The 23 Best Liquid, Powder, and Cream Highlighters for a Subtle to Bright Glow

Maya Chia's The Highlight of the Day is where makeup meets skin care, thanks to its serum formulation. Infused with nourishing chia seed oil, this Best of Beauty Award-winning highlighter gives skin an instantly illuminated appearance. Our associate beauty director Sarah Kinonen always gets compliments from strangers when she wears The Happy Hour, a pink-ish pearlescent shade, atop her BB cream.

The cushion applicator on Charlotte Tilbury's Beauty Highlighter Wand allows for the color to dispense onto skin evenly, so there's no blotchiness – just glow. Each of the five hues has rose gold pigments that mimic the soft and natural light (no chunky glitters). No wonder it's made the viral rounds on TikTok and sold out multiple times.

The Saie Glowy Super Gel Lightweight Dewy Highlighter is made of 75 percent water so it's meant to be used as a base or mixed in with foundations or skin-care products. So while it isn't your typical highlighter, it's still going to give you an all-over luminous, glass skin look that you'll love.

For those who prefer their highlighter to deliver a glowy (rather than sparkly) finish, Glossier's beloved Haloscope highlighter is the way to go. The highlighting stick, infused with a core of solid, vitamin-rich oil, gives the skin a dewy, almost glossy highlight with just a hint of shimmer — thanks to glimmering particles from actual crystals. It's super easy to apply and blend, and the three luminous shades (golden Topaz; pearlescent Rose Quartz; and iridescent Moonstone) are versatile enough to be used on all skin tones.

The Surratt Beauty Torche Lumiere highlighter stick is perfect for those who love a no-makeup makeup look. Apply the product to your fingers to warm it up and gently tap it onto the points of your face where you desire more glow.

Sticks can be intimidating, but the unique triangular shape of this one helps you easily get to those inner corners, brow bones, collarbones, and whichever other nooks and crannies you want to highlight. The Hourglass Vanish Flash Highlighting Stick is also a Best of Beauty winner, so obviously it's really good.

Cream-to-powder sounds magical, but all really it means is that what starts out as a malleable formula becomes smooth and long-lasting, so it won't wear away on a sweaty summer day (or naturally oily complexions). So, yeah, the Benefit Watt's Up! Cream-to-Powder Highlighter is actually kind of magical. We also love the smudging sponge on the end that allows you to buff it into the skin seamlessly.

Makeup artist Nam Vo loves the Chanel Baume Essentiel Multi-Use Sculpting Glow Stick for creating her glass-like, "dewy dumpling" looks, as seen all over her Instagram feed. "It's not pearly or shimmery, so it works on all age groups and skin texture," she says. "It just adds dew and makes skin look so reflective."

Dew you love a steal? Look no further. The E.l.f. Cosmetics Daily Dew Stick comes in four different shades that have different formulas. There's Cool Berry, an iridescent blue that contains pomegranate extract, Acai Glow, a pink that has cooling aloe in it, Tangerine Kiss, a faint orange that's formulated with tangerine oil, and Iridescent (pictured), which has hydrating snow mushroom much like your favorite moisturizer.

Out of all the highlighters out there — and there are many — Beauty Bakerie's radiant Milk & Honey Highlighting Palette has won Allure Best of Beauty twice for its collection of four perfect and versatile powder highlighters. Its pearlescent pink, champagne, bronze, and gold shades add luminosity wherever you swipe them on, and are gorgeous on all skin tones.

We love it so much we added it to our February 2023 Allure Beauty Box lineup. You can score the Allure Beauty Box here for access to even more editor favorites — for just $23.

Glow like Rihanna with her Fenty Beauty Killawatt Freestyle Highlighter, which is available in nine shades, so you're guaranteed to find something suited to your skin tone. Pictured here is the shade Trophy Wife, a metallic gold that works just as well for eyes as it does for highlighting cheekbones.

As soon as the light hits Bobbi Brown's Highlighting Powder, onlookers may have to shield their eyes from your blinding luminescence. Also available in a mini version (which is perfect for an on-the-go glow), this highlighter is one of the most reflective and pigmented powders out there.

Flower Beauty Stellar Prismatic Highlighter features multi-dimensional gold flakes that give a blinding glow. It may look like a powder at first glance but once you dip in, you'll love that creamy formula that just melts into the skin.

Milani Cosmetics Baked Luminous Glow Highlighter is one of makeup artist Ashunta Sheriff's top picks. According to Sheriff, this champagne highlighter is affordable and well-pigmented, and it works amazingly on all skin tones.

When it comes to beauty on a budget, this highlighter takes the cake. Maybelline New York's Master Chrome Metallic Highlighter gives you an out-of-this-world reflective vibe for less than a Hamilton.

Yes, the LYS Beauty Aim High Pressed Highlighter Powder will give you radiance and glow but it also has skin-nourishing ingredients in it that help benefit the skin over time. This velvety pressed powder is loaded with niacinamide to limit excess shine, and sodium hyaluronate, which is rich in vitamin A to revitalize skin with wear.

Nars Highlighting Powder has a silky and lightweight formula that melts into the skin, leaving you with a beautifully dewy finish you might not expect from a powder. It's available in several incredibly flattering shades, like Fort de France, the stunning champagne hue seen here.

Assistant beauty editor Angela Trakoshis has had the Anastasia Beverly Hills Sundipped Glow Kit for years, and while hers may be expired by now, it's still her go-to when she wants an extreme, blinding sheen. While she doesn't have a favorite shade out of the four-pan palette, she prefers to wear them all at once by sweeping her brush across all four shades then hitting the high points of her cheeks for added glow.

Dominique Cosmetics's Prisma Glow Highlighter Palette, ideal for medium and darker skin tones, allows you to build your light. With four versatile shades in the palette the possibilities are endless. Whether you're into a subtle dew or blinding high points, this palette does it all. 

Another option that just magically melts onto the skin, MAC's Hyper Real Glow Palette in Get It Glowin' holds three golden-toned highlighters that give off the most beautiful, warm hues. You can wear all three shades mixed together, or one at a time — either way, say hello to a bronzy glow.   

When we're feeling like a rich bitch, this is the highlighter we pull for the act. No, the Tom Ford Sheer Highlighting Duo doesn't come cheap, but look at it this way: You're technically getting two especially luxurious highlighters in one.