Learn How To Avoid A Stripey Highlight

It never fails to amaze me when YouTube beauty vloggers manage to create the most dramatic makeup looks with perfect highlights. For some reason, the ability to apply highlighter properly always escapes me. But one celeb makeup artist may have helped solve that with his go-to highlighter trick.

Although I love the dewy look highlighter gives me, it always feels a little too dramatic to me — as much as I love the super-highlighted look on other people, it just doesn't work in my day-to-day life. I usually end up dabbing some cream highlighter on my cheekbones and cupid's bow, but it always ends up looking too stripey and harsh, in my opinion. That's why when I learned this trick from celeb makeup artist Luis Casco, I knew I had to use it immediately.

At the Lela Rose show at this year's fall NYFW, Casco actually applied highlighter before blush. It's not the typical order I see people apply it, so I needed to know more. Thankfully, Casco explained the method behind his madness.

"Applying a highlighter before the blush is a great way to create a natural highlight that looks real and not 'painted on,'" Casco tells Bustle. "I like to start by applying the highlight on the top of the cheek bones and then [blend] the blush with the highlighter. Doing it this way gives a more natural look to the skin and cheeks, and also helps to make sure your cheek color looks blended and not 'stripey.'"

Here's Casco selfie-ing with one model with the completed look.

It's a pretty cute finished product, right?

The models looked fresh-faced and gorgeous, but not overdone.

Don't you love how the light catches the highlight? It's a perfect complement to their winged black liner and soft pink lipstick.

The look was stunning on every skintone. So what exactly did he use to get the look?

Casco used the Mary Kay Glowing Finish Illuminating Stick in bronze, which is a limited edition product that's not currently available yet on the Mary Kay website. It will launch on Oct. 1, so mark your calendars!

Mary Kay Mineral Cheek Color in Shy Blush, $12, Mary Kay

For blush, he used Mary Kay's Mineral Cheek Color in a basic dusty rose shade called Shy Blush. Didn't it create a gorgeous combo?

I'm loving this tip from Casco, and I think I'm going to incorporate into my everyday beauty routine.

Images: Courtesy of Mary Kay (6)