My vanity includes a drawer exclusively filled with highlighters but the one I really want I probably will never have. Those who follow London-based makeup artist Anne Sophie Costa on Instagram are well-aware of the stunning looks she creates. For those who don't, she often contrasts bold eye makeup with enviable dewy skin. She gives models the kind glow that makes you go, Damn, I need that highlighter more than water on a 100-degree day. The illuminating product she dabs onto their skin looks like it melts into it like a facial oil but makes cheekbones as reflective as a mirror. How it looks natural and otherworldly at the same time forever fascinates me when her posts come up on my feed, and it makes me want it.
Unlike many popular makeup artists on Instagram, Costa rarely lists the products she uses in her captions. Comments asking which eye shadow, liner, or highlighter she used go unanswered. Luckily, Costa revealed one of her go-to products on an Allure photoshoot for the July issue.
Are you ready for the secret to her glowing success? (Pun intended.) It's an all-natural highlighting balm she's been making all by herself for the past four years. She prepped the skin of all the models on set with it. When asked what she puts in it, Costa's response was "that's a secret." I had to know more, though.
After chatting with her on the phone recently (while she was riding her bike, no less) she shares that it smells like grapefruit and is made out of three different essential oils that float around in a creamy, neutral base. You don't need to be a beauty detective like me to know that one out of the trios of oils is most likely grapefruit oil. I have a good feeling I'm right because when smoothed onto skin, grapefruit oil helps stave off oil and prevent breakouts. It's also a natural exfoliant, so it sloughs away dead skin cells and makes your skin glow for days after use.
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Every time she makes a new batch of her mysterious product, Costa sets aside a full day due to the oils requiring specific measurements — 10 drops of this, 20 drops of that. "I try not to do it too often because it’s time-consuming," she says.
Devoting one day every couple months to the balm is a small fraction of time compared to how long it took her to formulate it, though. "It was a search for about two years to find out what were the best oils to mix and match that thicken and work together," Costa explains. Trial-and-error helped her do so. However, she also grew up around essential oils. Her mom is a pharmacist, so Costa says this concocting is "almost in my DNA."
All the models she works with on a daily basis inspired Costa to create her custom illuminating balm. They are constantly on planes, so they tend to have dry, dull skin. When they get to set, Costa says she needs a product that will get the models' skin glowing fast. However, she had a difficult time finding the right product for making their skin look radiant not only instantly but all day long without ruining their foundation.
The secret formula was perfected when Costa realized the balm had to go through two phases on the skin to produce a quick, yet sustained glow. "The oils absorb, and then, the [creamy base] sits on top of the skin," she explains. When she needs the glow to be even more intense, she layers Becca's Shimmering Skin Perfector on top of the balm.
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As you could imagine, models have started to ask Anne Sophie Costa to make the highlighter for them. Its intrigue builds every time she takes its seashell box out of her kit. "Everyone wants to purchase it like that," she says. "Maybe one day, but at it at the moment. I’m not trying to make a business. I like it quite exclusive." My fingers are crossed that day will come sooner than later. I'll be the first person to place an order.
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