If you’ve been following me for awhile now, you know that I absolutely love to shimmer and sparkle (I mean, come on, GLITTER). Summer is the perfect time to really glow because a) you’re most likely showing more skin and b) the sun reflects mica and glitter particles in the most gorgeous way. Loose highlighters are especially good for getting an intense glow (they also tend to have more glitter so be aware if you’re more of a subtle shimmer lover), so let’s go over my top five for this season.

a) Kaylux Cosmetics Trophy Wife ($17): I have four Kaylux highlighters, and while they are all fabulous, this one is my favorite. It’s one of the loose highlighters I have with more sparkle. If I’m being honest, I kind of want to dump it all over myself and I think it would be gorgeous in a body scrub (but I don’t want to waste mine). It’s described as a pinky-gold color and the site says that it’s best for tan to dark skin, but I think it looks great on all skin tones, especially if you blend it out a bit.

b) Prime Beauty Glo Girl ($17): This peachy rose gold shade is a little less pinkish than Kaylux, and I can’t stop wearing it. It almost looks like I put some kind of peach ice on my face in the sun, which is the look I’m usually going for. And for the ultimate oomph, you can swipe this on, use your setting spray, then do another layer. You won’t be sorry.

c) Queen Elements Star ($13.50): Star is more of a pure peach gold shade, and the warmth of it is perfect for accentuating a summer tan on medium skin tones and highlighting deeper tones. Peachy-toned highlighters tend to be my favorite because of the warmth they bring out, and this one quickly became one of my favorites.

d) Wvrthy Zeus ($12): If you tend to like more gold highlighters, Zeus is the perfect lighter shade. The name drew me to it, but seeing the slight green shift in the sun made it stand out from the other ten soft gold highlighters I own.

e) The Facial Bar Sunkissed ($16): Sunkissed is a true bronze shade that is meant to be worn as a highlight on deep skin tones, but I use it as a shimmery bronzer. Glow all over, right? It’s a mineral highlight, and is so finely milled that it literally feels like silk going on your skin.  As a bronzer, it blends easily and doesn’t look too muddy – the undertone is perfect and the sparkle is just enough without being overwhelming.

Peep the video below to see the sparkle in action.

And while you’re here, check out my video on six of my favorite black-owned makeup brands!

FTC Disclosure: Star, Glo Girl, and Sunkissed were gifted to me by the brands. I was not required to include them in this review and was not paid to post about them. All thoughts are my own. Trophy Wife and Zeus were purchased with my own money.