6 Tips To Elevate Your Highlighting Game
Let's face it. It's all about the highlight.
Most beauty looks aren't complete without a glow. There are so many products out there to help you get your glow on. However, in my humble opinion, having a great highlight is more so about technique than anything else.
Here's a go-to guide to make sure your highlighting game is always on point:
Choose a highlighter that is best for your skin type.
Oily skin may do better with a powder highlight (which may come up patchy on dry skin). On the other hand, dry skin may do better with a liquid highlighter/illuminator. Normal skin can probably do well with both options or even with a layering of the two.
Choose undertones that will complement your skin.
Sonjdradeluxe/YouTube
Olive/Medium Tones:
Opt for soft gold, peach, and other warm tones. It will give your skin a natural sunkissed glow.
Nikki Perkins/YouTube
Deep/Dark Tones:
Deep golds may work really well but bronze, copper, and rose gold tones will complement your skin on a whole other level that you'll appreciate.
Use the right brush.
The right brush can make the difference between you looking a mess and looking like a golden goddess. Opt for either a fan brush, a small tapered (smaller at the tip brush), or an angled brush that can precisely apply your highlighter. This is especially important for the high points of cheeks.
Only apply highlight where the light or sun hits your face naturally.
These areas are typically the highest points of your cheeks, your forehead, the bridge of the nose, your chin, and right above your top lip. By no means do you need to highlight all these areas; play around until you find what you like. For instance, I don't like to highlight my chin because it's an oily area of my face and draws way too much attention when highlighted. Take the time to figure out which places accentuates your look the best.
Makeup is never one size fit all and highlighter is no different. Play around with where you place your highlight until you find something simple.
Start lightly and build up the color.
With all the high-intensity highlighters on the market right now, it's easy to get a little overboard with the glow. Being light-handed with the highlighter instead of piling on a bunch of it at once will look much more natural and appealing.
Pretty much every highlighter on the market is building, so take your time.
Spray your brush with setting spray if you want an intense glow.
Applying highlighter with a wet brush (specifically powder versions) makes a noticeable difference. Your highlighter tends to look much more cohesive and appears to melt into your skin. It a sense, it makes your skin look like liquid metal in the best way possible.
Use these tips next time you highlight and I promise your glow will be blinding.
Featured image by Nikki Perkins/YouTube
ItGirl 100 Honors Black Women Who Create Culture & Put On For Their Cities
As they say, create the change you want to see in this world, besties. That’s why xoNecole linked up with Hyundai for the inaugural ItGirl 100 List, a celebration of 100 Genzennial women who aren’t afraid to pull up their own seats to the table. Across regions and industries, these women embody the essence of discovering self-value through purpose, honey! They're fierce, they’re ultra-creative, and we know they make their cities proud.
VIEW THE FULL ITGIRL 100 LIST HERE.
Don’t forget to also check out the ItGirl Directory, featuring 50 Black-woman-owned marketing and branding agencies, photographers and videographers, publicists, and more.
THE ITGIRL MEMO
I. An ItGirl puts on for her city and masters her self-worth through purpose.
II. An ItGirl celebrates all the things that make her unique.
III. An ItGirl empowers others to become the best versions of themselves.
IV. An ItGirl leads by example, inspiring others through her actions and integrity.
V. An ItGirl paves the way for authenticity and diversity in all aspects of life.
VI. An ItGirl uses the power of her voice to advocate for positive change in the world.
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How A Stay At Switzerland's Luxurious 7132 Hotel Reminded Me To Live The Life I Deserve
Sometimes, as women—especially as single Black women—we simply need to be reminded that we are deserving of living a life we dream of. Even if that means creating it for ourselves. I recently set out on a weeklong trip to Switzerland, a trip I’ve been wanting to take for years, and near the end of my visit, I had an epiphany.
“DeAnna, this is the life you deserve,” I thought to myself as I took in the gorgeous bathroom in my suite at the famous 7132 Hotel and Thermal Spa. It was one of the most luxurious hotels (and bathrooms) I had ever stayed in—and that’s saying a lot for someone who often travels for work.
To help you better understand why this was such a mental awakening for me, I first need to give a bit of my backstory. I’m in my late thirties. I’m an attorneyand a journalist. I own a home and have traveled the world extensively. Essentially, I’ve done everything in life I set out to do. However, when it comes to dating, I struggle. Not because there is anything wrong with me per se, but because my career and “lifestyle” often create problems in my romantic relationships.
View from my hotel room
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I’ve been told everything from, ‘I can’t continue to date you because you seem to choose your career over wanting to settle down and have kids’ by a man after only the second date to ‘Maybe if you just sat down somewhere for a while, I’d actually wife you’ by someone who has honestly never proven themselves to be the settle down type. And these are only a handful of the things I’ve been told over the years.
It’s been frustrating, to say the least, and there have even been seasons where I purposely dimmed my light in hopes that my career wouldn’t push away potential suitors. I know what you’re thinking, “Girl, why would you even consider that? If they’re for you, it won’t matter what you do.” Hey, don’t judge me, but also, I one hundred percent agree.
My hotel bathroom
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That’s why this recent moment in Switzerland was right on time. When I first walked into the hotel to check in, I was blown away by the surrounding beauty. It was a five-star property with one of the world’s most famous thermal bathhouses. Yet, it was something about seeing that 90% of the hotel’s guests were couples, that forced me to sit back for a bit of introspection—while soaking in the thermal spa, of course.
As I went through the mental conversation, there was a battle of sorts. On one hand, I knew that being able to partake in experiences like the one I was having at that moment was important to me. I knew that, at times I actually love being able to dabble in the finer things—after all, I’ve worked hard to be able to afford them. On the other hand, and sadly, I knew that sometimes being a single Black woman that publicly showcases her “luxurious” habits can intimidate men and even scare them off from pursuing you under the guise of them feeling like they “can’t do anything for you, because you have everything.”
My hotel room
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So, what is a girl to do?
Do I minimize/hide the life and experiences that I have? Do I play down the hard work I’ve put in to get where I am professionally? Or, do I risk being single in exchange for being able to have said life, without backlash?
Luckily, the joy that I felt while being at this property won. There was something about taking a full day to simply pamper myself at the bathhouse and in my in-room steam shower and soaker tub, indulging in cuisine from a 2-star Michelin restaurant and doing all of this while surrounded by an amazing group of Black women that reminded me—this is certainly the life I was meant to live and that I deserve. Even if it means that right now, I’ll just have to provide it for myself until the right partner comes along. And honestly, I’m okay with that.
Restaurant at 7132 hotel
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