We now all know Kim Kardashian's and many other celebrities' secret to look from to norm to fab – it's contour, contour, contour. Contouring is basically two parts, Sculpting and Highlighting. From powders to creams to liquid, pens to bottles and pots, there are many types of textures and products that can help you achieve this step.
Today, we are going to focus on just the latter part of contouring – Highlighting. Adding highlights to your cheekbones, cupid’s bow, bridge of the nose, corners of the eyes and a tad on the chin gives you an instant makeover that not only makes you look slim, it enhances your bone structure and gives your skin a gorgeous youthful glow.
While there are indeed many different types of highlighters, my favourites ones must be the liquid pen highlighters types for their precision and easy to use application that makes morning makeup fast and a breeze. They also look the most natural, sitting just on top of your foundation in your makeup routine and right below some setting loose powder.
From Top to Bottom
Physicians Formula Nude Wear Touch of Glow Concealer / Highlighter in Nude Glow
Estee Lauder Double Wear Brush-On Glow BB Highlighter in 2C Light/Medium (Cool)
YSL Touche Éclat Radient Touch in 2.5
YSL Touche Éclat Radient Touch
Formulated for all skin types and powered by the radiance-boosting Luminocaptide Complex, an application of this award winning pen and your skin is instantly illuminated. The mechanic works by clicking at the black end to push the product out, which by itself is already unique enough. It is the most sheer and illuminating out of the 3 comparisons I have here, it is the lightest. No. 2.5 is also a medium yellow undertone, which matches my skin tone perfectly.
While using this, I find myself building on the area that I want to highlight for a more intense look. I do the same too when I need some extra coverage on blemished spots. it worked well for me to highlight the nose bridge, check bones, cupid bow and lips for the extra pout but it didn't do so well when it comes to the under eye area. The products just fails to lighten up my dark circles, sometimes giving me the 'reverse panda eyes' effect. This could be due to it's yellow undertone failing to neutralise and cover up the blue and purple hues in my eye bags. One with a more pinkish hue (no. 1) might do the job better.
Available in 12 different colours, YSL made sure to have pretty much all different skin tones and concerns covered 🙂
Estee Lauder Double Wear Brush-On Glow BB Highlighter
An addition to it's already popular Double Wear line, Estee Lauder introduced the new Brush-On Glow BB Highlighter earlier spring this year. It's Photo Optic™ Technology brightens shadows, helps erase the look of fatigue and highlights facial features. It's mechanics is slightly different too, requiring twisting at the bottom of applicator to dispense your desired amount of highlighter into the brush tip. True to it's BB name, it wears heavier than the YSL, providing a good medium coverage and a more pinkish undertone. On good days, I could even use this baby as a concealer, making my face look more illuminated and less cakey!
I have been using this highlight for awhile and I find myself reaching out for it more, especially on rushed mornings where I don't have the time to switch between products (namely highlighters and concealers). Comparing the Estee Lauder Double Wear Brush-On Glow BB Highlighter to the YSL Touche Eclat, I find this less illuminating, yet, due to it's more pinkish undertone, it gives me the perfect coverage I need for my under eyes. On less rushed days, I would pair this up with my YSL, using this for the under eye, tip of my nose and blemished areas and the YSL on the other areas for highlighting and sculpting effects.
Added moisturising and hydrating formula is another key reason for me to keep gravitating towards this highlighting pen! With it's moisturising formula, it doesn't settle in creases and lasts all day, perfect for achieving a natural look!
The brush bristles are almost similar to YSL , comparably soft and just a tad longer for wider application.
Many thanks to Ion Orchard, I had the opportunity to learn more about the Estee Lauder Double Wear Brush-On Glow BB Highlighter from the BA and how to use it properly to create the iconic 'EL Lift' .
The EL lift consists of both conturing techniques, firstly highlighting your features by creating a inverted E, starting from the tip of your brows to the inner corners of your eyes and to the cheekbone, then moving back to the inner corners of your nose and out to just below where you would normally sculpt your cheeks.
Next, you create another E, this time facing the right direction and using sculpting powder to achieve the desired contoured look.
The results? AMAZING!
A higher cheek bone, raised eyes for a more awaken look, thinner and more defined jawline, this is lifting without botox! Another reason why girls should learn how to contour your faces 🙂
Available in 8 different colours, there's sure to be something that matches you! If you have dark eye circles and serious under eye concerns like me, I would highly recommend you to have this product in handy.
Physicians Formula Nude Wear Touch of Glow Concealer / Highlighter in Nude Glow
Physician's Formula is a American DrugStore brand with pretty gorgeous packaging that (what I think) makes it one of the most premium drugstore brands. This brand is not available in Singapore and I have dear Fenny to thank for for this lovely! Similar to the Estee Lauder, it uses the twist to dispense mechanism, though I find it's mechanism producing uneven amounts of product with each twist, making it hard to gauge how many twists is usually needed for full face highlighting.
This lovely is the least illuminating of the 3, but still does it's job reasonably well. It is the heaviest of all three, thus blending could take awhile and abit of skill. However, it's formula is something to boast about – It's hypoallergenic, gluten free, fragrance-free and paraben-free and has abit of hydrating content as well. Being oil free and non-comedogenic, this product resonated well with my skin. I sometimes use the Physician Formula Nude Wear™Touch of Glow as a concealer or to brighten up blemishes due to it's less illuminating and thicker properties.
It's brush is stiffer than the previous 2 reviewed and I do wish that they had made it softer for easier application and blending without causing those unsightly streaks. I have to use a separate foundation brush to solve this issue.
This baby is sadly, only available in 1 color – Nude.
Here is a comparison swatch of all 3 products. As you can see, noth YSL and Estee Lauder are truly illuminating while the Physician Formula is thicker and provides more coverage.
If you like my write up and review, do leave a comment below so I know you have been here! Also, if you have a favourite highlighting product to shout out, please share with us!
I really appreciate your article because of how well you break it down on how well different products work!!! This leads me to know what exactly I need to buy n what color! Very helpful was this article to me, thank you so much and keep up with all new products. It sure makes it easier to pick a different variety of products!!!!
Thank you darling! Glad you enjoyed the article!