DIY Custom Liquid Highlighter (super easy!)

DIY Custom Highlighter by fashionistalooks featuring Becca Cosmetics

Hello my lovely readers,

It's been a while since I did a beauty post and I missed it so much. I love talking about beauty.

I adore the strobing trend. I'm all about that luminous, healthy skin look. After hoarding several highlighting products I came to the conclusion that I prefer those that are more subtle and in a liquid/cream form. I love MAC's cream color bases for example and I really enjoy Dior's Glow Maximizer. Lately I've been coveting a more pearly sheen and I realized I don't have any highlighter in a pale ivory shade to match my needs, so I just used eyeshadow instead. The white shimmery shade in my Chanel Les 4 Ombres quad in Tisse Fantaisie was the perfect fit for the job. However, I found the texture rather dry. As I was doing my makeup I thought: how can I turn this into a creamy consistency that will melt into the skin more seamlessly? I decided to add a little blob of moisturizer on top and the result looked like it could've come out of a 30+ dollar tube. And that, my friends, is how the idea for this little post was born.

This is so easy, a demo is barely necessary, however to make things clear as day here's a step-by-step how-to:

Chanel Les 4 Ombres in Tisse Fantaisie

First of all it's important to point out that you don't need this particular eyeshadow to make the highlighter, you can literally use any eyeshadow you want in any shade, by any brand. You could use ivory, peach, pink, gold, bronze, whatever floats your boat. The one thing I would advise you though is not to choose a very pigmented eyeshadow if you're going for darker colors such as bronze or peach.

left: the eyeshadow swatched / right: the eyeshadow and moisturizer before mixing

As you can see, I swatched the eyeshadow heavily at the back of my hand, then added a little dollop of moisturizer on top. My moisturizer of choice is the Kiehl's Ultra Facial Moisturizer because it's the one I use, absorbs easily and keeps my complexion hydrated throughout the day. You can go ahead and use your regular moisturizer. Creamier, richer formulas usually work better. I thought of mixing it with a drop of oil too but I really don't think oil would work well on top of foundation. Products like Vaseline or Aquaphor could block your pores and cause breakouts so I would strongly recommend you steer clear of those.

left: unblended / right: blended out

Then I just went ahead and mixed the two with my finger and you can see above how the mixture looks unblended (left image) and blended out (right image). Please note that for some reason the lighting is a little darker/more yellow in the left image. The mixture blends out very evenly and it gives a lovely, soft-focus glow without any obvious shimmer/glitter particles. 

And here is the product in action! It looks just like any other store-bought liquid highlighter, plus the hydrating properties of the moisturizer add an extra, ultra natural sheen. I really went to town with it, and applied it pretty much everywhere. This is my new favorite trick and I'm gonna try it with every possible eyeshadow for different effects.

I am also wearing: Bourjois 123 Perfect CC cream in 31 Ivory, Clarins Instant Light Concealer in 01, The Body Shop Honey Bronzer in 01 and lip balm.

C'est tout pour le moment!