Best Drug Store Highlighter for Indian/Tan Skin *SWATCHES AND REVIEW*

The biggest make up trend this summer is highlight! Every woman wants to look sun kissed and luminous. But it can be super pricey to achieve that radiant glow and shine. Highlights at Sephora and Ulta can cost you up to $50. I wanted to investigate and find the best highlights at the drug store that would compliment my skin tone AND compare to the high end products. So I picked up some of the most talked about highlights at the drug store and put them to the test!

Wet n Wild has been slaying the drugstore makeup game recently. Their Photo Focus Foundation and Color Icon Blushes have quickly become some of my favorite drugstore items, and their Megaglo Highlighting powders are no exception. These highlights have a beautiful, buttery, smooth texture that glides onto the skin perfectly and blends easily. The formula isn't chunky or glittery (there is some shimmer but it isn't noticeable). This powder gives me the lit from within look that I love. AND these highlights are so buildable that I can easily turn a glowy day time look into a blinding night time look. You can definitely make these highlights work for you depending on how you apply them.

Precious Petals $4.68

The Megaglo powder in Precious Petals is a gorgeous gold highlight with subtle rose and champagne undertones. This color looks stunning on my tan Indian complexion and I love how healthy and glowy my face looks after I use this powder. 

Crown of My Canopy $7.47

The Megaglo powder in Crown of My Canopy is a beautiful copperish, bronze, gold shade. This color would look so beautiful on deep skin tones. It is a little too dark for me on its own, so I love using this color mixed with Precious Petals. That combination creates a unique custom color that is perfect for my complexion in the summer. 

Left: Crown of My Canopy, Right: Precious Petals

Top: Crown of My Canopy, Bottom: Precious Petals

The Strobelight Instant Glow Powder by Milani is another really great highlight for the summer. It is not as blingy as the Wet n Wild highlighting powders, but this powder gives the prettiest glow that makes my skin look so luminous and healthy and I can build it up to be super bright. The formula is a little stiff and powdery, but it is still very easy to blend and apply. In the compact it looks like the powder is glittery, but the glitter doesn't show up on the skin. The only thing I don't like about this highlighting powder is that it's staying power isn't that great. It lasts on my skin for about 3 hours before I feel it dulling down. But it looks so pretty on the skin that the pros definitely outweigh the cons. 

02 Dayglow $10.00

The Milani Strobelight Instant Glow Powder in the shade 02 Dayglow is GORGEOUS on my skin tone. This highlight has a warm, gold, champagne, pearl color and it's looks beautiful with my tan skin. The color perfectly melts into my skin, looking natural but very luminous. 

01 Afterglow $10.00

The shade 01 Afterglow is a pale, pinky, pearl shade. This shade is too light for my skin as a cheek highlight. It looks super powdery and cool toned on my skin. BUT it does look really good as an inner corner highlight or all over the lid as an eye shadow.

Left: 02 Dayglow, Right: 01 Afterglow

Top: 02 Dayglow, Bottom: 01 Afterglow

These e.l.f baked highlighters are very tricky. If you dip into this highlight right away then you will have no color pay off, and nothing will come off on your brush. BUT the trick is to scrape off the top layer of these highlights and then you'll have a beautiful highlight. The formula on these highlights is pretty good! They are a little stiff, and the fact that you have to scrape off the top is kinda annoying. But the highlight applies really smooth and blends decently. These aren't my favorite formula at the drugstore but I am a big fan of the colors.   

Moonlight Pearls $4.00

The e.l.f baked highlight in Blushed Gems is such a pretty, unique color. It has a beautiful pinky, bronze, gold shade that looks really nice against my skin tone. 

Blushed Gems $4.00

The e.l.f baked highlight in Moonlight Pearls is a soft white gold shade. It can sometimes be too light for my skin, it really depends on how tan I am. I love mixing Moonlight Pearls and Blushed Gems together. 

Left: Moonlight Pearls, Right: Blushed Gems

Top: Blushed Gems, Bottom: Moonlight Pearls

Wet n Wild's megaglo Illuminating Palette in Catwalk Pink is a very large highlight palette with 4 different shades. I think this palette is my least favorite out of all of them. The formula feels smooth, but it's very powdery and full of glitter. The product doesn't blend easily on my skin. I can see the highlight and powder sitting on my skin. Whenever I wear this highlight, I always feel like my pores and texture are super exaggerated. I think it's nice that you get 3 highlight shades and 1 blush topper, making it a versatile palette. You can mix and match 2, 3, or all of the shades to create custom shades. 

Catwalk Pink $4.68

Left to Right: 1st color, 2nd color, 3rd color, 4th color

The first color in the palette is a pale gold color that shows up way to light for my skin tone. I definitely have to mix it in with the other colors in order to make it work. The second color is a pale pink, and it's too light for my skin tone as well. Again, I have to mix it in with other shades to make it work for me. The third color is a really pretty, peachy, pink blush topper. Unfortunately I rarely use blush toppers, so I don't get much use out of it. The last color is the only shade in the palette that works well as a highlight for me. It's a true gold highlight with some orange and yellow undertones that work well with my skin. 

Bottom to Top: All colors mixed together, 1st color, 2nd color, 3rd color, 4th color

Flower Beauty is probably the most talked about new brand at the drugstore, and for good reason. The Shimmer and Strobe highlighting palette is amazing and BLINDING. These highlights are so bright and the formula is perfect. They are so soft and buttery, they blend like a dream, and the colors are stunning. There is some kick up, but that's expected considering how soft these are. This is by far the best highlight at the drug store. I have nothing bad to say about these. 

Shimmer and Strobe $12.98

You can mix these colors to create a custom highlight color. The first shade is a champagne gold shade. The second color is a beautiful champagne pink. The third shade is a true warm gold. Even though the first two colors look like they would be too light for my skin, they aren't. They blend so well on my skin and melt into a beautiful metallic finish without looking powdery or too pale. If you've been searching for a cool toned highlight that could compliment an Indian/tan skin tone, then I definitely recommend you check these out!

Left to Right: 1st color, 2nd color, 3rd color

Bottom to Top: 1st color, 2nd color, 3rd color

Overall, I would recommend the Flower Beauty Shimmer and Strobe Highlighting Palette above all the others. These are so bright and beautiful. They also have the most luxurious formula that could compare to any high end highlighter. The Wet n Wild Megaglo highlighting powders are a close second. They have a great formula, with two beautiful color options to help you achieve that blinding look. The Milani and e.l.f highlights are both really great drug store options. The colors and quality of the Milani and e.l.f highlighters are really nice, and they can be easily built up. However, their stiff formula puts them in third place. Unfortunately, the Wet n Wild Megaglo Illuminating Palette was a miss for me. The formula is just too glittery, it was really hard to blend, and the colors didn't work well for me.

I hope you guys enjoyed this drugstore highlight investigation! Please leave your comments or ideas for future posts down below. Thank you so much for reading and don't forget to subscribe!

-Sim