How to apply highlighter correctly (and a best-selling Maybelline stick, to make it easier)

The illuminator is one of those cosmetics designed to achieve an immediate good-looking effect at home, but it is not always clear how to apply it to achieve a satisfactory result. As Rubén Zamora, Gato, Maybelline's official makeup artist, explained to EL PAÍS Escaparate, “well-applied highlighter makes the difference between beautiful skin and radiant skin. Provides a luminosity and splendor typical of young, smooth and lustrous skin. However, if applied incorrectly, it can give a sensation of oily skin or mark shine in unwanted areas.

How to choose the color of the highlighter?

The first step to obtaining an optimal effect is to “choose the perfect shade of highlighter for each skin”, recalls Gato. “Fair skin types need a pearly/pink highlighter and never more intense than your natural skin tone. Medium and dark skin types will be best enhanced with a slightly golden highlighter.”

At Amazon, for example, this Maybelline highlighter in a creamy stick is having a lot of success. This is Master Strobing, a product that is very easy to apply, which is sold in two shades (light and medium), and which helps to mark and enhance the features.

Where to use the highlighter?

A common mistake when applying highlighters is to confuse them with concealers and use them to cover areas that we really want to go unnoticed. As the make-up artist Gato explains, “the golden rule of highlighting is to control and tone down the shine in the areas that we don't want to highlight. This is: the center of the forehead and chin (which would give the appearance of oily skin) and the nasolabial fold (since it can mark the rictus more)”.

In this way, the points in which he recommends applying it to achieve a balanced face and beautiful skin would be: “The entire upper part of the cheekbone; under brow bone lacrimal; center of the eyelid (on the shadow and only if you want to enhance its satin effect), and on the cupid's bow of the lips (since it helps to project them, making them more fleshy)”, says Gato. In addition, “some girls also apply it to the tip of the nose. I only recommend it for small noses, because the shine can oversize the tip”.

“Natural and with an elegant and soft glow”

A highly recommended product to include in your beauty routine is Maybelline's creamy texture highlighter. A stick proposal that has become the best-selling product in its category on Amazon. Among the more than 2,800 reviews that can be read on the e-commerce platform about this product, the messages that have to do with its easy application and the good face effect that is achieved in a few minutes are repeated.

“I love it!” explains this user who identifies as Vir. “The tone that I chose, being quite white, was 100 Light. As it is a stick, it does not make it greasy or dry and it is suitable for all skin types. It illuminates a lot without the need for several passes. Also, if you want a more natural finish, just blend it a bit. The shine it leaves behind is very beautiful and does not burden the face at all.

This other customer describes her experience with the Maybelline highlighter stick as follows: “I have a fair complexion and I love this product. It has the lighting effect I was looking for: natural and with a soft elegant glow that doesn't look like glitter. The lighting is uniform and there is almost no need to hit it with the brush when applying it to the desired areas. Personally, I'm more of this peachy-golden touch than pink, but I'm sure pink is also very successful”.

*All purchase prices included in this article are updated as of January 25, 2022.

[Remember that if you are an Amazon Prime user, all purchases have free shipping costs. Amazon offers a free, no-obligation 30-day trial period.]

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