Rocaille Swatches: Top 6 Highlighting Eyeshadows

When we were pitching ideas for our signature looks back in December (see how Dani from Call It Beauty interpreted moi here), my fellow Lipstick Bandits focused on highlighted inner corners as one of the key components of my signature make-up, which, honestly, I'd never really given much thought before. There's a lot of truth to it though; I've been dilligently highlighting inner corners of my eyes since high school and taught this eye-brightening trick to many friends since. So, let's take a look at my top 6 highlighting eyeshadows for the inner corner, shall we?

(As a side note, of course you could be using these to highlight under the brows, on the cheekbones, along the Cupid's bow etc. rather than just inner corners; but that's the only feature I tend to highlight on a daily basis. Well... I may be partial to some lip highlighting here and there.)

1. NYX Single Eye Shadow in White Pearl ($4.50 for 0.085 oz). A bit of a staple for me, a white pearl shadow is what I've been using for highlighting as long as I can remember. Three things to remember: firstly, the finish should be more satin than metallic, secondly, use very sparingly and blend well, thirdly and most importantly: this will only work on white people. Like very pale white.

2. Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Virgin ($18 for 0.05 oz). As you can see, this is almost an exact match for my skintone but with more glowy/satin finish, which is why it makes for a perfect understated highlight on my veiny blue eyelid skin.

3. Inglot AMC Shine Eyeshadow No. 142 ($6 for 3.2 g/0.11 oz). A subtle shade with beautiful light pink/peach opalescence, quite similar to Fyrinnae Crimson Ghost but easier to use due to the pressed form. A lit-from-within pink that won't give you the dreaded pink eye effect.

4. MAC Frost Eyeshadow in Ricepaper ($15 for 1.5 g/ 0.05 oz). A classic favorite for more olive/yellow skintones, this light yellow cream with a satin finish works wonders to conceal bluish darkness around my eyes, especially paired with a more warm-toned look. Well, as warm as I can get it on my winter cool skintone!

5. Wet'n'Wild Eyelid Shade from the Walking on Eggshells Trio ($2.99 for 0.12 oz). A delightful, creamy metallic that's borderline too dark depth-wise to be used on my skin right now but can still be pulled off due to the highly reflective quality. Just get it already, you'll thank me later.

6. Inglot Pearl Eyeshadow No. 397 ($6 for 2.7 g/ 0.09 oz). The mother of all inner corner highlights and possibly my most reached for eyeshadow. In the pan, it looks darker than the Wet'n'Wild but actually swatches lighter (which is why it still wins) with the same buttery metallic texture.

Hopefully, this was helpful to some of you rather than just self-indulgent but I do love me a good inner corner highlighting action. As you may observe, matte shades are distinctively absent from this little round-up; I just haven't found any highlighting mattes that would rock my boat yet. What are your favorite highlighting eyeshadows? Any suggestions?