Highlighters, from the Strobing Year to Glass Skin

Business Insider dates the rise of strobing to 2015, when people who had spent years on contour started skipping the dark shades and using only highlighter on the cheekbones and nose. Fashionista's roundup that December called it a new name for an old technique, and pointed out that it was easier than contouring, just a swipe on the cheekbones and Cupid's bow. I like that description. Highlighters are the simplest way to make skin look lit without adding much color.

What has changed since then is the texture. The old highlighter was a shimmery powder, and the finish was sometimes a bit obvious. Now there are gel-powders that melt in, liquids you can mix into moisturizer, sticks you can dot on with a finger, and balms that leave a dewy sheen with no sparkle at all.

The first grid is the powder side, including the hybrid gel-powders and cream-powders. The second is the liquid, stick and balm side, which is where most of the glassy finishes live.

Here is a trick I like: stand at a window with your phone in selfie mode and the flash off. Move your head slowly. A good highlighter looks like a soft glow on the high points. A bad one looks like glitter, and you will see it right away.

Start with the gel-powders, since they are the easiest to wear. Bobbi Brown's Highlighter Powder is a gel-powder hybrid with a clear base and pearl pigments, said to glide on with a cushiony bounce. Haus Labs' Bio-Radiant is a gel-powder with fermented arnica oil, made talc-free, with a blurring effect. Gucci's Glow is billed as the house's first powder-gel highlighter, with an airy texture and a gold compact with a mirror. Fenty Beauty's Killawatt Freestyle is a cream-powder hybrid that blends with very little effort, in solos and duos.

Kosas Shiny Objects is a wet-pressed powder, also talc-free, and the brand says it has no chalkiness or glittery fallout. You can blend it with fingers for concentrated shine or a brush for a diffused glow.

Then the more classic powders. Rare Beauty's Positive Light Silky Touch is made of 50 percent pearl microshimmers in a semi-sheer base, and it is delicate, so handle it gently. Anastasia Beverly Hills' Glow Seeker is a pressed powder in one universal shade, made for a single-sweep glow that builds. Givenchy's Prisme Libre is a marbled dual-tone powder with micro hyaluronic acid and squalane, meant to go from natural to strobing.

Here is a pairing I like: a hybrid on the cheekbones and a tiny bit of the marbled one on the brow bone. You get shine in two strengths.

What I would skip: the very shimmery powders on dry, textured skin. Pick a gel-powder or the Kosas so the light looks soft, not sparkly.

These are the ones I reach for on days I want skin, not makeup. Saie's Glowy Super Gel is a lightweight liquid illuminator with glycerin, olive-derived squalane and rosehip seed oil, and it gives a sheer glow without chunky glitter. You can mix it into skincare or foundation. Benefit Cosmetics' Dew La La is a lightweight liquid with hyaluronic acid, glycerin and niacinamide, made for a dewy, natural-looking glow. MAC's Lightstruck is a liquid with glycerin, squalene and coffee seed extract that you can wear alone or mix into your base.

Dior has two here. Forever Glow Maximizer is a multiuse liquid, the brand says, that can be a highlighter, blush, bronzer or eyelid color. The Backstage Glassy Glow Stick is a highlighter balm for the face, eyes, lips and décolleté, made with cherry oil, in glossy and glazed finishes. Charlotte Tilbury's Beauty Highlighter Wand is a gel that works as a highlighter or blush, with a non-greasy finish.

For daytime, look at MERIT's Day Glow, a moisturizing stick with squalane and olive fruit oil that gives a dewy glow with zero sparkle, according to the brand. Westman Atelier's Lit Up is a glassy gel highlighter stick from the makeup artist behind the line, whose second skin approach the brand puts at the center of it.

Here is a test I like: put one dot on the cheekbone, one dot on the inner corner of the eye, and blend with a clean fingertip. If it disappears in ten seconds, it is a sheer one. If it stays, it will show on camera.

What I would skip: powder over a liquid highlighter. It dulls the wet look you bought it for.

I think the easiest way to choose a highlighter is to think about your skin, not the trend. If your skin is dry, go liquid or balm. If it is oily, go powder. If you are not sure, a gel-powder is the safe place to start.

Apply less than you think you need, and put it only where light would hit a face anyway. If you can see the product, use less. You will be glad you did.

If your skin reacts easily, I also looked at the best highlighter for sensitive skin, from powder to balm.