Tag Archives: charlotte tilbury glow glide face architect highlighter

The Best Highlighters Showcased

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I’ve been saying for a while now that I really don’t need a huge highlighter collection because what I like usually comes down to having the smallest possible shimmer particles, a non-metallic finish, subtle to medium intensity, and being a color that suits me. Once I find the perfect one, there isn’t much need to purchase additional highlighters. So, I’m testing that theory in 2024. I only brought my top seven highlighters to Germany (and repurchased one additional former favorite in a different shade) in order to see if I will miss having endless options or if I can truly be happy with a smaller collection. I suspect that the only reason I had as many as I did was for the pretty packaging, embossings and debossings, and/or them being limited edition. Unlike other categories of makeup that I tried to do a mini declutter and took photos of everything, I only have a picture of my main highlighter drawer from 2021 as seen below. It really doesn’t look too different from what the 2023 version would look like because I slowed down on the highlighter purchases upon realizing things got out of hand, and I was only reaching for the same few ones while still barely making dents in them.

The first five highlighters I’ll be showing here can’t be ranked. It’s impossible for me to choose which one goes above the others because I love them equally for different reasons.
The honorable mentions are products I loved, but left behind due to luggage weight limits on my flight.

I still enjoy my MAC highlighters, Becca Cosmetics highlighters, and more. However, I had to take into account the age of some of my older powders and how they aren’t fair to be compared to fresher formulas. So, this is my list of the best highlighters I own!

DISCLOSURE: All products in this post were purchased by me with my own money. I am not affiliated with any of these brands and all the links in this specific review are regular non-affiliated ones.

Tom Ford Shade Illuminate Highlighting Duo

As long as they aren’t sparkly and they’re a suitable skin tone match for me, baked gelee highlighters tend to be my favorites because of the wet effect they have on the skin. This is one of my top favorites of that type because of how smooth it looks and its versatility in impact. I’m able to make my highlighter application give light intensity to semi-high intensity with very small refined radiant particles. I reviewed several highlighters from Tom Ford and loved Tanlight specifically so much that I don’t feel the need to purchase anymore from the brand. The ability to tailor my color between the two shades is a great bonus.

Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk Multi Glow Highlighter

It’s strange to call something so wonderful a “standard” formula, so perhaps “traditional” is a better way to describe how the highlighter looks on the skin. It’s basically what I picture as the quintessential shimmery powder highlighter. The third stripe is my perfect shade for a toned down highlight, but if I want to amp it up, I add a little of the first stripe. This produces a low emphasis on texture, excluding the second stripe that has larger size shimmer particles in it. The way it looks and performs fits the criteria of everything I want in a powder highlighter, so in my eyes it’s pretty much perfect. The only aspects keeping it down is the second stripe’s difference in shimmer particle size and difficulty picking up product from the highlighters on the left and right sides of the pan. The full review with more photos and details can be found HERE.

Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Glow Glide Face Architect Highlighter (form I kept was the Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Blush & Glow Glide Palette in Tan-Deep)

The photo above shows the newest version of the highlighter that I decided to bring with me. In my review, the highlighter in the duo was pretty much identical to my Glow Glide shade in Sunset Glow. I decided to bring this one instead of the full-size I had been using, pictured below (in the compact I switched it to from its original packaging), because it’s smaller and has the bonus of having a blush with it as well. I could carry two products for the same size as one.

I mentioned in the Glow Glide review, in the same post as Dream Light, that this formula is officially my favorite of all of the brand’s highlighters. It gives the wet look I love and applies smooth like liquid because of its hybrid formula. It even feels a little damp, but it’s still a powder. It can emphasize texture if it’s too far from matching one’s skin tone, as I discovered when trying different shades in the line.
There’s something about the way it reflects in the light that I love. As for the duo, I’m calling the highlighter in there the Glow Glide formula, but it hasn’t been officially stated by the brand from what I can see, so I’ll link my original review for the duo specifically HERE too. So, in my eyes, the overall Glow Glide formula and not the duo specifically, is what I consider one of the best highlighter formulas out there.

r.e.m. beauty Interstellar Highlighter Topper

I bought Miss Saturn first, thinking Miss Mars was too dark for me based on official website photos. I can sometimes pull off dark champagne shades of highlighters, so I liked this highlighter enough to be willing to try and see if I could get a better color match. It turns out that Miss Mars is much lighter on the skin than it looks within the compact. So, it’s actually a perfect shade match for me! Because of this, I completely stopped using Miss Saturn and use Miss Mars exclusively.

