The Highlight(s) of my Summer

Good evening beauty seekers!!

Another slightly late offering today. I've spent most of this weekend trying to rearrange my makeup and skincare storage so laptop time has not been that much of a priority. I hope to have a post up next week to show you my new makeup set up and storage solutions but, in the meantime, I wanna keep with this week's summery theme (finally, some sunshine at last) and instigate a bit of chatter about sunshine of the facial variety. Namely, highlighters. I own a few highlighters. Recently I've been on a quest for glowy summer skin and, after experimenting with the different highlighting products in my collection, some definite favourites have emerged. So I thought I'd pen a little post to tell you why I love them and why there is room for all of them in my life. 

This HUGE compact from GOSH cosmetics is just beautiful! It is actually a super-shimmery bronzing product which is a deeper golden shade than the other products in this post. It is designed for use on both the face and body and looks gorgeous when swept over tanned shoulders and decolletage. On my face, I only tend to use it as a highlight when I'm tanned due to the colour. At other times I'll use it as a bronzer. It swatches a lovely molten gold sheen and is so pretty!

Aurora is the latest edition to my highlighter stash and the only cream product featured in this post. I worship at the alter of Illamasqua. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that they are my favourite makeup brand of late. Their Gleam Highlighter packs some SERIOUS pale gold shimmer but without being glittery. The cream formula is quite dense but lights up my face when I dab it on my cheekbones, the bridge of my nose and cupid's bow with my finger. As it is a cream product it doesn't really 'set' as such so I sometimes feel the need to pat a little translucent powder over the top of it but this highlighter gives the best glow out of the bunch with minimal amount of product needed. I've been using it the most with their SOPHIE and Rude blushers.

I love budget products that really perform and MUA seem to be very consistent with the quality of their products lately! This little beauty costs just £3 and, in my opinion, performs to the same standard as any of the other high end products featured in this post! This product is actually quite pink in tone which I like, as it makes it different from all the others. The consistency of the powder is so soft and buttery and a pleasure to apply and blend. It's more subtle than Aurora (probably down to it being a powder product) but you don't need a lot to give the prettiest glow to the face when applied in all the same places. I must try more of their Undress range if this is anything to go by!

I couldn't not include this one as a favourite highlight product, could I? MAC Mineralise Skinfinish in Lightscapade has caused so much hype in it's time and it was a bandwagon I was happy to jump on. I don't use this product in the same way as I use Aurora or MUA as it's just not as RAWR. I love to use this to give a more glowy finish to my regular powder. A sweep of this on a big brush all over my face just gives my makeup a warmer, more glowy finish. I know a lot of people have complained that the new version of Lightscapade doesn't have the same veining and WOW factor of the original version but I love this compact for what it is, which is a beautiful, beige toned highlight that gives a stunning soft glow to my face. This may be a good one for those with oilier skins who would probably benefit from a much more subtle shimmer highlight. 

 L-R: GOSH, Illamasqua, MUA, MAC

So those are my current favourite products for highlighting. I do have other highlight products. I have the Sleek Glo highlighter (I wrote a post on it a while back which can be found Here) which is very similar to the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick and also the highlighter that comes in their Contour Kit as well as the BeneFit High Beam. To be honest I'm still to master the art of contouring my entire face but I'm really enjoying experimenting with different highlighted effects for the new Summer season now that the sun has FINALLY got it's hat on. HURRAH!!

What are your favourite Summer makeup effects?? Do you rate any of these products?? What are your favourite ways to achieve a glowing complexion??