Top 9 Best Highlighter of 2022

The Balm’s products always come in great packaging, and Mary-Lou Manizer is no exception. The container is nice and heavy with an attractive retro inspired print on the lid that instantly makes you think there’ll be a good product on the inside. And you won’t be disappointed.

This highlighter consists of pressed powder that gives a kiss of golden shimmer on your face without being glittery. A highlighter is at its very best when the shimmery particles are finely ground and you don't end up looking like you were on your way to a junior school disco. Of course if you actually are on your way to a junior school disco, you can always supplement it with a proper glitter product, but with Mary-Lou Manizer you never feel the need to add much else.

The powder is pressed but still soft to use. And not so soft that it crumbles when you put your brush and it. The product gives a beautiful glow to your face and the compact contains a mirror, which makes touch ups much easier. The only problem with The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer is that it’s so good you tend to want to apply more, and sometimes there is a very fine line between a nice glow and overdoing the shine. But if you can resist the temptation, this is a real winner!

The best way to describe MAKETHEMAKE Vitamin E Illuminating Balm + Hyaluronic Gloss Pot Duo is two small containers screwed together to make a little tower shape. One contains a shimmering, pinkish solid cream. The other contains a translucent gloss. The aim of both is to maximise glow.

The pink cream, which isn’t at all pink when it’s on the skin, creates a nice, unobtrusive shimmer. The result isn’t entirely unlike what you get from the cult product from RMS, but this little pot from MAKETHEMAKE is much cheaper. This highlighter is the Vitamin E Illuminating Balm.

The translucent gloss is a product you can use to boost the shimmering cream with. Or use it on its own for a more discreet look. You can also really slap it on if you’re looking for a catwalk shine for the Christmas party. The contents of the Hyaluronic Gloss Pot aren’t entirely unlike lip gloss in appearance, but thicker.

Both products are extremely economical and are best applied using your fingers. You can say what you like about hygiene when it comes to products you have to fish out of the pot and apply with your fingers, but you definitely get an attractive result when you apply these glow enhancing products like that. The cream literally melts into your skin, give an incredibly good result and stay put for a long time. The gloss isn’t quite so durable as the shimmer, but it’s easy to top up.

These are products that are great used on both your cheekbones and brow bones, with perhaps a touch above the Cupid’s bow too. It’s actually just your imagination that sets the limits. And we give an extra point for it producing a shimmery effect rather than glitter – which anyone over the age of 12 will appreciate. If you feel that either the gloss or the shimmering balm is too much, you can buy each product separately.

If you’re looking for a highlighter that simply adds glow without any shimmer at all, Lumene Invisible Illumination Instant Illuminizer is the product for you. It’s available in several different colours, which means you can easily find the right glow for you.

This liquid highlighter comes in a bottle with a pipette. The liquid is economical and a couple of drops go a long way. When you apply it to you may first think that the product isn’t doing anything because it’s not particularly obvious in the mirror, but it’s all about how the light strikes your face.

And Lumene Invisible Illumination Instant Illuminizer is an expert at capturing the light. This is extra clear when you get out the selfie camera and see the glow on your photos. Poor bathroom lighting will never do this highlighter justice, but as soon as you get out in daylight you can see the results.

And with this highlighter from Lumene you never need to worry that you’re glittering like a contestant in the Eurovision Song Contest. In fact there is no glitter in sight. The formula is feathery light and the result fresh as a dewy morning.

This is a product without parabens. But it does contain perfume, and if you smell it from the bottle the scent is quite strong. Once on the skin the smell of perfume quickly fades but it doesn’t skimp on the gleam.

Liquid highlighter packed in an easy to grip tube. This product has a creamy, easily worked consistency that can give you both a feathery glow and a more compact shimmer. You can apply it both under and over your make-up and it works on all kinds of base. Once it’s dried it stays put. One tip is to mix it with your foundation if you’d like a more subtle shimmer. Our tester used this highlighter as primer under their foundation, both on its own and mixed with a normal face cream to give an all-over lustre. It’s available in several different shades and you can choose the one that matches your skin colour best to produce as natural a result as possible. The mother of pearl shimmery shade “Sunbeam” is actually the only one that suits light skin – the other shades have a darker base colour which means they can look unnatural if they don’t match your skin tone. The “Pure Gold” shade is just too golden to look natural. In terms of price, Nyx products are really good, and this is the cheapest product in the test – 18 ml for less than ten quid!

Wet n Wild is a budget brand that sometimes gets overshadowed by the wide range of make-up available in shops. And that’s a shame, because it has a number of really good products. Wet n Wild Mega Glo Liquid Highlighter is one of them.

This is a highlighter in liquid form that you apply with the applicator built into the cap. Given the price of this product, the packaging is surprisingly substantial and made of glass. It’s actually really nice. But the built-in applicator leaves something to be desired. For one thing, it picks up too much of the product. So this doesn’t feel optimal from an application viewpoint. But if you just dab the liquid where you want more glow and then work it in with your fingers or a brush, you get a really good result.

