What is a highlighter and how to use it?

What a highlighter is and how to use it - every woman knows who is not used to showing bruises under her eyes and other signs of fatigue. This cosmetic can work wonders in skillful hands, like a magic wand, transforming a sleepy Cinderella into a beautiful princess. For this it is enough to know what, where and how to apply.

The answer lies in the name of the cosmetic product. "To highlit" from English means “highlight, emphasize”, and the purpose of a cosmetic product is to place light accents in makeup.

Highlighter is simply necessary after using tonal means or powder, because they conceal the natural relief of the face. After applying the tone, it looks flat and a little theatrical, and the shine helps to re-identify the features that form the volume.

Using the properties of the highlighter, you can not only correct features like too wide nose or too low forehead, but also divert attention from dark circles under the eyes, redness of the mucous membrane and dull skin color. A few touches in certain places will make her rested and create the illusion of a healthy glow from within.

Highlighter, luminizer, radiant - it's all about him, a little helper in the arsenal of any self-respecting makeup artist. And not only professional. Not superfluous, this tool will be in a cosmetics bag for amateur self-apply make-up. And for those who adhere to the makeup technique “without makeup” - this is the first number among the must-have mast.

It differs from other means:

• Composition. It is based on light-reflecting and photochromatic particles, due to which the skin looks naturally radiant, not shiny;
• The uniqueness of the properties. No matter what lifehacks say in women's magazines, no other cosmetic product possesses such properties, so it is difficult to fully replace the highlighter with pearl shadows, pale blush, lip gloss. Moreover, it is not possible to achieve a similar effect with the help of repeated use of a primer or a moisturizing cream;

• Special application technology. Illuminizer requires strict adherence to the rules of use, otherwise there is a risk to make a wide nose even wider, and bruises even more noticeable;
• A variety of species. Few remedies are represented in all possible textures and formats: in stick, in balls, in pencil, in liquid, cream and crumbly form. Each of them has its own advantages and disadvantages, it is differently combined with other products of decorative cosmetics and is designed for different skin types;
• Contraindications. Of course, we are not talking about the composition of a substance that can cause an allergic reaction. The highlighter is contraindicated for owners of problem skin, which is not worth attracting attention to. For problems with acne, peeling and redness, it is better to limit the use of the product in the eye area.

The number of varieties of highlighters, multiplied by the number of cosmetic brands can be taken by surprise by any newcomer to the make-up area.The easiest way to navigate in the range, if you divide all the funds into groups: solid, cream, liquid, powder.

• Pencil. In this format, the tool is suitable for working out fine details: the water line on the lower eyelid, the corners of the eyes, the areas under the eyebrows. Pencil is convenient to place accents quickly and accurately, but it is difficult for them to work over vast areas.

• Stick The tool in a tube a la lipstick is convenient because you can take it with you everywhere and fix makeup during the day. The stick itself is semi-hard, easily unscrewed, and the highlighter pleasantly rests on the skin. It can be applied as a slight movement on the face, followed by shading, and picking up the product on the fingertips.

Are placed in tubes of small volume. A thick creamy consistency is convenient for applying both on large and small areas. Thanks to its light texture, the highlighter cream gives a natural and delicate shine. May be with a wet effect and sequins.

They are less dense consistency, similar to a lotion or fluid, and more durability. Available in the form of tubes with an applicator, markers with a small brush at the end and in the form of bottles with dispenser. The latter are applied using a sponge or a beauty blender.

It is convenient to apply liquid highlighters to any parts of the face, to shade with the help of brushes or fingers, to adjust their makeup throughout the day. They do not require a base in the form of primer and foundation creams. In the absence of problems with the skin with light enough touch to put a little money on the right areas.

Like creamy textures, a liquid highlighter is not designed to be applied over compact powder. He can lay a stain that will be difficult to shade in a beautiful natural flare, and under the powder will lose its luster.

There are two types - crumbly and compact. Compact convenient to take with you, they are suitable for beginners and easy to apply with a wide brush at the end of the makeup. Crumbly are a more professional tool that requires skill from a makeup artist. They can be mixed and applied to different parts of the face, creating interesting overflows and shades on the skin.

