’re all just as gorgeous and if I could justify having all of them, I would. I honestly don’t have enough good things to say about it. It is one of the most expensive products on this list but it is totally worth the price because of the whopping 50ml (!!) of product. You’ll literally never use it up. (Ok Becca pls hire me now thanks.) All joking aside, the only downside to this product is the amount dispensed in each pump is quite a lot. It’s not really a big deal because there’s so much of it, but I hate wasting product nonetheless.

• Pigmentation – 9/10
• Texture – 10/10
• Longevity – 10/10
• Price – 9/10
• Overall – 10/10

 

Beam of Light Highlighter 02, Kiko Milano (unavailable)

Okay, so this one isn’t available anymore apparently but it deserves honourable mention because it’s the ONLY highlight I reach for on “minimal makeup days” i.e, no foundation. It’s not at all glittery and reflects the light soooo naturally. Very gutted this isn’t available for you guys to pick up but if it ever comes back make sure you grab it!