The Perfect Highlighter For When You Just Want To Look Really Dewy

There's a phenomenon that I like to call the "afternoon glow" — not to be confused with Starland Vocal Band's 1976 hit "Afternoon Delight" — where, around 1 or 2 p.m., I reach a point where my skin's natural oils have done their best work, wearing away my foundation and powder just enough to make me look naturally dewy, not greasy. It only seems to occur when the stars align, when I've got the perfect combination of a good skin day and a foundation-concealer-powder combination that manages to blend seamlessly into my skin, rather than just sitting on top of it.

On those very good days, my skin looks healthier and more radiant, my cheekbones a little more pronounced. But the afternoon glow is hit or miss; sometimes I'm too oily by midday, other times I'm dull-faced and tired by noon. That's why I call upon a revolving door of products to help me fake it 'til I make it to the perfect afternoon, like Bobbi Brown's new All Over Glow liquid highlighter. This might just be the dewiest product I've ever used — dew in a bottle, if you will.

The liquid-gel hybrid looks a little too shimmery when you first smooth it on, but when tapped onto the high points of the face or mixed into foundation, the shimmer blends away and leaves behind the prettiest glossy sheen. That effortless glow is all thanks to the micro-fine gold particles and squalane in the formula. Squalane, in this case derived from olive oil, is a hydrogenated oil derived from the one naturally produced by our own skin cells. Typically found in moisturizers and serums, its ability to mimic the skin's natural sebum makes it a kind of "miracle ingredient," keeping skin looking balanced, plump, and non-greasy — just like the glow I get from the All Over Glow.

One caveat: If you have oily skin, this might not be the highlighter for you. My skin is on the oily side of combination, and while this stuff has given me the perfect glow without reading greasy all winter, chances are I'll phase it out as the weather warms up for my skin's shinier seasons. But this little jar is a guaranteed shortcut to that perfect just-took-a-light-jog sheen, so you better believe I'll be wearing it up until the sun starts melting my makeup straight off my face.