With just a few easy swipes, the best highlighters lend instant radiance and a healthy glow to any look—and the versatility is top-notch, too. We love dabbing them straight from compact to cheekbones, mixing a liquid highlight into foundation for all-over radiance, or using a doe-foot applicator to accentuate our nose bridges, inner corners of our eyes, or Cupid’s bows. They’re all about giving you just the right touch of dew or sparkle exactly where you need it. This list covers every highlighter formula—powders, sticks, creams, and liquids—so your pick comes down to the finish you want: soft, lit-from-within glow, or disco-ball shine. After testing countless options, we’ve rounded up the highlighters we instinctively reach for to top off our makeup looks.
Our Top Highlighters
Frequently Asked Questions
Best Overall: Rare Beauty Positive Light Silky Touch Highlighter
Why we love it: Rare Beauty’s Positive Light Silky Touch Highlighter is basically candlelight you can swipe on. This 2025 Best of Beauty Award winner is powered by synthetic fluorphlogopite, a lab-made mica that seamlessly blends into skin while leaving behind a perfect microshimmer. Thanks to its silky, semi-sheer formula, you can keep things subtle or build it up for a pronounced statement. And it comes in six different shades, so if you want something light and pearlescent, go with a lighter, pearl-toned option like Enlighten, or if you want a peachier option to go hand-in-hand with your bronzer, Reflect is a tan-toned beauty. In testing, our editors noticed the finish shifts depending on your tool: A brush gives you that mirror-like sheen, while a damp sponge softens everything into a more diffused, skin-like glow.
“This highlighter (I have shade Flaunt) is beautiful. It’s so light and fine that it feels like you’re applying air. You only need a little bit to get a glimmery, shimmery—but not too shimmery—payoff.” —Ingrid Fowler, senior art director
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“I put this formula in shade Exhilarate to the test in many scenarios: to the office on busy work days (it looked just as good as it did when I first put it on), Solidcore workout classes where I inevitably forget to remove my makeup beforehand (it looked even more diffused and skin-like), and date nights with my fiancé (where I, *wink*, confirmed with confidence that the formula is transfer-proof). It’s a dreamy highlighter, made even more otherworldly with its price point. Highlighters with a similar effect range from $9 to $42, and this one, with its unique texture and formula, falls right in the middle.” —Jesa Marie Calaor, senior beauty editor
Most Sparkly: Fenty Diamond Bomb All-Over Diamond Veil
Why we love it: Some people like a soft, dewy sheen; others want full-on disco-ball energy. If you’re in the latter camp, Fenty’s Diamond Bomb All-Over Diamond Veil is your girl. This superfine powder shines bright (yes, like a diamond) and wraps skin in a 3D, light-catching veil that practically ricochets off every surface. Despite the high-wattage payoff, the texture is anything but gritty. It’s a jelly-like powder that feels cool to the touch and melts into the skin (on the face or body) instantly. And once it sets, it stays—so your sparkle won’t budge no matter how long the night runs.
Tester feedback from associate manager of audience development Melanie Curry
“I’m not a big fan of highlighters—a couple swatches of pink blush is enough to give me a nice, shimmery glow—but I bought this highlighter in shade How Many Carats?! on a friend’s recommendation, and it’s been one of my favorite purchases this year, mostly because it’s multi-purpose. I wear it everywhere, from my eyelids to the bridge of my nose, and even on my collarbones and neck. It’s smooth to apply and doesn’t make a mess. Plus, it comes in this cute diamond-shaped compact that you can easily fit into any of your purses.” —Melanie Curry, associate manager of audience development
Best All-Over: Saie Glowy Super Gel
Why we love it: The Saie Glowy Super Gel isn’t your typical top-of-the-cheekbones highlighter, and that’s the beauty of it. Made with 75% water, this lightweight gel is designed to be mixed with foundation or skin care, or used as a base for all-over, glass-skin radiance. It’s also packed with glycerin to keep skin plump and glowy, Connecticut-based dermatologist Mona Gohara, MD, previously told Allure. Once the product dries down, you don’t have to worry about sliding, creasing, or flaking throughout the day. Our editors love using an angled or buffing brush to blend the gel across larger areas for an even sheen, but fingers are great for a quick tap-and-go application when you’re short on time.
Tester feedback from Fowler
“This primer in shade Roseglow gives a lovely, dewy glow, but it’s subtle enough that you can use it all over your face. It’s a great base and mixes well with other makeup, which is often tricky with illuminating products. When I just want a bronzy, glow-from-within look without doing a full face of makeup, I wear this on its own.” —Ingrid Fowler, senior art director
Best Pearlescent: Victoria Beckham Beauty Reflect Highlighter Stick
Why we love it: Toss it in your bag, keep it on your vanity, or stash it in the car—Victoria Beckham Beauty’s Reflect Highlighter Stick is the kind of do-it-all glow you’ll want everywhere. It glides onto skin like a nourishing oil (thank you, strawberry seed oil and shea butter) but somehow never looks greasy. Instead, it leaves behind that silky, pearly sheen you usually can’t get from powder for a true, your-skin-but-glossier finish our editors reach for when they want radiance that still looks like skin. With two shades, the color range is small but still mighty: Pearl melts seamlessly into light and medium tones, while Amber brings a warm, luminous glow to deeper complexions.
