What is Strobing?

A new beauty buzz word is taking both beauty publications and social media by storm - "Strobing". Before you panic and worry that much like contouring it is something that you will never fully get the hang of rest assure that it is not all that tricky and probably a technique you have used in the past. You see essentially Strobing is essentially just a fancy way of describing highlighting the skin; rather than relying on both highlighting and contouring to add dimension to the face, Strobing solely uses highlighting. The end result? A fairly defined and glowy complexion.

Some of us are just blessed with wizard like paint skills, don't hate the playa' hate the game.

I'm not entirely sure where the term Strobing was coined but it does not not refer to any form of technique, so no need to brush up on any new fancy application skills (yeah I too let out a breath of relief). The idea is that you apply your chosen highlighter to the areas of the face in which light naturally hits i.e the top of the cheekbones, centre of the nose, cupid bow, brow bone and should you wish the centre of the forehead. Above I have quickly outlined the typical places to highlight/strobe but I would say in general it is a pretty forgiving beauty movement - there is no real right or wrong way to embrace the concept.The end result should be illuminated, healthy lit from within skin that is defined rather than intense, overly shimmery or worse glittery skin (guilty as charged on more than one occasion). As someone with blemish prone skin I do not recommend applying highlighter on an affected area as it tends to draw more attention to the problem, and on occasion it has given me the appearance of a more angry blemish. The opposite of what I was hoping to achieve.

What I have found when it comes to what I'd deem intense highlighting - "Strobing" if your fancy, is that it best works when you keep the rest of your make-up matte or at least the base. Otherwise it can appear a little on the shiny and dare I say it greasy side but then again to each their own. My other piece of advice would be to invest in not only a natural toned and finish highlighter (think finely milled shimmer or metallic over chunky glitter) and if using powder a tapered brush. Trust me with the right tools and product for that matter, highlighting is a breeze and unlike contouring you can really blend into the skin should you fear that you have went a little over board.

For those looking for a great, subtle, glow inducing but effective highlighter options may I recommend the following :
- Benefit High Beam for light complexions
- Benefit Sun Beam for deeper skin tones.
- Any light tone of the Kiko Water Eyeshadows
- Lush Feeling Younger Skin Tint
- Revlon Skin Lights Face Illuminators
- No7 Instant Radiance Highlighter

So is it a yay to "Strobing" or are you a little over beauty terminology?

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