6 Face-Shape Highlighter Placements Using Lakmé Highlighters for a Sculpted, Lifted Glow

Highlighter runs on one optical rule: light pulls a feature forward, shadow pushes it back. Every placement call in this guide comes from that rule.

Makeup artists call the raised parts of the face (the tops of the cheekbones, the brow bone, the bridge of the nose, the cupid's bow, the centre of the forehead, the tip of the chin) "high points" or "glow zones." These are the spots that catch overhead light first in real life, so product placed there reads as skin lit from within, not skin with makeup sitting on top of it.

Which high points get the emphasis depends on face shape. The same three or four zones, combined differently, can lengthen a face, soften sharp corners, add width to a narrow one, or simply play up a face that isn't asking to be corrected. Lakmé's cream and powder highlighters are built for that kind of targeted, buildable placement rather than an all-over sheen you swipe on and forget.

Note: Not sure which shape you're working with? Compare your forehead width, cheekbone width, jaw width and overall face length in the mirror; that's usually enough. A forehead noticeably wider than the jaw points to heart-shaped. Cheekbones wider than both forehead and jaw point to diamond. A face longer than it is wide points to rectangular, and similar length and width usually means round or square, depending on how sharp the jaw is. Lakmé's DEFINEU tool uses a similar shorthand it calls "number theory," tracing an inverted 7 along the cheekbone for a round face, for instance, to match placement to shape before any product goes on.

• Round face: highlight to lengthen: A round face has soft, similarly proportioned curves at the forehead, cheeks and jaw, with no sharp angles anywhere, so the whole goal here is vertical length, not more width or more roundness. Angle highlighter upward from the top of the cheekbone toward the temple, tracing something like an inverted 7. A cream stick, like the Lakmé Facelift MultiSlayer Highlighter Stick, makes it much easier to actually draw that shape instead of blending it into a blob. Add a small vertical strip just above the brows in the centre of the forehead, and a light touch on the centre of the chin. Vertical light stretches the eye up and down instead of side to side, which is exactly why this combination reads as a longer, more lifted face. Skip the nose tip and the outer cheeks; both add width this face shape doesn't need.
• Oval face: there's not much to fix: An oval face already has forehead, cheeks and jaw in proportion, with a gently tapered jawline, so the job shifts from correcting anything to just playing up what's already there. Sweep the classic placement on the tops of the cheekbones back toward the hairline, run a thin line down the bridge of the nose, and dot a little light above the cupid's bow. That's it. Three light zones is enough, because an oval face pushed any further starts to look overdone rather than lit.
• Square face: highlight to soften: A square jaw is strong and angular, with a forehead close to the same width as the jaw, so the goal is pulling attention toward the centre of the face and away from those corners. Use a soft, rounded sweep across the tops of the cheekbones rather than a sharp line, add a touch of light at the temples to round off the upper corners, and highlight the centre of the chin to pull focus inward. Light in the centre draws the eye away from the outer edges on its own; it takes visual weight off a strong jaw without hiding the jaw completely.
• Heart face: highlight to balance: A heart-shaped face has a wider forehead that tapers down to a narrower, often pointed chin. Keep the classic sweep on the cheekbones to hold up the mid-face, add a light touch to the brow bone so attention isn't concentrated only on the forehead, and highlight the tip of the chin to give the narrower lower third some visual width. The chin is the smallest feature here, so putting light on it balances the wider forehead instead of adding even more focus up top.
• Diamond face: widen the forehead and chin, and leave the cheekbones alone: Diamond faces have cheekbones wider than both the forehead and jaw, a narrower forehead, and a pointed chin. Highlight along the brow bones to widen the upper face, add a soft vertical patch in the centre of the forehead, and touch the chin to broaden the lower third. Keep the cheekbones minimal, since they're already the widest point on this face shape; over-highlighting them just exaggerates the imbalance the rest of the placement is trying to fix. This is the one face shape we get the fewest questions about, so if you have a diamond face and this doesn't quite match what works for you, trust your own mirror over this list.
• Rectangular face: highlight for width: A rectangular face is longer than it is wide, with forehead, cheek and jaw widths fairly close to each other, so the goal flips to horizontal. Sweep highlighter outward across the cheekbones toward the ears instead of angling it up, add a touch at the temples to broaden the upper face, and keep the forehead and chin minimal. This is the opposite strategy to round faces: horizontal light works against the natural length of the face and makes it read shorter and wider.

Face shape decides where the highlighter goes. Formula decides how easy it is to actually get it there, and in Indian heat this matters more than most tutorials let on.

The Lakmé Facelift MultiSlayer Highlighter Stick is the one to hand a beginner. It's a creamy stick from Lakmé's 3-in-1 blush-highlight-contour range, and the brand describes it as "easy to draw and define," which holds up in practice. It's genuinely the easiest of the three to draw a precise shape with (that inverted 7 for round faces, or a C-curve) and then blend with your fingertips.

For smaller zones, like the brow bone or the cupid's bow, the Lakmé 9 to 5 Powerplay Velvet Crème Highlighter is the better pick. It's a velvety crème formula that swipes on and finger-blends into what the brand calls a "crème shine that lasts," and it suits normal-to-dry skin best.

If your skin runs oily or combination, skip the crèmes on your T-zone and reach for the Lakmé Ultimate Glam Illuminizer instead: a loose shimmer powder with a sponge applicator, in two shades, Desert Rose and Sun Kissed, marketed as "long lasting for glowing cheeks." It's also the better option for sharper cheekbone definition over finished makeup.

Here's the part most tutorials skip: in humid weather, cream formulas shift on an oily T-zone by midday. A practical fix is using the Illuminizer powder on the forehead and nose for round or heart face shapes that need light in that zone, and saving cream formulas for the cheekbones, where they blend best and move around the least. A light dusting of setting powder around, not directly on top of, the highlighted area helps cream placement hold through a workday. For a wedding or evening look, just build the same zones up in a few sheer layers instead of switching products.

A few placement mistakes come up again and again. Highlighting too low on the cheek drags the whole face down instead of lifting it; keep it on the upper cheekbone, closer to the temple. Highlighting the nose tip on a round face adds width exactly where you're trying to add length. Highlighting over acne, texture or open pores makes shimmer catch light unevenly and draws attention to the skin issue instead of away from it. And skipping the blend leaves a hard edge that reads as a sticker, not a glow: a few seconds of finger-blending at the edges is what makes any of this look like skin rather than makeup.