This highlighter gives me a gorgeous post-workout glow (minus the sweat)

I put every highlighter I try through a test I affectionately call the “Taylor Swift leaving the gym” test.

A little bit of context: Back in 2016, when we were at peak Taylor Swift saturation, I saw a paparazzi photo of her leaving the gym. It sticks with me to this day because she looked ridiculously glowy. And not dewy like how I, a mere mortal, look when leaving the gym. (My post-workout aesthetic tends to lean more toward limp and damp, rather than dewy.) Again, I was struck by this photo not because she looked good for having left the gym — she looked good in general. Like her cheekbones were glistening.

So I wanted a highlighter that would give me that amazing post-workout glow a lá Taylor Swift. The highlighter should be natural, not glittery, and refract the light off my cheekbones in a way that makes it look like I’m radiating health and vitality. (But again, in a natural way.) This was pretty tall order. Anyone who has the slightest experience with highlighter knows that many of them skew sparkly. This isn’t inherently a bad thing, I just tend to prefer something subtler.

Finally, I found my highlighter match in Kosas Cosmetics Color + Light Creme in Tropic Equinox, $34.

The formula: