A little while ago, reader Lena sent an email my way and asked me if I could recommend a highlighter “that gives a nice sheen/glow… but nothing too shimmery.” She’s NC20 and Korean, and was thinking of either MAC Pearl or Hush.
Because it’s a question that I get asked quite a lot, I thought I’d address it on theNotice!
In my opinion, Pearl and Hush are both great highlighters for NC20-ish skin. The difference is that Pearl is a yellow-toned off-white, whereas Hush is a peachy-pink. Pearl would be a more universal shade, going with everything (or alone) to create a glow, but Hush will go amazingly with specific shades (or skintones.)
Imagine this: you have a scale running from one to ten; ten being gorgeous and one being kind of dowdy. Kind of really dowdy. Now, Pearl runs from a five to an eight 95% of the time, no matter what else you have on your face, how tan you are, etc. Hush, on the other hand? It’s a 1-3 20% of the time, 4-8 50% of the time, and 9-10 30% of the time. (For an NC20, that is — on someone with darker skin, say NC30, these proportions would be more like 0%-50%-50%!)
I know, I know — I’m being confusing and I’m sorry!!
The bottom line is that they’re both great choices, but if you wear a lot of light pinks or plums (like me!) then Pearl will likely be a better choice. If you wear a lot of peachy shades or bronzers, though, Hush has the potential to be unbelievably amazing.
