Best Highlighters Under $10 for Pale Skin

ByCordelia

 

Best Highlighters Under $10

Today I’m sharing the best highlighters under $10 for pale skin. Highlighting is an obsession of mine and even when I don’t contour (because let’s be real, I don’t contour every day), I still like to use a highlighter on my cheekbones. I love to glow. And when you’re pale like me, it can be hard to find a highlighter that’s lighter than my skintone. If a highlighter matches my skintone exactly, it doesn’t do its job.

Best Highlighters Under $10 for Pale Skin

PR + purchased by me.

These are mostly indie brands, since you get more for your money with indies. I did include a few drugstore options, too. All are cruelty free, of course, and many are vegan.

Best Highlighters Under $10

Top – Aromaleigh Ostara – Aromaleigh Thalassa – Notoriously Morbid Osteomancy – Notoriously Morbid Harlequin – Silk Naturals Close-Up
Bottom – Nyx Sunbeam – Nyx Lavender Lust – Essence Pure Nude

Aromaleigh

Aromaleigh Highlighters Convallaria Majalis - Hippomane Mancinella - Magellanic Cloud - Ostara swatches

L to R Aromaleigh Convallaria Majalis – Hippomane Mancinella – Magellanic Cloud – Ostara

Aromaleigh Thalassa, Ostara, Pegasos swatches

L to R Aromaleigh Thalassa – Ostara – Pegasos

Aromaleigh Mini Highlighter in Convallaria Majalis $7 (vegan) (4 grams of product in a 10 gram jar)
A pale translucent buff taupe powder with subtle blue green pearlescence.

Aromaleigh Mini Highlighter in Diana $7 (vegan)
This is a pale gold highlighter with a soft blue shift. I just ordered this one and can’t wait for it to get here.

Aromaleigh Mini Highlighter in Hippomane Mancinella $7 (vegan)
This is a unusual pale green with violet iridescence. It’s really neat.

Aromaleigh Mini Highlighter in Magellanic Cloud $7
A buff base with intense teal iridescence.

Aromaleigh Mini Highlighter in Ostara $7 (vegan)
This is a pale peach with a violet pink shift. It’s another favorite highlighter of mine, right behind Osteomancy.

Aromaleigh Mini Highlighter in Pegasos $7
This is a pale silver with an aqua green shift.

Aromaleigh Mini Highlighter in Thalassa $7 (vegan)
This is a pale teal blue with strong green to gold iridescence. I need to wear this one soon! It’s very mermaidy.

Aromaleigh has a lot more ‘normal’ highlighting shades to offer, I just favor the stranger ones. They also offer a much larger highlighter size for $14, as well as sample sizes.

Essence (drugstore)

Essence Pure Nude Highlighter $4.49 (.23 oz)
This is a subtle golden peach nude highlighter. It reminds me a bit of BECCA Champagne Pop. It’s new for Fall 2016. Pictured below with Nyx and Saucebox.

Notoriously Morbid

Notoriously Morbid Power of the Fae - Harlequin - Osteomancy - Ofra You Glow Girl - You Dew You highlighters swatches

L to R Notoriously Morbid Power of the Fae – Harlequin – Osteomancy – Ofra You Glow Girl – Ofra You Dew You

Notoriously Morbid Highlighter in Harlequin – $8.50 (vegan) (4 to 4.5 grams of product in a 20 gram jar)
This is a white highlighter with a lavender red shift.

Notoriously Morbid Highlighter in Osteomancy – $8.50 (vegan)
This is a white highlighter with a silvery-blue shift. I think it’s absolutely stunning on pale skin. It’s my go-to daily highlighter and I talk about it in my Cruelty Free Ride or Die video.

Notoriously Morbid Highlighter in Power of the Fae – $8.50 (vegan)
This is an ecru white with a golden shift.

Nyx Cosmetics (drugstore)

Nyx Sunbean, Lavender Lust, Essence Nude, Saucebox Nikki Beach swatches

L to R – Nyx Sunbeam – Nyx Lavender Lust – Essence Pure Nude – Saucebox Nikki Beach

Nyx Born to Glow Illuminator in Sunbeam $7.49 (.5 oz)
This is a pretty, subtle pale pink pearl liquid highlighter. People often claim this is an affordable dupe for NARS Copacabana.