“I’m not big on heavy powder highlighters for my everyday glam, so this lightweight cream in shade Pearl is my sweet spot. It gives that your-skin-but-better sheen that actually looks like skin. I just tap it in with my fingers over blush and bronzer, and every time it leaves the most natural, streak-free glow. Plus, it’s so compact and easy to throw in your bag for touchups on the cheekbones or even the lids throughout the day.” —Lily Wohlner, commerce writer
Best Brightening: Armani Beauty Luminous Silk Acqua Highlighter
Why we love it: You’ve probably heard of Armani’s Luminous Silk Foundation, but the Luminous Silk Aqua Highlighter deserves just as much hype. It doesn’t cover like a concealer, but it does brighten in a way that makes your whole face look more awake. The formula is packed with micropearls that give an ethereal, lit-from-within glow wherever you tap it. The doe-foot applicator makes it easy to swipe any of the five colors along the cheekbones or dot into the T-zone under foundation for extra radiance. You can even dab product onto your Cupid’s bow and inner corners of the eyes—basically anywhere you want that a brightening effect is fair game.
“Highlighting my face is always a tightrope act. I want my skin to look wet—no visible glitter, please—but I don’t want it to actually be wet, lest my hair drive me bananas when it’s sticking to my face. Few formulas can do both, but Armani’s Highlighter in shade Halo does it effortlessly. It may look very sparkly in its tube, but when it spreads across skin, its microfine shimmer creates a light-catching sheen rather than sparkle streaks—then it dries all the way down without losing any of its shine. Miraculous.” —Nicola Dall’Asen, senior news editor
Best Multipurpose: Haus Labs Bio-Radiant Glassy Highlighter Balm
Why we love it: There’s just something deeply satisfying about a good multi-stick, and Haus Labs nails it with the Bio-Radiant Glassy Highlighter Balm. This chunky crayon glides over lids, cheeks, lips, and even collarbones with zero tug, leaving behind a juicy, hydrated sheen. The formula reads like skin care, thanks to sea fennel extract, hyaluronic acid, squalane, and wakame extract (a mineral-rich marine algae), so it melts in like a solid serum and leaves a glassy, light-catching finish. If you prefer a shine without shimmer, Clear Glass is your minimalist match. Want a touch more sparkle? Glassy Pink Opal adds a soft, rosy-gold twinkle.
“Based on the sheer volume of shimmery base products on the market this year, it appears that 2016 called—and is giving us our highlighters back. Back then, I preferred a more iridescent gleam with a purple, pearlescent base, but after trying all six shades of the Haus Labs Bio-Radiant Glassy Highlighter Balm, Glassy Pink Opal seems to be more my speed in 2025. I love how easy it is to apply, too. I skip a brush and directly color it onto my cheekbones, Cupid’s bow, and down my nose for a subtle sheen that hits the light juuuust right.” —Sarah Kinonen, associate beauty director
“Highlighter is back, baby! I simply love how this balm accentuates the skin, whether you want a subtle or intense amount of radiance. For my low-maintenance days, I’ll reach for the shade Clear because it adds that natural dew on fresh skin, and if I’m wearing a bit of makeup, the Topaz shade adds that golden hue to the high points of my cheek for a sun-kissed look.” —Bianca Richards, social media manager
Frequently Asked Questions
How we test and review products
When Allure tests a product, our editors look at it from every angle in an effort to best serve you. We review ingredients, scrutinize brand claims, and, when necessary, examine peer-reviewed scientific and medical studies. In addition to testing each and every product that’s included in each and every review, we rely on experts who shape their fields, including dermatology, cosmetic chemistry, and medicine, to help us vet the ingredients and formulas.
For our list of the best highlighters, we considered each product’s performance across five primary categories: product ingredients and efficacy, packaging, fragrance, texture, and product wear. Every product was determined to have excelled in each category by our editorial team of in-house writers and editors, as well as contributors, along with special consideration from dermatologists. To learn more about our reporting and testing processes, read our complete reviews process and methodology page.
Our staff and testers
A beauty product is a personal purchase. You might be searching for a face cream to address persistent dryness or a new nail product to add to your Sunday self-care routine; you may simply be browsing around for the latest launches to hit the hair market. No matter what you seek or your individual needs and concerns, Allure wants to ensure that you love anything we recommend in our stories. We believe that having a diverse team of writers and editors—in addition to the wide range of outside testers and industry experts we regularly call upon—is essential to reaching that goal.
After all, can we really say a skin-care product is the “best” for people over 50 if the only testers we’ve solicited opinions from are folks who have yet to hit 30? Can we honestly deem a high-end diffuser worthy of your hard-earned cash if it’s never been tested on curls? We’re proud that our staff spans a wide range of ages, skin tones, hair textures, genders, and backgrounds, which means that we are able to fairly assess any beauty product that comes into the beauty closet.
Ready, set, glow! Dig into our dewy skin essentials:
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