It seems that every week there is a new highlighter hitting the market. A new must have the product to achieve the glow you’ve longed for. A highlighter that will give you enough glow to be seen from space. If you’re like me and a little obsessed with highlighters, then it is very easy to get caught up in the hype that surrounds every new release.

To make your decision a little easier when it comes to picking a new highlighter, I have put together my hits, misses and maybes. I know there are some obvious choices included, but there are a few controversial ones too!!

Hits

Becca Champagne Pop

Ok, so lets get the obvious one out-of-the-way first. If you’re following me a while, you will know of my absolute obsession with this highlighter. Not only is this my favourite highlighter, but I would almost go as far as saying that this is my favourite makeup product full stop! This highlighter is nothing short of incredible.

Becca Champagne pop is a collaboration with Becca cosmetics and the top YouTuber Jaclyn Hill. It was released initially as a limited edition product in the summer of 2015, but due to it’s massive popularity it has now become a permanent member of the Becca collection.

The Becca Shimmering skin perfector pressed in the shade Champagne pop, is a beautiful champagne colour, as the name would suggest. It is extremely soft and creamy and the glow, oh dear god the glow, is incredible. I honestly can’t recommend this enough! It is expensive at around €38 depending on the exchange rate, but I have mine since the summer of 2015 and I am only now ready for a few one. If you fancy getting one you can pick one up from Cult Beauty here. You can read a full review here. 

Laura Geller Gilded Honey

This highlighter has been doing the rounds on youtube for a while now. Every so often it would pop up on my radar, but as it was only available in the States, I tended to ignore it. That was until I discovered the Debenhams Ireland now have a Laura Geller stand and even though my husband has told me there is no more makeup to come through the doors, I bought it!!

While Champagne pop is my Holy Grail, Gilded Honey is fast being coming a rival for Becca. This is an incredibly beautiful golden toned highlighter. I will say that champagne pop is little more finely milled and more subtle on the skin, but the glow that Gilded Honey gives is incredible!  I honestly love this.

While Laura Geller is available in Debenhams for €31.50 here,  it is a lot cheaper on Beauty Bay at €20.20 but it is now out of stock there.

The Balm Mary Lou Manizer

The Mary Lou Manizer is a cult favourite and it is not hard to see why! The Mary Lou Manizer is a smooth, buttery and extremely pigmented highlighter. It is a beautiful champagne colour, that would look gorgeous on fair to medium dark toned skin. It is has a beautiful shimmer to it, without a hint of glitter insight. Due to the unbelievable pigmentation of Mary Lou, this is not a highlighter for those that just want a subtle barely there glow. I actually only picked this up today and used it for the first time in a few weeks and yet again it blew me away with its beauty. You can buy it online here or in Debenhams stores for €21.50

Maybes

Before I talk about the maybes, it is worth nothing that I actually like these and have at one point or other loved them but when the highlighters that I have mentioned in my hits section came into my life, I realised that I wanted different things from my highlighter!

Mac Extra Dimension skin finish – Beaming blush

Late last year, Mac released new four new highlighter shades into their In The Spotlight collection. The four shades are Beaming Blush, Show Gold, Double Gleam and Soft Frost. As the shades are all quite different, it means that there is a highlighter to suit most skin tones.

A few months ago I was sent beaming blush to try and I have to admit it really is beautiful. It is a very subtle pinky toned highlighter with a gold and pink shimmer. While I think this is a gorgeous highlighter, for me it is a little too subtle. I like to see my glow, but with this is is more of a light sheen. I honestly think for so many this will be the perfect highlighter but for me, it was a little too light and that is the only reason it has ended up in the maybe list. You can buy it from Mac for €31.50 here.

Too Faced Candlelight glow

The Too Faced Candlelight glow, is in my maybe list for the very same reason as the Mac Extra Dimension skin finish, it just doesn’t set my heart alight.

The Too Faced Candlelight warm glow is split into two shades that can be worn separately or mixed together. Too Faced have describe the shades as a champagne and peach combo that are set to give your skin a certain radiance and for once a brands description hits the nail very firmly on the head. The left side of the highlighter is a  champagne colour with warmer undertones to it.The right side is the peachier shade and is indeed a little warmer on the skin than the champagne colour.I think the colour pay off is better on the champagne colour than the peach shade, but the best way to wear them is to mix the both together.

This is probably one for paler ladies that don’t love a full on glow. For me, as lovely as it is,there really isn’t anything all the wrong with it, but I think there is better out there. Too Faced products can be bought in Debenhams stores and online. The Too Faced Candlelight glow is €30 and you can buy it here. 

Inglot Sparkling dust

For so long, this Inglot Sparkling dust was a holy grail product for me. I honestly couldn’t get enough of it. If you like glow, well this highlighter gives you a serious glow and a lovely glow at that. This product has a seriously reflective quality. However, the reason I have put this into the maybe pile, is it is just too chunky and can look quite obvious on the skin. While this was something that i before loved, now my skin needs to look really glowy, but not in an overly obvious way. You can buy it for €20 here.

Misses

Colour pop super shock cheek – Wisp

This is a prime example of why you should not always take beauty bloggers word as gospel and instead do research outside of your favourite bloggers promise of excellence. For so long I heard american Youtubers rave about the Colourpop highlighters, so when my parents were in the States last year, I put in a large order with colour pop for them to bring home for me. While I had great success with their lip products, this highlighter is just not good at all.

While the colour in the pan is lovely, when applied to the face it looks chunky, glittery and doesn’t even glow. Instead it just looks like you’ve put some gold eyeshadow on your face! In my opinion this is certainly one to be avoided. However, if you do want to take a look you can buy it from ColourPop for $8 here.

Makeup Revolution Vivid Baked highlighter – Golden lights

While a lot of my favourite highlighter are from more high end brands, there are plenty of amazing budget highlighters on the market. Unfortunately the Vivid Baked highlighter from Makeup Revolution is not one of those.

The shade Golden lights probably is a little on the pale side for me, but on application the colour payoff was pretty dismal. I tried applying it with a number of different brushes, in a number of different ways and no matter what I did, I got very little glow from it. Instead just like with the Colourpop highlighter, it just looked like a powder on my face, and not a highlighter. You can pick up Makeup Revolution from Pharmacies nationwide.

Catrice High Glow Mineral higlighter

So I have only gone and left the most disappointing and probably the most controversial highlighter until last! This is a favourite of many a beauty blogger and last year, I fell into the hype and searched the country high and low for one. My god was I bitterly disappointed, as I am a big Catrice fan, especially their mascaras. I should probably not here, that just because I really don’t like this, doesn’t mean any of those bloggers were anything but honest, as I have friends who love this highlighter!

I am trying to find words to describe this that won’t have me completely slating it, as that is not something I like to do with product. However, there really is nothing I like about this. It is nothing short of a slivery glittery mess on my face. It was awful on me!! I wish it was something I could recommend, as the price point is excellent, but for me, you’re far better off spending you money on a Wet n Wild highlighter if you want something that is budget friendly.

 

• There is a mix of both pr samples and products I bought myself in this post
• This post has some links that are powered by skimlinks. This means that I get a very small percentage of the price of the product if it is bought using this link. You do not get charged any extra,as the price is still the same for you. If you don’t fancy using those links, for the most part I have named the places where you can buy each product yourself. xxx