Goodbye glitter, welcome dewy days Illuminants, pearl powders and luminous lip glosses--the new glow on the skin needs no glitter

There was a time when every noteworthy beauty look began with a shower of glitter. Colored flakes, invasive iridescence, a rain of stroboscopic effects on the skin. It was the era of Velvet Goldmine aesthetics, a visual orgy of freedom, theatricality, and sparkling ambiguity. But times change, and skin today wants to tell a different story. A story of dew, transparency, and subtle reflections. A beauty that’s less masked, more whispered, where skin no longer imitates a disco ball, but instead radiates a glow that seems to come from within. No special effects, just a living, organic, responsive surface. The new trend speaks of radiance, not sparkle. Of glow, not glare. This is the moment for a soft, calibrated glow, the same iridescence as a pearl, or the gentle touch of dawn’s light on bare skin. The focus is all here: a luminous, glitter-free make-up look that brings the face back to a more natural and sensual dimension, defined by hydration and dewy textures.

The natural evolution of the clean girl aesthetic

The glowy look didn’t emerge out of nowhere. It’s the natural, or rather, dewy, evolution of the clean girl aesthetic, which dominated TikTok for years with ultra-sleek ponytails, feathered brows, and glossy nude lips. But where the clean girl was disciplined, orderly, almost surgical in her minimalism and her desire to look polished without seeming made-up, the glow girl seeks something more alive, an effect that says “I’m healthy,” not “I’m perfect.” Think: the radiant look of someone who’s just finished a yoga class, drunk three liters of water, and had an Ayurvedic facial. Yet it still needs to look effortless. The face glows without artifice, as if the light truly comes from within, modulated by nourished, hydrated, living skin. Here, the skin is no longer a neutral background on which to build a look. It’s the protagonist. It’s shown, not hidden. It’s made to glow, gracefully. This is skin that feels like morning, not Saturday night. The muse of this transformation? Hailey Bieber, who perfectly embodies the aesthetic evolution, from her donut-glazed skin to dolphin skin, so hydrated and radiant it looks wet, glossy, as if it just emerged from tropical waters. The look is hyper-glossy but without a single speck of glitter. Just layered luminosity, built with hydrating primers, cream highlighters, and glossy finishes that mimic that epidermal, moist brilliance that shifts with natural light and melts into the skin rather than sitting on top of it. This is where the real game is played: less sparkle, more glow.

The new glow grammar

The key word is radiant naturalness. And to achieve it, a whole new beauty vocabulary opens up: hybrid textures, luminous (but never blinding) finishes, and products that promise a buildable, transparent, almost intimate result. Liquid highlighters take center stage: blended with primers, fused with foundations, tapped onto cheekbones or the Cupid’s bow. Transparent glosses, like those from Summer Fridays or Tower28, offer glossy lips that are never sticky. Natural shimmers, like those made with mica pearls, create satin-like reflections, never overpowering. Even new releases and best sellers are following this glitter-free trend. The latest Super Milk Glitter Mist from Lush gives a more natural, earthy glow thanks to microscopic borosilicate particles. Saie’s Glowy Super Gel becomes a second skin, melting like a serum but giving the face that just-been-in-the-sun look. Glossier’s Futuredew, a hybrid between skincare and highlighter, changes tone with light and offers up to 12 hours of luminous, hydrated skin thanks to its blend of nourishing oils and potent plant-based extracts. And then there’s the Glassy Highlighter from Haus Labs by Lady Gaga, which leaves glitter behind for a softer glow, achieving the difficult task of illuminating without harsh reflection or nightclub-level brilliance. Kylie Cosmetics rides the same wave with the Dewy Highlighter, ditching all artificial sparkle in favor of a wet, barely-there finish, as if the skin has just emerged from the ocean. And what about Rhode’s Glazing Mist, with Harris Dickinson as the face of the product? The skincare-forward formula, featuring ectoine, ceramides, beta-glucan, panthenol, and magnolia extract, enhances this aquatic, translucent, non-invasive aesthetic. Even Urban Decay, a glam-rock symbol of early 2000s make-up, has moved away from its glitter-heavy palettes to offer luminous tones in a more natural format. Polite Society, the new brand from Jerrod Blandino (founder of Too Faced), promotes Highlight Society, a glossy powder highlighter that “combines the look of a liquid with the silkiness of a powder to give that wet, glass-skin effect that shifts with the light,” with a strictly no-glitter formula.

Goodbye glitter? Not quite, just "See you later"

Yes, the glowy universe is having its moment, but glitter hasn’t vanished completely. It's not a final farewell, but a nostalgic see-you-later, a suitcase full of memories. Glitter carries a heavy aesthetic and cultural weight: it evokes Bowie, Ziggy Stardust, and the stage-saturated glam of the ‘70s and ‘80s, but also a louder, more artificial kind of beauty. Still, there’s room for Taylor Swift’s glitter freckles, Anora’s tinsel hair, or the glam performances of Addison Rae and Chappell Roan, who still play with sparkle like they're reinterpreting Velvet Goldmine for a generation raised on TikTok and climate anxiety. And how could we forget the glittery eyelids of Aimee Lou Wood in The White Lotus, with their naïve, almost childlike charm? But these are scenic, theatrical appearances, intentionally out-of-context references. Outside of runways and red carpets, that type of sparkle has lost its footing. Not just aesthetically, but because it feels out of sync with today’s narrative of naturalness, aura, and positive vibes. Glitter has become an accidental symbol of an irresponsible era: its microplastics pollute the oceans, resist washing cycles, and sneak into the marine food chain. The environmental issue is real, so brands like Lush, Ganni and Bleach London now offer eco-friendly alternatives, often made from cellulose or borosilicate. That’s why beauty brands have embraced the need to rethink radiance, offering a glow that feels internal, natural, and adaptable. One that doesn’t destroy the planet or turn the face into a minefield of reflections.

Welcome to glowland

As glitter is reserved for special nights and popstar backstages, the realm of soft luminosity has taken over streets and social feeds. It’s called glowy skin, dewy finish, glass effect, dolphin skin. The names change, but the idea remains: skin should look hydrated, alive, like it just came out of a thermal bath. So dewy and radiant that from afar, someone with poor eyesight might mistake us for a dolphin, or a freshly glazed donut. In short, the look says “I just woke up,” but in reality, we spent dozens of euros at Sephora to achieve it. Maybe one day we’ll return to embracing the Velvet Goldmine aesthetic, maybe we’ll reopen the drawers of memory to find those tiny shards of light. But today, the present shines in a different way, not with the dazzle of sequins, but with the soft caress of dawn’s light on bare skin.