I have zero interest in the r.e.m. brand because their products’ packaging just doesn’t appeal to me, which is probably why I hadn’t reviewed this product until now, despite it being considered one of my top three highlighters at one point in my collection, and owning it for over a year! It’s now in my top five though, with me still being unable to label it at a specific rank among the five.

I gave Miss Mars the nickname, “The Highlighter Fixer,” because of its semi-sheer base. This is the perfect “topper” to fill gaps from highlighters with shimmer particles that are too spread out without increasing the intensity by adding it on top. The scatter effect is one I don’t mind on the eyes, but despise on my cheeks, so this product has been fantastic for me to get use out of some of the other highlighters in my collection that would otherwise have been tossed out, but I wanted to keep at least for the packaging.
It also helps to lighten the look of some of the darker highlighters if I apply it on top too, or slightly deepen ones that are too light. Technically, most highlighters can do that, but this one does it without altering the intensity level.

When used alone, this highlighter’s radiance is subtle, giving a glow from within from its micro size shimmer particles. I like the fact that it’s not very reflective because I don’t have to worry about it looking harsh in certain lighting situations.


The texture is a little drier than the others and doesn’t stick quite as well to the skin if the base products underneath aren’t dewy to help it along, but the difference is it lasting eight hours versus twelve or more. It’s still long enough lasting for my needs.
There are some uncommon colors in the range, so I cannot speak for all of them in being useful or pretty. My recommendation is for the more traditional skin tone colors from the brand.

Pat McGrath Skin Fetish: Ultra Glow Highlighter (Divine Rose)

Everything I raved about regarding the Tom Ford highlighter applies to this, but there’s more shimmer particles in this one. This shade isn’t perfect for me because it’s golden-pink. It’s very pretty, but not 100% flattering on my warm undertone because of the pink pearly element, but it looks a little more natural if I pair it with a neutral or slightly cool-toned blush. If I’m a few shades darker, as can happen during summer, this is at times too light. Currently, it works.

I’ve referenced this highlighter many times, but I don’t believe I ever officially reviewed it, so I’ll include a photo below of it on the top of my cheekbones, inner corner of my eyes, and under the brow arch. When the apartment is nearly finished being worked on, I’ll try to create a better lighting setup.

The Ultra Glow formula is my absolute favorite from Pat Mcgrath, and I’ve been waiting…impatiently…for the brand to release another shade in this formula that’s sparkle-free (unlike the Bridgerton ones), but it hasn’t happened yet.

The way people rave about the Anastasia Beverly Hills x Amrezy highlighter as if it’s the best ever made is the way I feel about this highlighter, but I wish it was in my perfect shade. I still tend to use it quite often regardless. And in terms of baked gelee formulas, this one and the Tom Ford are my top favorites within that category.

Chantecaille Sunbeam Cheek and Eye Shade

This is another gel powder formula, but it’s a little more on the shimmery side than the others and with slightly larger particles of shimmer, but it’s still smooth looking on the face and a buildable formula. The shade is the deepest that I use and doesn’t work as well during certain times of the year, but in those times I have to be more careful about the placement on the face and I make sure to apply lightly. The original review is HERE.

Gxve Beauty Check My Glow Multi-dimensional Illuminating Talc-Free Highlighter

This is one of the two newest highlighters added to my collection and most recently reviewed. This formula reminds me the most of the Becca Shimmering Skin Perfectors, but less powdery and slightly more reflective. I love that I can tailor the shade depending on which colors I mix, and I have an easier time accessing each block than the Multi Glow from Charlotte Tilbury. This is yet another smooth looking and reflective highlighter that starts at medium intensity unless a very airy/wispy brush is used. Because it’s so new, I’m cautious about ranking it, but this has the potential to become one of my most loved.