Nyx Bright Idea Illuminating Stick in Lavender Lust $7.99 (.21 oz)
This is a pretty, subtle light pinky-lavender highlighter.

Silk Naturals

Silk Naturals Illuminators in Flattery, Close up, Spotlight swatches

L to R Silk Naturals Flattery – Close Up – Spotlight

Silk Naturals Illuminating Powder in Close-Up $9.95 (vegan) (1 tablespoon in a 30 gram jar)
This is a subtle glow that can be used all over or just as a highlight. It’s a cruelty free dupe for MAC Lightscapade MSF. MAC Lightscapade is often named as the best highlighter for pale skin. The Silk Naturals Illuminating Powders are great for someone who wants a subtle glow all over or just a subtle skin highlight rather than a very strong highlight.

Silk Naturals Illuminating Powder in Flattery $9.95 (vegan)
This is a perfecting powder with pink, blue, gold and purple interference colors to perk up the complexion.

Silk Naturals Illuminating Powder in Spotlight $9.95 (vegan)
This is a very slightly pink perfecting powder.

Saucebox

Saucebox Highlighter in Nikki Beach $6.99 (4 gram pan)
This product is almost sold out but I wanted to list it here because it’s gorgeous. It’s a pale gold shimmer. It will be gone soon, so if it’s a color you love you should grab it before it’s gone!

Honorable Mention – Geek Chic

Geek Chic Highlighters Geek Chic Highlighters Everlasting Storm - Patrichor - Glacial Ice - Aurora Borealis - Danxia Dawn - Flamingo Love Nest swatches Geek Chic Highlighters Everlasting Storm - Patrichor - Glacial Ice - Aurora Borealis - Danxia Dawn - Flamingo Love Nest swatches

L to R Everlasting Storm – Petrichor – Glacial Ice – Aurora Borealis – Danxia Dawn – Flamingo Love Nest

Geek Chic Gossamer Ethereal Illuminators are just slightly over the $10 mark at $10.99 (5 grams in a 20 gram jar), so I wanted to mention them because they have some really beautiful colors. They’re all vegan, too.

Ethereal Storm
Pale lavender with a pinky-violet glow, purple sparkles and rose shimmer.

Glacial Ice
This is a soft turquoise green with a minty green glow.

Petrichor
Soft dove grey with a silver sheen.

Bioluminescent Bloom
Pale blue with a blue shift.

Danxia Dawn
Taupe pink with gold shift.

Flamingo Love Nest
Pale coral-peach with orange-copper shift

Every company seems to make their label sizing a little differently, whether it’s because they use grams instead of ounces, different sizes of gram jars, etc. According to Google, 4 grams is about .14 oz., 5 grams is about .176 oz and 1 tablespoon is about .5 oz.

What are your favorite pale girl friendly highlighters for under $10? Are there any shades that I need to check out? Let me know below!

More to See

Cordelia Frost is the creative force behind Phyrra, a treasure trove for cruelty-free indie and goth makeup enthusiasts. She's the author of the game-changing 'Hooded Eyes Makeup Manual' a must-read for hooded eyes makeup.

Cordelia's world is a kaleidoscope of alternative beauty, gothic fashion, and life-enhancing tips, making every visit to Phyrra a journey into a more colorful and inspired self.

42 Comments

  1. What color blush would you recommend wearing with a green or blue highlighter? I just got the Kat von D Alchemist palette and I want to try those colors on my cheeks, but I don’t know what to try them with?

  3. Thanks for this! I’m in loveeeeeeeeeee with highlighters and am trying to collect ’em all (like Pokemon, only shinier). My current quest is to find ELF’s highlighter! Any suggestions, besides online? So far Target and Walmart haven’t turned up anything. :/

  4. I really like Darling Girl Cosmetics’ Lumos Shimmering Pearls. I have the shade “Astra” and both the formula and colour remind me of Benefit High Beam.

        1. You know, I love Femme Fatale eyeshadows and blushes. However, I find their site SO HARD to navigate. I can’t search by highlighters from Femme Fatale. I can search by Femme Fatale Cosmetics brand, or by Face products, but not specifically only Femme Fatale + blush or Femme Fatale + highlighter. I feel like they’re really doing themselves a disservice with the way their site is currently organized.

