The Best Highlighters for a Radiant Glow, Tried and Tested By Editors

Another beautifully easy highlighter to opt for is this one from Chanel. Apart from looking impossibly chic, this little guy is also a really great makeup product. Despite the fact it has clearly been formulated as a highlighting stick first and foremost, Chanel designed it to be used on the face, lips and eyes, leaving a light-reflecting glimmer wherever it goes. It has a sheer consistency that is in no way glittery—this is all glassy dewy-ness for your cheekbones.

This is another stick highlighter that imparts a healthy, just-left-my-Pilates class kind of glow if you like a glossy sheen to your skin. It comes in four skin-flattering shades to suit a range of skin tones, and the pearl in this is so finely diffused that it delivers a subtle radiance wherever you choose to apply it. We particularly love the chic packaging, and it's so great for throwing in your bag for easy touch-ups on the go.

Glow doesn't have to equal shimmering iridescence—and that's why this product is so genius. With a gel-like, pearly effect, this stick can very quickly be swiped on to the high points of the face to give skin a plump, dewy, juicy finish. It creates an illusion that skin is flooded with hydration and moisture, even when it's not.

If you swipe Glossier's Haloscope straight onto the skin, you can expect a seriously impactful result. The formulas are highly pigmented and next-level glowy. And while this look isn't usually my bag, I like to keep a stick in my collection so that I know it's there for a night out if I want it. On days when I want a subtler finish, I simply rub my fingers into the stick and tap onto my cheeks.

This stuff is basically the Ambient Lighting Powder (more on that coming up) in cream form but again sans serious shimmer. You can just drag this handy stick over the high points of the face and blend with your fingers. Are the results as perfecting as Hourglass's powder highlighter? Potentially not, but it definitely gets an A+ for ease.

Who What Wear junior beauty editor, Grace Lindsay, says this highlighter is her all-time favourite. "This is, hands down, the best highlighter stick I have ever tried. For context, I'm not a big highlighter person. I don't like anything too shimmery, instead I prefer my makeup to look glowy and lit-from-within. Luckily for me, this highlighter does exactly that. The creamy formula glides onto the skin and adds a beautiful, natural-looking sheen that makes your skin appear dewy and healthy," she says.

This is a great multi-use liquid highlighter you'll reach for all the time. The lightweight gel texture delivers a healthy-looking glow to the skin, whether you choose to wear it alone, as a makeup primer, mixed with your moisturiser or dotted onto the high points of the face to catch the light. It contains vitamin E and polyglutamic acid which flood skin with moisture and glow. It's so popular, so if you see it in stock you'll need to move fast.

When you first squeeze this tacky liquid from the tube, you might be a little worried—but fear not, because I was too. It smells like cupcakes, has a lipgloss-like texture and is full of shimmer. However, as soon as you swipe it onto skin, all of that melts away, leaving behind a beautifully glowing, dewy highlight that isn't in the least bit imposing. 

This product is very… marmite. Don't get me wrong—most people who try it adore the glow-boosting, creamy formula, but the packaging really knows how to divide a room. It has a built-in sponge applicator that allows the liquid to be dotted onto the face. Some people have an issue with this, as it has a tendency to leak. And I was one of these people. However, I soon realised there is a lock on the lid, and providing you close that lock after every application, it shouldn't leak. Since discovering that, I've found it to be one of the handiest glow-boosters in my collection.

If you walk by this product on a Chanel counter, you'll understand what I mean when I say it's kind of hard not to buy. Honestly, it looks absolutely beautiful—like a work of art. And the good news is it looks just as good on the skin as it does in the bottle. It can be tapped onto skin like a normal highlight, mixed into foundation for an overall glow or applied to the shoulders and décolletage for full-body radiance. 

I've struggled to get my hands on a Rare Beauty highlight because they are regularly sold out. However, a couple of weeks ago, I finally secured one and can confirm they are every bit as good as people say. I couldn't secure the shade that I felt matched my skin tone best, so picked up a bronze (Reflect). Since I've been wearing it, people have been commenting on my sun-kissed glow, so it's definitely doing something right.

You can always rely on Dior to deliver easy-to-use makeup that become one with the skin. This wonderfully buildable highlighter comes in a range of shades from bronze to pink and gold to leave skin juicy and plump, with a glowing, dewy finish.

I'm not exaggerating when I say that every time I wear this highlight (which, by the way, is very often—it's probably my personal favourite), somebody asks me if I've been on holiday. It's pigmented, and a little goes a very long way, so I apply one dab to the highest point of my cheekbone and blend it up into my hairline. It's ideal for dark skin tones, too. It's sun-drenched, shimmering goodness.

I'll warn you now: This quad isn't for the faint-hearted. If you want your highlighter to look understated and subtle, this stuff isn't for you. However, if you like a high-pigment, shimmering glow, it's ideal. The powders are so pigmented, in fact, that I often use them on my lids as eye shadow and dust them over my collarbone and shoulders a glow boost come summer.

If it's next-level glow you're after, look no further than this cult product from Fenty. It melts into the skin, is easy to work with, and doesn't look like it's full of chunky shimmer. Having said that, the iridescent sheen is out of this world.

If I'm being totally honest, I'd say this is the best highlighter ever created. It's not that the rest on this list don't live up to its greatness; it's more that I don't know a single person who wouldn't fall in love with this product after the first application. As you can see, there's no chunky glitter, and the powder slips onto the skin like a slinky, silky nightdress, softening and blurring everything in its path. It comes in a generous breadth of shades too, so you can find the perfect match for your skin tone.

Like beachy skin in one hell of a chic compact, these powders are exceptional. When pigments are this dark, the key is to be precise in your application. Use a small brush and dab onto the high cheekbones, on the tip of the nose and along the Cupid's bow to create the illusion that you've just had a two-week holiday in the sunshine.