We Tried $255 Worth Of Highlighters — & Found A Winner

The future of beauty is here — and you’re invited. Check out the rest of our 2018 Refinery29 Beauty Innovator Awards winners for a full look at the products, brands, and people that are breaking the rules and redefining beauty standards, one lipstick at a time.

If there is one beauty product most likely to be infused with actual magic, it's highlighter. The game-changing, glow-inducing formulas have the power to brighten up our faces, make for the best selfies, or singlehandedly transform us into dewy dumplings. Mascaras and concealers still do their jobs to make us look approximately 38,749 times more awake, but there's just something about getting complimented on "your glow" when you're not four months pregnant or just walking out of a cardio class.

To prove our point, we tried the buzziest highlighter formulas of 2018, from jellies to domes to Tin Man silvers, in order to find the very best in the name of our Beauty Innovator Awards. We eventually landed on ones that impressed the hell out of us... and, in one case, even had us referencing the Bible. But we're not ones to keep that good information to ourselves — ahead, the highlighters that gave us the best glow, no ring light necessary.