Honorable Mentions:

Hatice Schmidt Labs Highlighter and Nabla Skin Glazing Luminous Pressed Powder

I listed both products in this category because they’re so incredibly similar, but I didn’t bring mine from Nabla because their best shades for me are too light or too dark. I didn’t bring the one from Hatice Schmidt Labs because I planned to get the darkest shade while in Germany. Both of these I reviewed and discussed previously. For some reason, the brand has Medium and skipped Tan to go straight to Deep. Deep turned out to be not much darker than Medium (which probably explains the lack of need for Tan). The base color is medium-deep, but it’s not opaque, so the pearly colored shimmer/pigment lightens the color overall. The way it looks on the skin reminds me of Chantecaille’s highlighter, but much more reflective and intense in direct light. But because of that sheerer base, it can be subtle if using the right tools. It also tends to look subtle in many lighting situations in Germany because it’s so dark here! I’m used to the Florida brightness and sunshine. The Deep highlighter shade doesn’t pop on me unless light hits my cheek perfectly. This can be a benefit or downside depending on someone’s preferences.

Melt Cosmetics Digital Dust Highlighter

It might specifically be the Genesis shade from Melt in this formula that I love because I bought Nova just before this trip and it was just “nice,” but not special upon first impression. Plus, I rarely reached for the Digital Dust Duos again either several months after I reviewed them since they weren’t the perfect shades for me. It’s a little less refined than the other highlighters I’ve discussed already, but still pretty smooth. It has a great wet effect. It’s very reflective in the light and Genesis is an even more flattering tone than PML’s Divine Rose because it leans even more gold than pink on me. I left it behind because there are just so many others already that are like this and I wanted a small amount in my first wave of products I brought over. However, it’s definitely coming in the second wave.

Guerlain Meteorites Light Revealing Pearls Of Powder

The original one I purchased (having removed the stars) gave the ultimate subtle glow. I’ve been looking for a good replacement since 2015 or 2016. In that length of time, I’ve purchased three others in the hopes I could replicate the experience. The first was the pressed trio, but the issues were the shades and pearliness (pearls on my skin tone tend to have an ashy effect), another set of meteorites I don’t believe I ever reviewed (and later sold) that had red-bronze balls too deep and too red toned to suit me, and most recently a gold powder-gel one that is a bit light for me and just looks alright on the skin.

I stopped using my original meteorites after five years because of fear of using makeup so old, but I’m tempted to bring it over anyway and start using it again and give up trying to find a replacement. Then again, it might even be too subtle for my tastes nowadays.
Just before I left, I tried out Melt’s new glaze powder which had a similar effect based on my first impression. It’s possible that one is the best replacement I’ll be able to get, even if it’s not from Guerlain themselves.

This is quite random, but speaking of Guerlain, I skipped getting anything from their Glittery Tiger themed holiday launch (the palette specifically). However, I bought a sweater for the season that reminded me of a mashup of those ideas and made me feel like I wasn’t missing out in some strange way. Plus, thanks to Black Friday sales, it cost the same as a single lipstick case!

Colourpop Super Shock Highlighters

One of the best features of the Super Shocks is the ability to get a cream-like wet looking effect on the face without it actually being dewy on the skin. Some of the Super Shocks can be more glittery than shimmery. My preference are the ones with the smallest of shimmer particles. I loved Parasol at first, but my tastes started changing and I wanted something a little deeper. Others I attempted to purchase since then were not the perfect shades. The best one came from the Avatar collaboration collection. I considered bringing that one specifically, but the formula requires a dense brush and works best with synthetic bristles. I’m still on my fude kick, so it will come later. This gives me a chance to use my top eight for most of 2024 before I reintroduce the honorable mentions to my updated collection.

That’s everything for today’s post! I hope it has been helpful. Thank you for reading!

