One of the worst parts of dealing with aging skin is losing your youthful, bright complexion. While there are a few skincare products that can help bring a glow back to your face, as well as certain supplements and foods that may natural brighten your skin from the inside out, there’s also something to be said for the power of makeup—namely, highlighter.
If you’re looking for the best skin-brightening makeup hacks, we’ve got you covered. We spoke to Celebrity Makeup Artist Hillary Clark, founder of Beauty HAC, to get the inside scoop on her best tips and tricks for kicking dull skin to the curb with the power of a great highlighter. Here are her go-to solutions:
1. Invisible highlighter hack (use serum!)
While shimmery highlighter can be a great way to brighten your face for certain occasions, sometimes it's necessary to go a different route. For example, Clark notes that you may want to avoid shimmer if you're going to be out and about in direct daylight. But many clear, glossy products come with a different inconvenience: stickiness. "Gooey, glossy products like balms and face gloss can attract hair, sticking it to your face," Clark says. She explains that some products can even amplify UV exposure and lead to sunburn. Her skin-brightening solution? Use a serum for as a perfect, invisible highlighter!
For this trick, Clark says you should opt for a roller serum and apply it to the high points of your cheekbones, as well as just under your brow. This offers a "see-through reflection that looks like the glow of youth." Love it!
Not only can a roller serum work in place of highlighter; the two can also be used together. "I often employ this trick and layer it on top of highlighter too to add dimension and pop the pearl," Clark says. This sounds like the perfect solution to dull skin. We can't wait to try it out for ourselves!
2. Try out glossy brows
When it comes to bringing a glow back to dull skin, Clark says one major key is to highlight all the right places, inclduing one that may surprise you. "The whole point of highlighter is to lift the cheekbones and entire face while drawing attention to perfectly smooth skin," Clark explains. One of her go-to tips for doing just that is to add some gloss to your brows—who knew?!
Clark says that giving your brows a glossy sheen will keep the eye moving up for a lifted face. "Brushing a little gloss to the arch of the brow extends the light reflection and boosts the face," she explains. We can just picture the gorgeous, youthful glow now! It definitely sounds worth a shot to us.
3. Use concealer as highlighter-helper
In addition to some added shine on your brows, there are a few other ways to move the eye up. Clark says one of the best methods is to use some concealer to prep—but not just to cover your under-eye circles or clean up blemishes. This technique works specifically to "set the stage for highlighter."
"To keep the eye moving upward for the appearance of a lift, before applying highlighter, draw subtle lines from the corner of the nose to just below the under eye area and from the corner of the eye to the temple," Clark instructs. Of course, don't forget to "blend, blend, blend"!
It's "like a highlight for the highlighter," Clark explains. We can't think of a better way to brighten up dull skin than that!
So, there you have it: The best skin-brightening highlighter hacks, straight from a celebrity makeup artist. If you try these tricks out at home, we'll sure you'll see glowing results in no time!