Both products fit well both on tonal foundations and on powder, while in the first case a more brilliant and expressive effect is obtained, and in the second - a softer and more casual one.

This product is pollen containing any color. With the help of pigments transparent gel for eyebrows turns into green, pink, blue mascara or eyeliner. By themselves, they are used as shadows or the most natural “radiant” for the face, applied with a small flat brush.

Translucent natural shades are best suited .. With them, the face will not look too powdered or flat, and make-up will be as inconspicuous as possible.

The highlighter, like the tonal basis, is selected according to the skin tone. It can be tested on the same areas as other cosmetics: the wrist, the back of the hand, directly on the face. The ideal product should lie imperceptibly on the skin after feathering, giving it only a slight radiance.

For those who find it difficult to independently find the right shade, makeup artists have developed a number of recommendations:

• Light porcelain leather fit warm silver shades. You can experiment with cold pink, but put them in very small quantities so that the face does not look like a doll;
• When visible redness suitable products in purple, pink and violet tones. They need to be very careful not to get the opposite effect, focusing on unwanted redness;
• Pure young skin can afford colors deliberately different from the natural shade: violet, blue, pink, lavender;
• A beautiful tan will emphasize the golden color best. and tones in bronze;
• Asian skin type Honey shades are intended;
• Olive undertone it is also better to shade with warm colors, such as peach.

Top of the best in texture, durability and color palette means, for the most part, of products of famous brands for professional make-up.

In fifth place in the top five are products from Sleek Makeup. All palettes contain several types of highlighters for different makeup, each of which gives a delicate glow for the whole day. In addition to the natural and familiar colors, Sleek Makeup produces blue, purple and lavender highlighters, with which you can recreate the image of a model from the catwalk. For everyday use, they are not suitable, but for the festive makeup will come in handy.

The fourth place is occupied by cosmetics manufactured by NYX. This is the most affordable option among professional cosmetics, while its properties are not inferior to the more expensive ones. Highlighters can be used without a tonal base, on top of it and adding a drop when applying a tone to give the whole face a slight shine.

At the third position, the public's favorite from the South Korean brand Berrisom settled. Like all cosmetics for the Asian type of skin, it has a strong brightening effect and can be used as a full moisturizing cream.

The second place belongs to the brand The Balm, whose credo is “Beauty in 5 minutes”. Besides the fact that they are high-quality and functional assistants for creating makeup, they are also packed in original tubes and jars in the style of rockabilly.

First place is shared by two giants in the beauty industry - brands Bobby Brown and MAC, and their competition is Make Up For Ever. These products perfectly lie on the skin, perfectly behave during the day, are packaged in convenient bottles and are presented in the broadest color palette.

Highlighter is an irreplaceable thing, and therefore you should not save on it. Few mass-market products will be able to rip into properties with a quality highlighter from a reputable brand. And if he can, then the search for him will take the same amount for which you can immediately buy a good tool.

Among the professional, but affordable, is the brand Berrisom. The average price for a bottle is 900 rubles.

A little more expensive Sleek Makeup. You can purchase a palette of a magical radiant within 1125 rubles.

The Bulm products will fall into a cosmetic bag for 2000 rubles; the average price tag on MAC, Make Up For Ever and Bobby Brown is from 1500 to 3500.

For those who acquire the highlighter for the first time, and are not ready to spend a lot of money, there is a budget, but a quality product from L'oreal. Its price is within 699 rubles.

It is also worth looking at NYX cosmetics, which can also be purchased for a relatively small price - from 400 rubles.

Using the highlighter correctly is a prerequisite for high-quality makeup. This is the final touch, so they place accents last, after wetting and smoothing the tone. It is important to remember that:

• Apply the product in the manner recommended for a particular texture. So, creamy substance is good to type fingers, liquid - sponge, and crumbly product requires the use of a brush;
• More - does not mean better when it comes to makeup. Economical use of the shining product in the right places will make the face fresher, younger and more beautiful, and the surplus will make it completely shiny, like a Pancake pancake;
• Apply glare need in strictly certain places.

Ladies who do not wear bangs can use the shine effect to make their forehead wider or taller. In the first case, you need to put a little money on the side parts and the temporal zone and carefully shade. In the second product should be placed on the border of the forehead in the center, at the roots of the hair.

