The Best Highlighters for Fair Skin

The Best Highlighters for Fair Skin: reviewed

So: highlighters. Can someone just quickly explain to me why on earth I keep on buying the things?

I mean, I know it’s not that I actually USE them: or not often, anyway. See, highlighters and I have a bit of a love/hate relationship, in that I love them, but they hate me. No matter how carefully I apply them, most highlighters leave my already-shiny skin looking even shinier than it was before, which is never a good look, really. I always think they’re going to give me a “healthy glow”, but they actually just make my face look like a disco ball: shame.

Even so, I just keep on buying the things, and I know they’re one of those beauty products that people with pale skin sometimes struggle to find, so here are three I’ve found that are perfect for the pale-skinned…
Makeup Revolution Highlighter in pink lights, 02. Benefit High Beam 03. NARS Illuminator in ‘Copacabana’

And here’s what they look like on:

What’s the best highlighter for fair skin?

Just to keep you on your toes, I’m going to switch up the order I show you these, and talk about the one I’ve been using longest first. Step forward, Benefit High Beam!

Benefit High Beam

I’ve been using High Beam for years now – and I do actually use it, too, as opposed to simply buying it and then leaving it in a drawer, like I’ve done with too many other highlighters to count. It’s a pale, pinkish colour, which I find works perfectly on my skin, and a tiny dot goes a long way, too, so although it’s not the cheapest highlighter out there, it’ll last you a very long time. Well, unless you’re absolutely dousing yourself in it, obviously, which… just don’t do that, OK?

Actually, although this is a great highlighter for pale skin, it works pretty well on other skintones, too. My mum, for instance, has an olive-toned complexion, and when I let her borrow this, she liked it so much she ended up buying her own bottle. I mostly wear it dotted along my cheekbones, and then blended in, but I’ll sometimes also use a dab of it under the arch of my eyebrow, or in the corner of the eyes themselves, to make me look a little more awake.

NARS Illuminator in Copacabana

If you like the colour of High Beam, you’ll probably also like NARS Illuminator in the shade ‘Copacabana’, which is even paler, although still with a bit of a pink undertone. I bought this having already purchased the same product in ‘Orgasm’ (Which is awesome, by the way: I use it dotted over my face, and although it’s not strictly a “pale skin” staple, I find it warms up my complexion nicely, and kinda takes the blue tinge off it a bit, without making me look like I’m wearing makeup that’s too dark for me.), and loved it, but as you can probably see from the tube, this one is now old, but has barely been used.

For some reason, although the colour is great, I find the liquid just sits on top of my skin, and looks a bit too glittery for my liking – which is a shame, because it’s a great colour for my skin tone. So it’s a good highlighter for fair skin, but maybe not the BEST highlighter for fair skin, if you catch my drift…

Makeup Revolution Vivid Baked Highlighter in Pink Lights

Finally, the only powder highlighter on this list is Makeup Revolution’s Vivid Baked Highlighter. This was a complete impulse purchase a couple of weeks ago, and yes, I may have been influenced by the fact that it was only £3. The colour is called ‘Pink Lights’, so I was a little bit alarmed when it turned up looking so very… lilac. I was pretty sure this would just make me look like I’d been exhumed, but I actually think it’s a pretty good colour for pale skin.

I could definitely be doing with a little bit less purple in it, and maybe a little less shimmer, too, but the effect is more subtle on the face than it looks in the photos, and a light dusting on the cheek bones creates a nice effect, which you can layer up as required. Despite the lilac look, I actually like this better than the NARS highlighter, and it goes without saying that I like the price better, too!

Which is your winner of the best highlighter for fair skin award?