          1. I’ve never made a purchase from them, but now that I’ve been browsing their site, it does seem awkward to navigate!

  5. Thank you so much for the list that I never know. Love it. It’ so affordable. I love highlighter.

  7. This is probably the 3rd or 4th video or blog post I’ve seen in the past 24 hours on “The Best Highlighters Under $10” and no one has mentioned Looxi Beauty products. They’re a small, indie brand, out of CA I believe, and their products are amazing!! Especially their highlighters! They have amazing color shifts and are like $6 or $7 each. I highly recommend their Aurora Highlighters since you say that you like the “stranger” colored ones. Seriously, they are awesome! I do want to be clear that I am in no way affiliated with Looxi Beauty nor do I receive any perks for “promoting” (for lack of a better word) their cosmetics. I just really, really think you’d love them. Many of their items come in a pan that goes into a zpalette, which I think helps keep cost down too. So, anyway, I just wanted to say that I really liked this post. But I also wanted to mention Looxi, because they’re awesome! And cruelty free!! XOXO

    1. I actually own Looxi products and love them but I saw that a customer’s personal information was given out by Looxi beauty to an Instagrammer maquillage_savant to make fun of the customer. Because of that, I don’t feel comfortable recommending Looxi to people. Brands should not give out customer info.

      1. Oh no!! I’m sorry to hear that. I actually am kinda new to the whole highlighting thing, but several months ago I won a giveaway on Instagram which included 4 Looxi highlighters and a zpalette from them. The owner (I assume), Jess, was nothing but sweet and kind. I have a hard time believing she’d do that, but I’m not going to say she or anyone who works for her, didn’t. Simply by the kindness she showed me. Thanks for the info, Phyrra ❤

        1. It looks like that Instagram account has since been deleted but it had up customer info that had to come from someone at Looxi, so either the owner or someone who worked for her. I was under the impression it was a 1 woman operation. So yeah while I think the products are great and the owner was really nice to me via email when I asked her questions, I’m not comfortable reviewing / recommending her products. No problem!

  9. The Aromaleigh highlighters look really lovely. E.l.f. Baked Highlighters are great, and Moonlight Pearls especially is good for pale skin ($3) each. City Color Cosmetics Intense Exposure Highlighting Powder is great ($4.99). ColourPop Hippo and Monster ($8) — gotta love the duochromes.

  10. I’m loving the NYX’s Born to Glow Illuminator (Sunbeam). Also I know that Colourpop Cosmetics sells their highlighters for just $8 each. They have some pretty colors/tones to choose from as well. They are cruelty free and Peta approved. Some of their products are even vegan as stated on their website: https://colourpop.com/pages/faqs
    I don’t own any of their highlighters, but I ordered some of their super shock eyeshadows, some ultra matte liquid lipsticks, and few lip pencils. It took one week for shipping for me and they ship USPS. I would love to hear what you think about Colourpop Cosmetics if you decide too. Xoxo

    1. I actually don’t like the Colour Pop highlighters because they’re too subtle for my taste, but they’re another good one to include because they do have a great shade range and they’re at the right price point.

      1. Okay, that’s good to know. Something told me not to buy any of their highlighters. I just wasn’t sold on them. But you’re right they have a great range and price point.

  11. Does the Essence one show up too dark on you? Champagne Pop is too dark on me (I know you’ve mentioned it’s too dark for you too), and I’m wondering if the Essence one would be too.

    Also, I’d love to see a video where you try on and review NYX highlighters.They have so many to choose from, I’d find it super helpful!

    1. The Essence one is absolutely too dark for my skintone. I’ll have to shop my stash to see how many Nyx highlighters I have. I may only have these 2! They do have a lot but I think most are too dark for me.

      1. If not, do you have any pics you could point me to where you are wearing Lavender Lust please? Thanks!

        1. I literally just got Lavender Lust when I got back from Atlanta, so I haven’t done any looks with it yet. Will try to do one soon!

  13. I had some of the Aromaleigh but it was when I was younger and more adventurous. The colors are all so beautiful.

  18. I love you for introducing me to Osteomancy! I wear it often. I recently decided to try Fyrinnae’s Confidence highlight thinking it would be super subtle, but it really shows on my extra pale skin! If people want something that’s sparkle-free, they might like that one.

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