With the help of glare, the eyebrow line is visually elevated, along the entire length or only along the corners. The most convenient way to do this is with a pencil, and shading with a cotton swab or brush.

In the eye make-up, the highlighter is especially important. It can perform several functions at once: visually enlarge them, make the eyes open and fresh, mask bruises and circles under the eyes, add shine to the eyelids in a festive make-up.

To increase the eyes, the emulsion is applied along the hairline in the center of the eyebrow. Do not do this to the owners of the impending eyelids, since the highlighter will only draw attention to this feature. Deep-set eyes will make more a small drop in the center of the eyelid, neatly feathered with a brush. The clarifier for this must be compact, like a shadow.

Two points, set in the corners of the eyes, "spread apart" close-set eyes. You can make them less sharp with a brush for blending eye shadows or fingertips. The same technique is used to create the effect of "open" look.

A highlight of the body and light pink shades is used on the water line of the lower eyelid to eliminate redness. Also, this method will come to the rescue of those who overslept at work or school, but wants to look rested and collected.

A fairly wide area, which is convenient for the highlighter to be dotted or powdered with a fan brush. The most successful places are the highest points of the cheekbones. If you put a little money on them and shade them, they will become more visible, high and clear, and also distract attention from small wrinkles and signs of fatigue.

The shining effect shortens the nose too long, lengthens the snub-nosed, narrows wide, makes it more elegant big. Depending on the desired effect, the agent is applied on the back of the nose, the tip or the wings. If there is a little hump you want to disguise, you should make a line along the back of the nose intermittently, without affecting the protruding part itself.

Light shine is used, as a rule, to visually enlarge the lips. A light tick above the upper lip and a point in the center of the lower one will help to add volume to them. Especially successful effect is obtained when using lip gloss or colorless hygienic lipstick. They look well-groomed, voluminous and beautiful.

All listed points are basic. If possible, the highlighter should be applied only to the problem areas, and not all over the face at once, so that the shine does not have too much.

Modern girl is easy to paint without the help of a makeup artist. There are a large number of lessons on makeup and recommendations on how to perform it step by step.

To complete the make-up with properly placed accents, you should use the scheme for a particular type of person. It shows where to glare at a triangular, square, round or oval shape to hide flaws. Do not ignore the proportions, otherwise there is a risk to be disappointed in the vaunted magic tool that simply does not give the desired results if it does not lie where it is needed.

Feathering is an important step in using a highlighter, which you should not forget. If you do not make the border lines soft and blurry, it will lie noticeable unnatural spot, focusing on the defect, which tried to hide.

The most suitable tools are brushes. A fan is convenient to apply the product, at the same time distributing it with a thin layer. With a wide powder brush, you can shade it when contouring or strobing over large areas. Thin elastic brushes made of natural lint are suitable for small areas that require accuracy: eyebrow line, eyelids, eye corners.

An important point: when applying a highlighter to the skin, it should be borne in mind that after blending, the flare borders will become wider, therefore the drop must initially be quite small. In order not to overdo it, it is better to apply it to different zones in stages.

Feather - the final touch. Before you start it, you need to completely make up.

Methods of correction and contouring of the face are widespread for a long time, but continue to improve. Strobe came to replace the difficult, time-consuming and heavy baking, contouring and Tonturing. It is convenient because it does not require careful toning of the face and drawing new lines that form more regular features and an oval.

His secret is in the play of light and using a highlighter with reflective elements.

Unlike the sculptor of dark shades, which is applied to the hollows, products with the effect of twinkling are superimposed on the protruding points, reducing and hiding all the excess.

It is performed in stages:

1. Preparation of the skin of the face. The highlighter is not a corrective or concealer, it is applied as a finishing touch, therefore, to begin with, the tone of the face is leveled using a usual foundation, cushion or foundation, but with the addition of a highlighter. It is not scary, if initially the tone was matting, it would still fall well on the skin, giving it a shining effect from the inside.

