Giving Good Glow – A Guide To Lustre Skin 

Hailey Bieber gave us glazed doughnut, Nam Vo coined the term dewy dumpling, and Pat McGrath created mirror shine mannequin skin that had every TikTok influencer going wild trying to recreate it. But if expensive-looking skin is where your goals are at, then gloss isn’t what you’re after; it’s lustre. Whilst glossy skin creates the idea of bouncy youth, it can be set aside for the teenagers; those wet textures needed to create a high shine finish can also feel a bit sticky on a summer’s evening. Switching it up to a lustrous gleam alludes to high-end skincare and well-honed makeup skills that feel polished and elegant, a territory reserved for the grown-ups. In the current economic climate, quiet luxury has crept into wardrobes and makeup bags alike; you may not be dressed head to toe in The Row, but lustre skin can give the illusion that you spend a small mortgage on your face every month, regardless of your finances.

Your typical dewy skin is spa fresh, glistening with hydration and juicy, using products designed to appear wet; however, lustre is surreptitiously different. Skin is as buttery soft as a Hermes Birkin, and highlights appear with the sheen of brushed metal, utilising a creamier range of products that dry down and leave a soft veil of glow. To create it, you need to choose your illuminators wisely and layer them correctly. This finish is effortlessly luxurious yet easily achievable if you know the way to do it.

Flawless skin begins with essential skin prep; it’s not about perfection from the get-go (this isn’t only for the blemish-free), but you want to create a well-hydrated base that doesn’t have too much slip and allows you to control where you want the glow to be. Cleanse skin thoroughly with a hydrating cream or balm cleanser, then take time adding in moisture. I love to take a serum such as Laneige Cream Skin or NIOD MMHC2 and add a few drops of facial oil before spending 5 to 10 minutes massaging to ensure optimal absorption as well as depuffing for a supple, refined base. When you finish massaging, take a sheet of tissue and blot over the skin to remove any product that may still be sitting on the surface so that you aren’t adding any extra moisture into the mix.

Choosing where and how to add radiance is a key element to achieving a lustrous skin finish. With this look, it’s about using products that are thin in consistency to layer well and ensure that they dry down fully in between. For a subtle glow that makes skin appear candlelit your best friend will be an illuminating primer, not only does this create a soft reflection but it will also help lock in your base; be sure not to apply this all over (we aren’t in Tin Man territory) but use your primer considerately in areas where it’s going to perform at it’s best. I add illuminating primers only to the high points of the face such as cheekbones, bridge of nose and upper forehead before taking a damp beauty blender and working with a luminous finish foundation such as Laura Mercier Real Flawless Weightless Perfecting Foundation or Make Up By Mario Surrealskin Foundation; I love both of these for the fact that they are long wearing and buildable yet blend seamlessly into the skin for an undetectable finish. Should you need to do any targeted concealing, such as under-eye or blemishes, use a specific concealer (Lisa Eldridge’s Pinpoint Concealer is a magic product for hiding blemishes) to do so, and keep it minimal; you still need to be able to see your skin for this look to be believable.

Flatness suits nobody, and to keep this look elevated, there needs to be a subtle sculpt. Look for cream products that dry down to a powder finish for longevity, and go back to your damp sponge to seamlessly blend this to your base. It’s up to you whether you carve in your features however, keep your touch light, I love just a hint of depth along the cheekbones, under the jawbone and at the edge of the forehead for the illusion of naturally born excellent bone structure. When adding that final touch of glow, you don’t want to be using any wet products to highlight here, instead look to the newer formulas within powder highlighters that are creamy and smooth utilising micro pearls for a beautiful sheen, nothing like the chalky formulas of old; the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette has a special place in my kit for this type of effect. Application here is best done with a soft brush (sometimes even a fan brush), going back over those high points of the face (cheekbones, bridge of nose and upper forehead) and watching the light catch as you move, giving burnished lustre that feels mega polished. If you need a little extra life in your face, try using a highlighter blush hybrid like the Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Luminous Powder Blush, sticking to the more neutral tones as opposed to anything vivid; you want to look fresh but not flushed.

So does this type of lustrous skin finish work best for day or night? Whilst this sits beautifully for any evening situation and is an effect I utilise often for events, I also love to create a daytime version that uses the same techniques but just approaches every step with a slightly lighter touch. By working in thin layers, you can control how much coverage feels appropriate for yourself, whilst also making sure that your hard work does’t dissolve throughout the day.  As with any beauty trend, lustre skin can often be achieved with products that you have already just tweaked and used in a different way, sometimes even the manner of application can create a new effect or enhance an element you are playing with. Keep it radiant and luminous, this is something that everyone can achieve and can be a staple in your repertoire for those days when you want to look as expensive as you feel.