-Lili ❤

Charlotte Tilbury Glow Glide Face Architect Highlighters and More

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This review is technically eight months in the making since the bronzer, Pillow Talk Highlighter, and mascara were supposed to be part of last year’s “May Purchases Reviewed” post that I still have yet to complete. In fact, so much time has passed that I fully used up and decluttered the travel size mini of the mascara, and had to rely on a sample size version to complete this review. The advantage of this situation is that I have very solidified options on most of the products we’ll be diving into today. But, let’s start with the newest product that I’m the most excited to talk about first!

Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Glow Glide Face Architect Highlighter in Sunset Glow and Bronze Glow

Even though Sunset Glow is my better shade match, the blended out swatch shows that it’s close to my skin tone. If it was the tiniest bit darker, I might not have liked it as much as I do.

This was supposed to be an early 2023 release, but 6 of the 7 shades were available via Selfridges for $38 on December 30, 2022. I knew Sunset Glow was the shade I really wanted the most, but it started off as a CT website exclusive for a week or so before it came to Selfridges, and I had already ordered Bronze Glow. As of this moment, Sunset Glow is still not available at Sephora, SpaceNK, Nordstrom, Bloomingdales, Saks Fifth Avenue, or Beautylish. I spotted it on the Feelunique website, so it seems the best chance to get this particular shade (if you live in the US) is from UK based places that have a US site too.

One of the first things I noticed when I got the product in my hands was how much it rattled when I held it and used it, to the point where the pan starts spinning in the compact when I try to do swatches. It’s not loose and it doesn’t fall out when held upside down. It’s just a matter of it being magnetic and not glued down. I don’t know if the ridges/raised elements on the bottom of the pan is the cause for the actual sound from it not laying evenly or if it’s due to having a weaker magnet inside the compact. It’s a minor flaw that I don’t mind because it makes it that much easier to transfer this pan into a different compact if Charlotte Tilbury comes out with something in the future with a pretty design on it. I like this outer packaging design more than the basic logo, but it’s not as cute as some of the past lunar new year compacts for instance, so I’d love to transfer this into prettier packaging some day because I really like this highlighter!

I created a chart using the images from the Charlotte Tilbury website to make it easier to see the color recommendations. Since Sunset Glow is the harder to find shade, I put that one in the middle, though it’s supposed to be in the 5th position.

According to the brand, these shades are “flawless on everyone,” but certain colors look especially pretty on certain skin tones. Bronze Glow is supposed to be the deepest color, but the shimmer looked light enough to work for me based on the brand’s swatches and examples on models. I was right in that regard, but the darker tone does keep it from looking as nice on me as it could. The point of a highlighter is to draw attention to a particular area of the face and bring that forward. Bronze Glow looks flatter and duller compared to Sunset Glow because the base isn’t light enough to create that lifted illusion. It still draws attention due to the sparkle color, but it’s not as pretty as when it’s both shimmery and lighter in depth, but not so light as to leave a pale stripe on the face. For this reason, I recommend taking the depth of one’s skin tone into account when choosing a shade despite the brand’s insistence on a universal aspect to them. As I learned, certain models are demonstrating one specific highlighter color for a reason and I found that choosing the shade closest to the model that looked like me resulted in the highlighter looking its smoothest. The “wrong” one drew a little more attention to texture.

Judging this based on Sunset Glow alone, these highlighters are super smooth. It feels slightly damp to the touch, but it is dry on the face. Part of what’s supposed to make this line of highlighters different from the rest is that it’s supposed to have a finish that looks like it’s melting into the skin like liquid highlighters would, while benefiting from the ease of use as a powder product. It looks beautiful all day and doesn’t lose its reflectivity like some lower quality shimmer in highlighters can do. This is by far my favorite highlighter from the brand and I believe it could be in the top ten ranking among all the ones I own.