   The main condition - the two products must be thoroughly mixed. For application, a beauty blender or a high-quality brush with artificial bristles is suitable (natural bristle “eats up” liquid textures)

2. Masking problem areas. If there is a problem of strongly visible circles and bruises under the eyes, they should be disguised by the concealer, since even a good strobe will not cope with this task as well;
3. Shine enhancement. This stage involves re-applying the highlighter already in its pure form to certain areas. The basic points for strobing are: under the eyes, a vertical highlight on the forehead above the bend of the eyebrow, the area under the eyebrow, the back of the nose, the edges of the nasolabial fold, the upper lip, the center of the chin, the center of the forehead, the corners of the eyes. The effect can be maximized by re-isolating the zones with a dry luminizer.

If outerwear demonstrates a decollete or bare shoulders, they should also be worked out with a few taps of the brush.

Models in glossy magazines, stars on the red carpet and popular beauties set certain parameters for an attractive appearance, and the narrow face of the correct shape is one of them. In fact, it is not at all necessary to chase this incubator beauty, it is enough to correctly emphasize the features of your type. Highlighter in this case is an indispensable tool.

With an oval face, it is enough to put it in the center of the forehead and under the eyes, emphasize the upper lip and the dimple on the chin.

An elongated or elongated face at the roots of the hair and along the chin line is shadowed by a contour, and a small area on the forehead just above the eyebrows, the back of the nose, the area under the eyes must be lightened. It can be used on the lips and in the corners of the eyes, but not on the chin or over the tails of the eyebrows.

A round face involves the application of artificial shadows on the sides and lightening with the help of glares of the central part of the forehead, nose bridge, areas under the eyes, the center of the chin.

The square and rectangular shapes are adjusted according to the same scheme: too prominent and wide zygomatic and temporal parts are darkened, and the entire T-zone and the area around the eyes is highlighted.

When the heart-shaped form of the highlighter is applied to the entire central part of the forehead from the nose to the hairline, the entire chin, a little under the eyes and on the nose.

The shape of an inverted diamond means highlighting the center of the face and focus on the eyes.

To narrow it, you need to hold a thin strip with a brightener along the front surface of the nose bridge. In order to visually make it shorter, the strip needs to be drawn only 2-thirds of the length. Enhance the effect will help the use of cold tone shader. They need to draw a barely noticeable shadow to the left and right of the back of the nose and connect them in one line between the nostrils. Shadows well shade fluffy brush.

If the nose is "potato" - the area around the nostrils is shaded.

Fully camouflaging the blue under the eyes only with the help of a shining emulsion will not work. It is not sufficiently dense and pigmented and glitters too much, if applied with a dense layer. Before using the highlighter to mask circles and bruises, the area under the eyes should be worked out as a good concealer with a moisturizing effect. Concealer and highlighter can be mixed together.

Makeup rules using highlighter and other cosmetics:

• Creamy textures - creamy, crumbly - to crumbly. With this combination of products at the finish line, you get the most resistant and natural makeup;
• Feathering, feathering, and once again feathering. The times when clear-cut lines in makeup were at the peak of popularity passed a few decades ago. The main characteristic of a modern make-up is the smoothness of transitions and naturalness so that there are no obvious bronzer spots or shine;
• One product is good, but two is better. Highlighter works much more effectively in combination with a proofreader or concealer. It is not necessary to master the subtleties of contouring, it is enough to work out the technique of applying shadows and highlights to the most important zones;
• There are no irreplaceable products. High-quality shimmer shadows as a highlighter? You can take the risk. Highlighter instead of shimmer shadows? Of course yes! Golden, bronze, silver shades work fine over ordinary shadows, creating a lasting festive makeup. You can also use cool pink shades on blush;
• We combine incompatible. At first glance it may seem that the matting tone is not intended to be combined with shiny products, but it is not. If you mix them before applying to the skin, you get a great foundation of foundation, giving a gentle shine and a durable coating at strobing.

Comparison before and after

After applying the highlighter, the effect is obvious. Makeup acquires completeness, and the face becomes embossed and radiant.

Professional makeup artists and lovers of experiments with make-up unanimously recognize highlighter as one of the most necessary products in a cosmetic bag. Among the advantages of shining emulsions, the possibility to significantly change the appearance, emphasize the beautiful features and mask the flaws is noted. Cream and compact products are very popular. They hold for a long time, give a beautiful radiant effect, can be used in combination with other means.

Make up using the highlighter in the next video.