14 best highlighters 2023: Liquids, powders and creams tried and tested by beauty experts

This luxurious highlighting powder creates a silky, buildable finish that delivers iridescence and luminosity while feeling comfortably softening on the skin. There’s a mirror included inside the compact, for application ease, and you’ll find a few different shades to shop. This venus nectar number is a beautiful rose-gold colour, which adds a warming midweight make-up glow.

We saw a dewiness when popping it onto cheekbones, décolletage and cupid’s bow, noticing a bold reflective finish in the light, too. It’s also impressively nourishing as highlighters go, thanks to its botanical oil ingredients.

Although undeniably a splurge buy, we’ve been using this versatile highlighter almost daily for more than a year now and still have product left in the sturdy black compact.

This vegan-friendly powder highlighter is a generous size, particularly given the sub-£9 price point, and we think it’s likely to last for ages. We applied the shiny pigment to our skin and felt its smooth formula glide across our cheekbones, brow bones and décolletage.

The highlighter is available in silver and golden shades but we chose the rose-gold option, which lives up to the diamond bounce name and is suitably sparkly. It’s a gel-powder hybrid, meaning we saw all the benefits of a pressed highlighter plus a hydrating make-up finish, too.

This cult classic buy regularly sells out in a few of its six shades, and it’s not hard to see why. The signature beauty light wand cushioned sponge tip makes for quick and easy application, and we added it to our cheekbones, brow bones and cupid’s bow. The spotlight version is a rose-gold highlighter, which created champagne tones on our skin. We found the creamy liquid highlighter hybrid buildable and brilliant for blending. It reflects light rather than creating a glittery effect, making the formula versatile for both casual and dressed-up make-up looks.

This chunky highlighter stick hugs the contours of your face when applied directly onto skin, but you can also use a brush or your fingertips. The stick’s shape lends itself well to different areas of the face – we’ve used it on our lips, cheeks, underneath our brow bone and above our cupid’s bow.

This highlighter glides easily onto skin and, when the creamy formula sank in, we saw a powdery finish that didn’t slide about. It creates a gorgeous layer of iridescent shimmer, which looks luminous when it catches the light, without being overtly sparkly. Ingredients include acai oil and vitamin E, which adds to the softening feel.

Presented in a chic glass bottle with a pump release nozzle, this liquid highlighter creates a glowing gold wash on skin – it has long-lasting staying power, too. We’ve been wearing it under our brow bones for a brightening lift, as well as across our cheeks and even as a metallic liquid eyeshadow option.

We saw shimmery sparkle, while the inclusion of ingredients such as sunflower-seed oil, jojoba oil and macadamia oil added noticeable skin smoothing. A little bit goes a long way in delivering highlighting luminosity that lasts for hours, so we think we’ll be using this tiny 7.5ml bottle for a while.

Presented in a chic Dior compact, this highlighting powder comes complete with an application mirror. Thanks to its quilted finish and raised logo, it’s bound to add a bit of luxury to any make-up bag, too. There are six colour options to choose between, including golden, pink, and coral notes.

We plumped for the silvery pearlescent glow shade and immediately saw sparkly particles appear on our skin. We also noticed hydrating ingredient pansy extract adds a softening feel, and a tiny amount dabbed onto cheekbones and the cupid’s bow brought instant shimmer, which we could still detect hours later.

Meanwhile, a sweep of the highlighter worked well on larger areas too, such as the décolletage, for a long-lasting glittery effect.

This is an understated highlighter creating a soft glow and comforting creamy finish that feels silky on skin. The sleek 15ml tube has a twist-up sponge tip, which we either dabbed onto our hand ahead of application or directly onto the area we wanted to highlight. We saw subtle illumination without overt sparkle, and appreciated how buildable this formula is. We also added it to our foundation, for a little extra luminosity.

The champagne shade is a stunning combination of pearlescent and golden tones. If you’re a fan of glowy cheekbones minus the glitter, we think this is the highlighting buy for you.

It’s worth knowing Beauty Pie members can bag this highlighter for the bargain price of £11.

This is a glow-giving balm that delivers a hybrid make-up and skincare finish – ideal if you prefer a hydrating dewiness when highlighting your face. We enjoyed wearing this formula on bare skin and over foundation, seeing the product glide smoothly on and deliver a glassy, glowy effect.

There are eight shades to choose between, with our current favourite being golden hour, as it has metallic notes. We noticed a dewiness to skin when slathering it on, and we use the balm regularly as a quick make-up pick-me-up.

This vegan-friendly buy comes in a squeezy 15ml tube, and there are three different shades to choose between, with OMG being a metallic rose-gold tone.

The glossy liquid glides easily across skin, creating a glowy coverage that shimmers, and it is very comfy to wear – the lightweight formula feels like it’s barely there, while offering a noticeable highlighting impact.

Ingredients include jojoba oil, and we could detect a hydrating boost. Plus, the liquid lends itself well to being mixed with tinted moisturiser or foundation for an all-over buildable glow.

Presented in a signature prismatic Fenty Beauty bottle, this sizeable 36ml highlighter is available in four shades. We’ve been wearing taffy topez – a light golden tone offering lightweight shimmer and radiant coverage.

It’s a sheeny formula that is particularly soothing, thanks to skincare-style ingredients, including sodium hyaluronate, vitamin E and prickly pear extract.

Suitable for an all-over highlighting boost, the gentle finish is natural-looking while helping to offer subtle tone balancing, too. For that reason, we like to wear it on the décolletage and limbs.

This twist-up highlighting stick is presented in luxurious metallic packaging, and we found its unique triangular-shaped tip assists with precise application. The uplifting gold colour adds an illuminating effect, and there are four other shades to try.

We noticed its texture ensures buildable blending, and the highlighter can be seamlessly layered with other make-up. Meanwhile, the stick format helps with easy on-the-move application, minus any mess, and offers the option of a speedy illuminating top-up throughout the day.

What’s useful about this liquid highlighter is it comes in a slimline bottle complete with a pipette dropper, so the product can be dabbed onto skin or mixed with foundation or moisturiser. There’s only one shade available and that’s a metallic golden colour, which adds a glow to skin or a shimmering sheen on top of make-up.

Key ingredients include daisy, lily and black rose extracts, and we noted how comfy it feels to apply and wear. We’ve found the formula is long-lasting, offering a healthy-looking radiance throughout the day.

This little pot of creamy highlighter is part of Trinny London’s stackable product collection, so you can pair it with blush and eyeshadow for easy make-up storage. The shimmery highlighter is available in four golden-hued options, including the sunlit shade we sampled.

The lightweight formula smooths easily onto skin, whether you prefer using your fingertips or a brush. Because of this, we liked how little or much can be added, according to the look you’re trying to achieve, and it’s a useful addition to our make-up bag when we’re on the move, too.

If you fancy a splurge, this limited-edition Chanel buy has a showstopping sequin-print finish and features two highlighter shades.

It’s presented in a chic compact, complete with a mirror and the iconic interlocking C branding, and there’s a separate application brush within an additional velvet case.

This sparkly highlighter has a powdery finish that sweeps onto skin and leaves a glittery glow. It feels weightless to wear and doubles up as a dot of radiance on the eyelids. We also noted this highlighter remains on skin for several hours.