With spring fast approaching, it’s time to say goodbye to the caked-on face of foundation to conceal winter’s red nose and embrace the dewy, glowy, fresh face to transition into the warmer months. If you found yourself panicking over the lengthy process of achieving a killer contour during the Christmas period then spring just might be the season for you. Thanks to the technique of strobing, the spring makeup regime is faster, with a lighter coverage and luscious luminosity accentuating your features. This look leaves you feeling fresh with a glow that would put Kendall to shame.
So, what is strobing? Strobing is basically just a fancy term for highlighting. Instead of using the thick and heavy cream-based products that are used for highlighting when you contour, with strobing the products are lighter and contain lots of shimmer. The trick of the trade is to only apply the highlighter in the places that catch the light: the cheekbones, the top of your brows, below the brow bone, down the bridge of your nose, the corners of your eyes and finally above the cupid’s bow. Unlike contouring, where you try to desperately locate your seemingly non-existent cheekbones, strobing isn’t about changing the look of your face, it is about enhancing the fabulous facial features you have already. Beware of getting too slap-happy with the highlighter though, because you can run the risk of going from glowy to greasy with a misapplication.
Every skin tone suits a different shade of highlighter. For girls with fair to medium skin, champagne and slightly pink tones are best for achieving the dewy and shimmering look. Whilst for those who have an olive to dark skin tone, golden and terracotta based highlighters will create the look. Benefit cosmetics do a great range of highlighters that suit all different skin tones. High-Beam (£19.50) is a gorgeous pink champagne-toned highlighter, while Sun-Beam (£19.50) is a golden cream-based luminator that is perfect for people with a darker skin tone or for those who are still rocking their summer tan. Another favourite from Benefit is the glitzy, shimmer highlighter stick Watt’s up (£24.50) that is fabulous applied either before or after foundation. For those of you who prefer a powder, then Topshop does two different powders in their range: Chameleon highlighter in Mother of Pearl (£12.50) and Highlighter in Horizon (£10.00). However, the most sought after highlighter product on the market is the Mary-Lou Manizer from The Balm cosmetics. This gorgeous product is priced at £17.50 and will transform your face, leaving you with an enviable fresh-faced glow.
To achieve the ultimate natural spring beauty look, pair your chosen highlighter with a light wear foundation, bronzer, lashings of mascara and a pink-toned lippie. Strobing will reinvigorate your makeup routine and leave you wondering how you ever coped without it. Some lasting advice: embrace your newfound makeup look, go out and shine bright like a diamond.