Mega Glo contains high pearl pigments and gives exactly the type of shimmer you want. No glitter, just a pleasant glow. The fact that it’s also available in four different colours makes it possible for everyone to find a glow product that they feel comfortable with in terms of shade.

Another nice thing about this one is that it doesn’t make your skin feel tight. On the contrary, it feels slightly moisturising. This is probably because it contains murumuru seed oil, grapeseed oil and vitamin E, all of which are ingredients that add moisture and make the skin soft.

Given the price this is a very good value and effective highlighter. The applicator isn’t the best, but you can easily work around and live with that when the price is this low. It’s a joy to use this highlighter, particularly in the morning when it really gives the illusion that your skin is fresh and alert.

NARS The Multiple is a highlighter pen that, while it costs a fair bit, is simultaneously so economical that it lasts for absolutely ages.

This is a highlighter that’s available in a number of different shades. The best well-known, and the one we tested, is Orgasm. Orgasm doesn’t just give the skin lustre, but also a touch of colour – a light redness that makes you look as fresh as a wild rose. But you have to be quite sparse with how you apply it, as the pen is relatively high in pigment. It also contains a certain amount of glitter.

Even if this highlighter comes in pen form, the product lands on the skin like a creamy powder. The Multiple it is easy to work with – you simply apply it direct to the skin. After that, the easiest thing is to work the product in using your fingers, as this quickly gets rid of any edges.

The packaging is attractive and stylish, but gets a bit dirty after a while. Although of course that depends on how you store the pen. But one thing to remember is that The Multiple is so incredibly economical that the pan will perhaps last for longer than the contents stay fresh. If it starts to crack or smell weird, it’s time to say goodbye.

The rather contradictory name of this product refers to the fact that it’s intended to give a natural and realistic result – which is exactly what it delivers. Perricone was originally a skincare brand with inspiration from dermatology. Now the brand is producing make-up, they're still true to their aesthetic and the bottle is designed a little like an old-fashioned medicine bottle. But in the load is a modern applicator that helps you to get just the right amount of this thin cream. The highlighter is available in a single colour – a pale pink and champagne shade – which suits everyone except for those with the darkest of skins. The effect is very minimal. It gives more a feeling of healthy skin than a clear shimmer. The highlight also contains vitamins C, which has skin improving properties – including brightening and evening the skin. However, the quantity is so small that it won’t make much a big difference to your skin. But it’s nice to have all the same.

At first glance, this looks like a real budget product. The compact is plasticky and has a boring design. Fortunately, the contents make up for the dull packaging. If you’re looking to give your face plenty of glow, Ofra Cosmetics Highlighter is definitely a product to try. The powder is pressed in the compact, but at the same time it’s so soft that you don’t need to struggle to pick up the product with your make-up brush. If anything, you have to be careful, because it’s easy to get far too much highlighter on your brush if you’re a bit heavy-handed with the powder.

This softness is actually both the big strength and the major weakness of Ofra Cosmetics Highlighter. Because while it makes it easy to apply and get an even result, the powder is very fragile. And this fragility combined with the fact that the compact is plastic and can’t resist impacts means that the powder tends to smash into hundreds of tiny pieces if you drop it in the sink or – God forbid – on the floor. There’s no way of saving this highlighter if it’s smashed, and having to throw away an otherwise really good highlighter because the packaging isn’t up to the job is upsetting both to your heart and your wallet.

Ofra have several different colours in their highlighter, so there’s a shade for everyone. With a gentle touch, Ofra Cosmetics Highlighter offers a glow that hard to beat, so it’s a real shame that the packaging isn’t the same quality.

Benefits High Beam was on the market many years before the concept of strobing appeared on social media. High Beam is a liquid highlighter that comes in a nail varnish-like bottle with a brush in the lid. This is a light pink product that gives a light and natural glow and works just as well on the cheekbones as under your eye bone. And if you want a more discreet lustre instead, you can apply it under foundation.

Despite the fact that High Beam is a classic, it leaves something to be desired. The product dries out very quickly, which is particularly obvious at the opening of the bottle, where the dried product collects and leaves clumps on the brush every time you use it. If you use the bottle every day, this probably won’t be a problem, but if you use a highlighter a bit more sporadically you’ll have to spend a few minutes picking off dry residues each time you use it.

The design of the bottle with a brush and the lid may be practical, but it isn’t optimal if you're the kind of person who worries about bacterial growth, as the brush is intended to be used directly on your face. Of course you can resolve this by washing it, but in real life washing your make-up tools probably isn’t top of your priority list during the morning rush.

Benefit High Beam is still a good product that gives a nice glow while it’s also very easy to use. But the question is whether you’ll have used up all the product before it completely dries out in the bottle.