How to Wear Gold Highlighter on Every Skin Tone

Ask just about anyone what’s trendy in terms of makeup right now, and you’ll hear the same thing—gold highlighter. This beauty trend has been spotted topping the cheeks of everyone from celebrities to influencers; there’s no doubt that getting gilded is the face makeup look of the moment. And obviously, you’ll want to join in the fun. The only issue is that interpreting this beauty trend for your own skin tone can be slightly troublesome. Sure, everyone wants to try this makeup trend and have that golden touch, but who does it actually look good on? Well, we’re happy to say, all skin tones can pull off gold highlighter. Get ready to get your glow on by following our guide to gold highlighter for every skin tone below.  (Want to brighten the appearance of your skin without wearing makeup? Try our charcoal mask!)

How to Wear Gold Highlighter When You Have Fair Skin

With skin that’s as pale as porcelain, you might think that wearing gold highlighter would be off limits. While it’s true that some shades of face highlighter may be too dark for your skin tone, that doesn’t mean you have to skip the gold highlighter trend altogether. Look for a light, champagne gold shade or a pearly white with gold reflects.

How to Wear Gold Highlighter When You Have Medium Skin

When you have a medium skin, you’ll want to take your cues from your in-between tone. A super-light highlighter might not be quite right, but neither may one that’s super-bright. When you find a highlighter color that’s somewhere in the middle, that’s your shade.

How to Wear Gold Highlighter When You Have Olive or Dark Skin

We have some good news to share with everyone with an olive or dark skin tone. The gold highlighter fad began on darker skin tones, since it looks simply stunning! You can rock a bright, yellow-gold highlighter—just as the makeup trend was intended.

Our Best Highlighters in Gold

Now that you know what to look for in a face highlighter, let us point you in the direction of our best highlighters in gold.

L’Oréal Paris True Match™ Lumi Glow Nude Highlighter Palette in Sunkissed: Why have one highlighter, when you could have four? This highlighter palette offers four subtle shades to mix and match for a customized, multidimensional glow that looks natural. To rock highlighter in gold, look to the lightest shade, which will be just right for fair skin tones.

L’Oréal Paris True Match™ Lumi Glow Amour Glow Boosting Drops in Golden Hour: If you love multi-tasking beauty products (who doesn’t?), this one’s for you. Wear these golden highlighter drops alone, blended onto the highpoints of your face, or mix them into your skin care products or foundation for an allover dose of radiance.

L’Oréal Paris Infallible Galaxy Stick in Galaxy Gold: The only thing trendier then lots of gold shimmer is holographic makeup. Combine the two, and whoa. Talk about trendy! Apply this otherworldly gold highlighter above your cheekbones—no matter your skin tone.

L’Oréal Paris True Match™ Lumi Powder Glow Illuminator in Golden: Swirl these four illuminating, golden highlighter shades together or wear them separately to brighten the look of your face.

L’Oréal Paris True Match™ Lumi Liquid Glow Illuminator in Golden: Open up the look of your eyes, create the appearance of symmetry, define your face, and prime all over with this liquid gold highlighter.

How to Wear Other Gold Makeup

If you’re living for your gold glow, there’s no reason why it can’t go beyond your highlighter. In fact, gold eyeshadows, eyeliners, and lip glosses are practically staples in our beauty collections. For your eyes, try using a gold eyeliner to create a cat eye or sweep a gold eyeshadow, like the L’Oréal Paris Infallible 24 HR Eye Shadow in Eternal Sunshine, across your lids. Then complete the look with a lip gloss packed with gold shimmer, like the L’Oréal Paris Colour Riche Le Gloss in Golden Splash. Keep the rest of your makeup simple, and ta-da! Gilded perfection.

Want to experiment with more metallic makeup? Check out our article, How to Rock Metallic Makeup, and try taking silver eye shadows and bronze lipsticks for a spin.