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Guide to Strobing Makeup

Discover the strobing makeup technique and use Charlotte’s highlighters to mimic the flattering flash of a photographer’s camera.

4 minute read

Darlings, strobing is an illuminating makeup technique where highlighter is used to make the high points of the face POP! Charlotte knows the power of fabulous lighting and is always inspired by the beautifying effects of different types of light when creating her glow innovations! Discover her guide to strobing makeup and learn strobing secrets on how to GLOW like a SUPERSTAR!

What is Strobing?

Strobing is a highlighting technique used by makeup artists to capture light at the high points of the face – under the eyes, on the inner corners, along the nose, across the cheeks, above the brows and on the cupid’s bow.

Inspired by the flattering flash of a photographer’s camera, strobing is designed to illuminate the look of your complexion, enhancing your natural features and capturing the eye with a red carpet-ready glow! A strobing makeup look focuses on using GLOWY products to emphasize your existing features and, unlike contouring, typically doesn’t involve applying bronzer or contour that create the appearance of shadows on the face.

By tricking the light and precisely applying beaming highlights that look gorgeous on camera and in real life, you can flaunt magical makeup looks that STROBE and GLOW like never before!

Beauty Light Wands model shot

How to Get the Strobe Highlighter Look

Charlotte’s glow secrets are perfect for creating strobing makeup looks! In her wardrobe of beauty lights, you’ll find your perfect highlighter formula for adding a veil of soft-focused glow to your makeup.

NEW! Hollywood Glow Glide Face Architect Highlighters have arrived to give EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE access to the BEAUTY GLOW TRICKS OF THE STARS! Charlotte’s fabulous highlighters are magical, megawatt glow-getters that deliver a gorgeous Hollywood glow that’s ideal for getting the strobing effect. Following Charlotte’s Glow Glide Guide, use the star-embossed highlighters to enhance your features and GET YOUR HOLLYWOOD GLOW ON!

Alternatively, choose Beauty Light Wands in Spotlight or Goldgasm as a seamless, liquid-gold highlighter, Filmstar Bronze & Glow for a glamorous glow or Easy Highlighter Wands, a fuss-free cream highlighter wand that’s dreamily dewy-looking to create a spectacular strobing effect.

Tilbury Tip: Using the powers of AI, you can discover your perfect highlighter using Charlotte’s innovative Glow Finder technology!

Strobing Makeup Tutorial

  1. A closed, luminous primer in a light cool-toned-beige shade in a glass bottle with a gold-coloured lid.

    Step 1: Prime and Glow!

    When creating a strobing makeup look, it’s important to lay down glowy, brightening complexion perfectors before applying your highlighter to enhance the strobing effect you’re looking to create. First, Charlotte recommends using her iconic glow booster, Hollywood Flawless Filter, or Wonderglow, her glow-and-perfect face primer, to give the complexion a gorgeous base glow. Smoothing one of Charlotte’s illuminating primers into the skin sets the basis for your strobing look, while leaving the skin looking healthy and born-to-glow!

    Shop Hollywood Flawless Filter

    Shop Wonderglow

  2. An open foundation wand in gold packaging with a pump dispenser and a medium-brown-coloured body to show the shade of the foundation inside.

    Step 2: Perfect and Brighten!

    For foundation, reach for Charlotte’s Beautiful Skin Foundation to perfect the look of your complexion with medium-buildable coverage and a healthy-looking glow. Select your perfect shade from Charlotte’s line-up of 30 beautiful hues and use the Hollywood Complexion Brush to blend your foundation evenly across the face, building up to your desired coverage.

    Once you’ve applied your foundation, use Charlotte’s Beautiful Skin Radiant Concealer to CONCEAL and BRIGHTEN! Choose a shade of concealer that’s slightly lighter than your skin tone to create a strobing effect that makes the high points of your face POP! Apply to areas that you want to give a __STROBE, BRIGHTEN, and LIFT EFFECT such as under the eyes, on the tops of the cheeks and down the centre of the nose.

    Shop Beautiful Skin Complexion Kit

    Learn more about where to apply concealer for a lift effect

  3. Airbrush Brightening Flawless Finish brightening pressed powder in translucent shade for fair and medium skin tones

    Step 3: Brighten, Lift and Set!

    To brighten the complexions of EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE, Charlotte created her Airbrush Brightening Flawless Finish pressed powder! Inspired by her AWARD-WINNING smoothing-effect powder, Charlotte’s brightening powder is designed to light up the complexion and create a lift effect for the eyes and face. It’s the perfect powder to use for a strobing makeup look as it helps to set your brightening concealer in place while enhancing the look of the high points of the face.

    Shop Airbrush Brightening Flawless Finish

  4. An open highlighter powder compact with a mirrored lid, in a shimmery copper-gold shade.

    Step 4: Strobe and Glow!

    Highlighter is the key to strobing makeup, and as the Queen of Glowing Skin, Charlotte has all the tools you’ll need to create head-turning highlights that STROBE and GLOW! Reach for Charlotte’s Hollywood Glow Glide Face Architect Highlighter and GLIDE the silky-smooth formula onto the high points of the face using Charlotte’s Powder & Sculpt Brush. With Charlotte’s beauty glow secrets, you can illuminate the eyes, cheekbones, nose and cupid’s bow to create a SCULPT and GLOW EFFECT without bronzing or contouring, giving the complexion a SHOW-STOPPING STROBING EFFECT that’s ready for the red carpet!

    Tilbury Tip: For an out-of-this-world, strobing glow, layer your Hollywood Glow Glide Face Architect Highlighter on top of Charlotte’s sensational Beauty Light Wands!

    Shop Hollywood Glow Glide Face Architect Highlighters

Darlings, Charlotte’s strobing secrets are the key to all eyes being on you! Discover Charlotte’s gorgeous, glow-boosting highlighters and create beaming, strobing makeup looks!

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Author Details

Charlotte Tilbury

Founder, President, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of Charlotte Tilbury Beauty

With over 30 years experience, Charlotte Tilbury MBE is the world's number 1 makeup artist and British beauty entrepreneur. Charlotte established Charlotte Tilbury Beauty in 2013, which is now a record-breaking beauty brand that has won over 400 awards.