Charlotte Tilbury Pillow Talk Highlighter in Dream Light

This may come as a surprise, but I wasn’t impressed with this product initially. It’s possible that I just had a sour taste in my mouth from my first one arriving broken. When this one arrived, I was disappointed to see the random larger glitter specks particularly within the dark reddish bronze strip (#2) and champagne colored strip (#4). Part of the theoretical benefit I saw to owning this highlighter was the ability to have four different highlighter colors within one product and be able to customize the shades by mixing two or more together, but the ones on the left and right sides of the pan are so small and thin that a select few brushes allow me to pick up the single color I choose. It turns out that the only shade I feel I can pull off wearing by itself is the deep golden one (#3). For getting just that, I tend to use my discontinued Wayne Goss #15 fan brush.

When I want a stronger intensity level of highlighter, I add the tiniest bit of the light gold (#1) on the very highest point/spot on my cheekbones. Besides the random larger sparkles, my biggest reasons for not preferring Stripe #2 is that it’s too red and dark, and Stripe #4 because it’s too light. Mixing all four shades creates a beautiful middle-ground color that I like, but I don’t wear it that way because of the increased number of random larger glitter specks. Of course, the more I use this and the more the shades kick up into one another, it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to not get larger particle size shimmer in #1 and #3. So, it’s something I’m just trying to embrace.

Because this is another relatively smooth highlighter, I do like it. However, if I had to choose between the Pillow Talk highlighter and the new Glow Glide Face Architect ones, I prefer the latter because of the extra smoothness and glow it provides without looking so powdery. They are the same price, and the Pillow Talk highlighter gives more variety, but four pretty highlighter colors don’t compare to one near-perfect shade.

Charlotte Tilbury Beautiful Skin Sun-Kissed Glow Bronzer in 3 Tan

I love this bronzer, but it had me going crazy for a bit! I included multiple photos because no matter what background or lighting I use, the color doesn’t look consistent. To my own eyes, when I wear this on my face, it sometimes looks more olive, or neutral, or warm-yellow, or warm-orange. I still can’t give a definitive answer as to what undertone this bronzer in Tan has! When I first started using it, there were times I thought the shade was strange and then other times it was absolute perfection! I’ve been using it on and off since June 2022 and I haven’t figured out the witchcraft that makes it look so different sometimes, but it’s one of my top three favorite cream bronzers now. It blends effortlessly on my face and sets without needing to powder it. The longevity is fantastic. One of the things I’m super impressed by is the fact that the texture has remained creamy for all these months without a film or discolored layer forming on the surface, and hasn’t partly dried out, like some other cream products of mine have done. It’s a pleasure to use every time!
Factoring my powder bronzers into the equation, this product has a ton of competition for claiming a spot in my top five favorites, but this might just be number one among the cream bronzers. I have three others that come to mind, but I haven’t spent enough time with them to say for sure yet which is the best of the best. Perhaps 2023 will be the year I finally do a yearly favorites post again to declare the winner.

In order to enjoy the pretty swirl pattern for longer, I mostly put my brush in the same spot (top right of the compact). It looks barely used, for that reason, from the top down perspective, but I’ve created a decent dip into the pan when taking into account how little product is needed.

Below, I’ve included a photo (taken in June) of another bronzer I bought that same month and love: the Nars Laguna Bronzing Cream in Laguna 04. It’s darker and more red toned than the Charlotte Tilbury cream bronzer, which is why I prefer Charlotte’s over it. Plus, the Nars bronzer is heavily scented.

There are so many reviews of this product by now, so perhaps it doesn’t need to be said, but the cream products are darker than the powder counterparts. For example, the powder version of Tan is lighter than this cream version of Tan. The powder version of Deep is lighter than the cream version of Deep. So, despite there only being four shade options, this helps to round out Charlotte’s overall bronzer line if you don’t mind using cream versus powder. I always wanted a “Dark Tan” or “3.5” bronzer shade in the powder line, but cream Tan is filling that void for me.

The price of this is ridiculously expensive, but it was worth it to me. It’s like if the Danessa Myricks Power Bronzer Cream and Anastasia Beverly Hills Cream Bronzer had a baby and that baby acquired magical powers.

