Ranking All My Highlighters & Blushes

RANKING ALL MY HIGHLIGHTERS & BLUSHES

For this post I'm just focusing on my single cheek products, nothing in palettes because I'm thinking of doing a similar post with my face palettes. This was inspired by Hannah who does a "Ranking All My..." series on her YouTube channel, Annette also does a series like this but I did see Hannah do this first. 

HIGHLIGHTERS

For reference, I apply powder highlighters using my Anastasia Beverly Hills A23 brush, and creams just with my fingers. For creams I pat the product onto the skin in the area I want it and then gently tap around the edges with a clean finger to blend it out. With powders I apply in a back and forth windshield wiper motion onto the cheekbones and nose, and then use small circular motions to blend out any harsh edges. Sometimes I'll use a powder or blush brush to just tap over the highlighter and diffuse it if I've gone a little overboard (I know Lipstick Nick calls this veiling but I don't know if that's the right term). 

1. Colourpop Super Shock Cheek in Flexitarian 

Flexitarian is just the most beautiful highlighter ever made. It's so reflective it looks wet on the skin. When I first bought this I didn't really love it because it is so blinding it was just a lot, but as I learnt to use it I really grew to love it. I always wear this if I'm going out, and I love this on the inner corner. It's a stunning white gold that is perfect for my pale skin. I love the texture of this highlighter, it feels almost like a cream and is super soft and bouncy, I usually apply it with my fingers just because that's what works best for me, and I hardly use any product each time I do wear this - I really hope it won't dry out because I can't imagine not having this in my collection. 

2. MAC Mineralise Skinfinish in Soft & Gentle  

When I got my makeup done for formal the artist used this on me and instantly I knew I needed it. This product just gives you the most stunning natural glow, I love layering this with blush and just having a super glowy base. Because this isn't sparkly you can use it more liberally than you would a regular highlighter. I'll apply this to cheekbones, chin, cupids bow, forehead, brow bone, everywhere honestly. I actually own two of these, one in my kit and one for personal use - that's how much I love it. This works beautiful for very light skin tones through to medium skin tones, it might be too light for deeper skin however, but I would absolutely recommend the Mineralise Skinfinish range to anyone looking for an everyday highlighter. 

3. Maybelline Master Strobing Stick Illuminating Highlighter in 100 Light/Iridescent 

In my opinion, this cream highlighter is extremely underrated. I originally bought this on a whim and I just fell in love with it, I ended up panning a whole one and repurchasing another this year because I missed it - I even tried buying what I thought would be cruelty free dupes for this product, but nothing compared. The pink tone of this is perfect for my skin, and it's glowy not sparkly, which is what I like. I love wearing this when I'm not wearing a full face, I'll just use this on my cheekbones and possibly on my body with some mascara, lip balm, and brow gel - and that was my go-to look for school for an entire year. But layered under a powder highlight this is also super beautiful! It's just a great tone, it doesn't disrupt foundation, it's smooth and creamy and I love it. 

4. Jeffree Star Cosmetics Skin Frost in Peach Goddess

This was the first Skin Frost I ever bought, and I remember really lusting over it when it released. I was worried this might be too dark for me, and swatched it does look like it would be, but when you sheer it out on the cheek it really isn't, and it doesn't leave a weird cast either. I'm a sucker for peach tones and the gold shift in this is just beautiful. I think this is a great universal highlighter and it's the first thing from the Skin Frost range that I recommend to other people. 

5. Jeffree Star Cosmetics Skin Frost in Princess Cut 

Not to be over-dramatic, but this highlighter was made for me. It's a frosty baby pink and I'm in love with it. This is the perfect shade for my skin, I love the tone, and it's not too frosty - I don't look like I've just stepped out of the early 2000s when I wear this. Anytime I see a baby pink highlighter I go a little crazy and just have to have it, but this one is literally so perfect for me that I have absolutely no regrets buying this. This is just great for cool toned skin in my opinion, and it would make a great blush topper too. I don't think this would look chalky on light-medium skin because it's not super light, but I can only speak to my experiences with it and for me it just blends into my skin and blush and looks really glowy. 

6. Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed in Prismatic Amethyst 

This is the highlighter that made me fall in love with purple highlighters. What I love about this is that it has a transparent base and then just flashes this beautiful bright lavender purple, it's really stunning. It's more subtle than most of my highlighters, but I just love the duochrome, and because it has that transparent base it works for my really pale skin! 

7. Jeffree Star Cosmetics Skin Frost in Neffree

I remember watching a review of this highlighter and someone saying that this was their number one Jeffree Star highlighter and that they recommended it to everyone, which really surprised me because this looks like it wouldn't be wearable. I was always interested in this, and once Prismatic Amethyst worked so well for me I decided I should just give it a go, and I'm so glad I did. Like Princess Cut, this just blends in really nicely with my skin, it's not so pigmented that it looks like a purple stripe on my face, it just has that beautiful purple reflect. This has a really interesting tone, it's sort of more grey toned than Prismatic Amethyst which makes this really unique. 

8. Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed in Vanilla Quartz 

This is a pretty basic highlighter, it's a white with a gold reflect, but this is just really flattering. I've bought this for friends as a gift in the past because it can work for just about everyone. It's a good balance between natural and blinding, if that makes sense - I think where the Becca highlighters really shine is with their duochrome shades, and that's why this and Prismatic Amethyst are my favourites out of the line. If you're thinking about trying the Becca highlighters, I would suggest trying this one because it's really beautiful and wearable.

9. Too Faced Love Light Prismatic Highlighter in Blinded by the Light

I'm not going to lie, I bought this mostly because of the packaging and the pan design. I really can't decide if I like this highlighter or not because I love the colour, it's a white gold very similar to Flexitarian, but it's not a wet look, but it's still very intense and blinding. I always love how this looks in photos when I'm wearing it, and I do reach for this fairly often, but sometimes it can emphasise texture or look a little patchy - the patchiness could be because of the brush I use, but I'm not sure. 

10. Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed in Rose Quartz 

This highlighter was a little disappointing, but I think that's because I already own Peach Goddess. This is also a peach with gold, but this is really dull in comparison to Peach Goddess - for more natural days this is nice, but I just prefer the intensity of the Skin Frosts. The gold shift isn't as strong in this either, so it just doesn't look as cool on the cheeks. 

11. Jeffree Star Cosmetics Skin Frost in Ice Cold

This was another one that I lusted over forever, but it really disappointed me. I think I've only ever worn this maybe twice which is crazy considering how long I've owned it, but I just don't think it works for me. This is meant to be the perfect highlighter for pale skin but on my skin I find that it has sort of a green undertone and I just don't love the way it looks. I remember wearing it once and feeling really self conscious about my makeup that day because I felt like the highlighter had ruined it and I did actually get a compliment from a lady working at the Inglot counter but I just felt like it looked so terrible I couldn't take her seriously. I really need to give this another shot, but for now it just stays at the back of my drawer because I never reach for it. 

12. MAC Electric Wonder Iridescent Powder in Serenity Seeker

I think this is too dark for me so it might actually end up moving into my kit, I just got sucked in by the packaging of the Electric Wonder collection and really wanted one of the compacts at least. The marble packaging and pan were so pretty and I fell into the trap! This is a gold with a pink running through it but when you mix them it turns into a sort of bronzey shade that just doesn't work for my skin tone. 

13. Too Faced Frosted Fruits Highlighter Stick in Pink Lemonade

I really wanted this highlighter when the Tutti Fruitti collection launched and it was just about the only thing I wanted from the collection - one of my friends actually got me this for my birthday and I was really excited about it. I love the packaging with the little lemons, it smells delicious, the colour is a pink-gold shift which we all know I love, but on my skin I just don't like it. It's too glittery for me so I can't wear this just on bare skin which is how I like to wear cream highlighters, it also leaves a dark yellow-y cast on my skin and the shift is so hot pink that it just looks crazy on me. I might like this better on the body and it might be great in summer, but right now I really don't like it and it's so upsetting because I really wanted this. 

14. Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed in Moonstone  

This highlighter is just too subtle for me, it's not glowy enough and I really don't like the colour, it's like a weird nude gold, and while it works for me, I just don't like it. This is one that I want to pan and get out of my collection because it honestly feels like a chore using this, I never reach for this because I want to wear it,  only because I know I have to use it up. I bought this because I thought it would be a good shade for my skintone and I wanted to try the Becca formula because everyone loves it, and honestly I was really disappointed. It is really smooth and performs well, but the highlighter itself is lacklustre. I'm sure that people who wear really natural makeup would love this, but that's not me.

BLUSHES

1. Flower Beauty Flower Pots Powder Blush in Peach Primrose
I'm literally addicted to this blush, I love the tone, the formula, the pigmentation. I have to force myself to use other blushes because this is just the only one I ever want to reach for. I find peaches really flattering on my skin tone, and this colour just goes with everything. This blush is super soft but not so soft that it's too pigmented, it's just really easy to pick up with a brush and applies like a dream - it doesn't need to be built up much at all and it blends really beautifully. I wish all my blushes were like this because it's just perfect. 

2. Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blush in Feisty
This blush is such an interesting colour, it's like a terracotta almost and I just think it's really cool. What I really love about this one is the formula, this lasts really well and doesn't fade throughout the day. Blush isn't something that I really ever touch up during the day, but at least with this I know my blush will be visible all day. I much prefer this shade to the other Tarte blush I own because I just prefer warm toned blushes on me, and this colour is really unique. 

3. Too Faced Love Flush Blush in Baby Love
This blush is sort of special to me because it's another one of my first high end purchases, I bought this at the same time I got the Sweet Peach palette, and that same weekend I got my first tattoo. I picked Baby Love because it seemed to be the palest of the range and at the time I didn't wear as much blush as I do now. I wish I'd picked a peach or a brighter shade because while this is beautiful, I don't reach for neutral blushes. It's a really nice formula, soft, blends well, lasts really nicely, I just never use it which is a real shame. Despite that though, I still love this blush because of the memories attached to it and how cute it is. 

4. Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 Hour Blush in Celebrated
I bought this because I wanted to try the Tarte blush formula but I didn't know what colour to get so I just went with what looked like the lightest shade (I bought this online), and I regret that decision. I wish I had picked something bright and fun because this is a really beautiful blush formula, I just don't like this colour. This is similar to Baby Love but Baby Love has a gold shimmer in it and is warmer than this, and that's why I like it more. I don't like how cool toned and pale this is - it's almost mauve. 

5. YSL Couture Blush in #3 Orange Perfecto
I have so many regrets when it comes to this blush, I paid way too much for it, I don't love the formula, the colour doesn't suit me, and I got sucked in by the little envelope design in the pan! This blush is beautiful to look at in the compact, and I know I'll never get rid of it because of that, but every time I wear it I think I look sick, the yellow undertone just doesn't suit me. It's really disappointing because I did really want this blush and I was so excited for it because this was like my first luxury product. I find the formula quite stiff, it's difficult to pick up any product and the pigment is quite sheer so you have to layer a lot to get the amount of blush I like to wear, but then it becomes painfully obvious that this colour doesn't suit me. 

6. MAC Boom Boom Bloom Highlight Powder in Fleur Real 
I don't know what this product is, it barely has any pigment whatsoever. I sometimes use this as a blush because at one point in time I had convinced myself that this was doing something, but it really wasn't. I love the aesthetic of this product, but realistically it's just like a lightly pink tinted setting powder. 

7. Jeffree Star Cosmetics Skin Frost in Regina George 

I got this in a mystery box for Christmas, and I was excited because I thought I could use this as a blush or even an eyeshadow. I literally have used this once and have owned it for nearly a year now, I just don't reach for hot pink to wear on my cheeks, and it's too shimmery to wear as a blush. Maybe if I was doing something really editorial this would work, but for what I typically wear this is just too much. It also has a really strange texture compared to my other Skin Frosts, this one feels extremely dry and rough, and it's a lot harder to pick up product than it is with the others. This one is less pigmented than the rest of my Skin Frosts, which makes sense, but is also really disappointing because I do really like the Skin Frost formula. 

Iz 🦀