6 Best Highlighters for Everyday Dew or Full-On Sparkle

22.11.2025, 16:36 allure.com

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.

Rare Beauty

Sephora

Allure senior art director Ingrid Fowler applying the 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.

Allure senior art director Ingrid Fowler before applying Rare Beauty Positive Light Silky Touch Highlighter in Flaunt

Fowler after applying Rare Beauty Positive Light Silky Touch Highlighter in Flaunt

Tester feedback from senior art director Ingrid Fowler

“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

Allure senior beauty editor Jesa Marie Calaor before and after using the Rare Beauty Positive Light Silky Touch Highlighter

Tester feedback from senior beauty editor Jesa Marie Calaor

“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

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Fenty Beauty

Ulta Beauty

Sephora

Allure associate manager of audience development Melanie Curry applying the 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.

Curry before applying the Fenty Diamond Bomb All-Over Diamond Veil

Curry after applying the Fenty Diamond Bomb All-Over Diamond Veil

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

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Saie

Amazon

Sephora

Fowler applying the Saie Super Glowy 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.

Fowler before applying the Saie Glowy Super Gel

Fowler after applying the Saie Glowy Super Gel

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

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Victoria Beckham Beauty

Nordstrom

Bluemercury

Victoria Beckham Beauty

Allure commerce writer Lily Wohlner applying the 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.

Wohlner before applying the Victoria Beckham Beauty Reflect Highlighter Stick

Wohlner after applying the Victoria Beckham Beauty Reflect Highlighter Stick

Tester feedback from commerce writer Lily Wohlner

“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

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Armani Beauty

Nordstrom

Sephora

Allure senior news editor Nicola Dall’Asen applying the 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.

Dall’Asen before applying the Armani Beauty Luminous Silk Acqua Highlighter

Dall’Asen after applying the Armani Beauty Luminous Silk Acqua Highlighter

Tester feedback from senior news editor Nicola Dall’Asen

“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

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Haus Labs

Sephora

Kohl's

Allure associate beauty director Sarah Kinonen applying the 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.

Tester feedback from associate beauty director Sarah Kinonen

"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 ba