Charlotte Tilbury Hypnotising Pop Shots in Sunlit Diamond and Cosmic Rocks

I rarely reach for single eyeshadow products, unless they’re in a custom magnetic palette, so I try not to purchase things like this. However, that packaging was pretty, and having a multichrome eyeshadow in a beautiful compact that I could reuse (if I wanted to re-press a different eyeshadow into there) was extremely appealing. So, I purchased Cosmic Rocks. The only reason I ended up with Sunlit Diamond is because the brand sent me that on accident instead of the Sunset Glow highlighter. So, they allowed me to keep it and sent me a second package with my correct item inside. Sunlit Diamond is a beautiful color, so I’m happy to have it, even though I wouldn’t have bought it myself. It’s not due to the product being bad. These eyeshadows are pigmented and sparkly and stay pretty well bound together when picked up, which means I can avoid making a mess when applying them and I don’t have to dampen them to apply them either. However, I did apply the inner halves wet in the eye looks below to see if there would be a dramatic difference and there was not.
I don’t get much fallout during application, but I can get a bit of it as the day goes on. I still haven’t tried these with glitter glue, but perhaps that could prevent some of that fallout throughout the day.

Also, I get the tiniest bit of movement where the shadow doesn’t want to stay in the deepest line of my crease, but it could be the primer I’ve used with this. It’s such a minor amount for me, but I thought I would mention that anyway for those who might have deeper lines on the eyes than mine. Admittedly, since I’m not much of a single shadow wearer, I’ve tested this product the least of everything else (only four times).

As far as multichromes go, Cosmic Rocks certainly can’t compete with Clionadh in terms of intensity, but I’m not certain if that was even the brand’s goal considering their typical clientele. It doesn’t have nearly as dark of a base as the others, so I’m guessing Cosmic Rocks is meant to be a more approachable way to wear a colorful shadow and a multichrome without intimidating neutral lovers too much.

Even without being as deep as Clionadh’s Jewelled multichromes, Cosmic Rocks is still pretty dramatic on my eyes, so I’m still pleased with it. However, considering the full $34 price of the Pop Shots (I bought Cosmic Rocks from Selfridges for $25), I wouldn’t recommend if for those who love really full on multichromes. Granted, it does come in a lovely lightweight compact, so perhaps the upcharge is understandable considering it houses a multichrome eyeshadow. As much as I like Sunlit Diamond, I personally find the full price to be astronomical for a more traditional eyeshadow.

Charlotte Tilbury Push Up Lashes Mini Mascara

Right off the bat, I have to say that my experience with the sample was different from the travel size. I’m not sure if that has to do with the travel size having more product in the tube and being able to fully coat the brush or if there’s a slight difference between the two applicator brushes. All I know is that I liked the travel size enough to where I considered buying a full size, but I would never have been interested in this mascara if it was based on the sample alone, because with the sample I couldn’t build as much volume as I wanted without doing at least two coats. Unfortunately, I used up the travel size many months ago, so I cannot remember which eye looks I’ve taken in the past that I was wearing this mascara. I only have photos of this mascara using the sample size (which is in the pop shots section above).

Based on the travel size, I like that I can create a defined fanned out look with the wand. I get a decent amount of length and volume, although my lashes don’t get quite as long or full as my favorite mascaras can provide. I like that the brush is fairly skinny, so I have an easier time coating my lower lashes. I don’t get any clumping, smudging, or flaking with this either.

I considered repurchasing the travel size again specifically for my lower lashes, but after using the MAC Extended Play Lash, I decided against it because I prefer the applicator on that one and it’s slightly cheaper than the Push Up Mascara from Charlotte Tilbury. Plus, my top favorite mascaras do a good enough job with both top and bottom lashes and I just have to be a little more careful and deliberate when applying mascara to my lower lashes.

I’ve sometimes experienced a difference between the full size tube and travel size of mascaras (if for instance one is wetter or one gets too much or too little product on the applicator), so I don’t know if I would notice yet another difference if I had the full-size. But, based on the travel size, this is a nice mascara, but I don’t see myself repurchasing it.

That concludes this Charlotte Tilbury update post!

Thank you for reading!

-Lili ❤