Meghan Markle's Makeup Artist Finally Reveals the Secret to Her Glowing Shoulders: Liquid Highlighter Drops

Her favorite product also has a 'Marie Claire' editor's endorsement.

Meghan Markle on a red carpet wearing her favorite liquid highlighter drops
(Image credit: Getty Images)

I've always admired Meghan Markle's luminous shoulders. For years, I've been trying to crack the code on her body care, hoping to unravel the secret behind her ethereal glow. A major break in the case came when Markle's Montecito neighbor Oprah Winfrey revealed the Duchess of Sussex once gifted her Tatcha's Hinoki Body Care Trio—a bundle that subsequently made the media mogul's 2024 Favorite Things list.

Indeed, it's clear Markle takes a layered approach to hydration that starts with a hydrating wash before finishing with body milk and body oil. A similar kind of logic underpins Hailey Bieber's Rhode skincare lineup, which primes the face with a milky essence before locking in moisture with a one-two punch of serum and cream. Still, I couldn't shake the nagging feeling that I was missing something—a final step that would unlock the high-watt shine of Markle's collarbones.

Luckily, Markle's makeup artist Daniel Martin—who most recently glammed the American Riviera Orchard founder for the Paley Honors Tribute to Tyler Perry on Dec. 4—just came through with the answer to my prayers. In the comments section beneath a clip of Markle on the red carpet, one of Martin's followers asked about the oil he'd used to illuminate her clavicle.

"It's not an oil but Live Tinted Hueglow Liquid Highlighter Drops (Golden Hour)," he revealed.

A photo of Meghan Markle accenting her diamond choker and black strapless dress with Live Tinted's liquid highlighter.

Meghan Markle accents her diamond choker and black strapless dress with Live Tinted's liquid highlighter.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

No wonder Markle's skin caught the light every time she turned in her diamond choker and strapless gown from Oscar de la Renta. In addition to a serum-infused base of squalane, hyaluronic acid, and sunflower seed oil, Live Tinted's drops feature a ripple of soft gold micro-shimmer running through them.

But Markle isn't the only fabulous woman I know who considers this generously sized bottle of liquid highlighter a red carpet essential. So does Marie Claire entertainment director Neha Prakash.

"The Live Tinted team seemingly bottled drops of sunlight in this magical highlighter," says Prakash. "It's been my beauty secret weapon for years—particularly for the red carpet events I cover for work."

Prakash also praises the product's versatility for face and body.

"I keep the product in my bag and dab it onto the bridge of my nose, clavicle, and cheekbones just before the step-and-repeat and the dazzling glow and the polishing effect has been enough to have celebrities at the Oscars and Met Gala stop and ask ME for my makeup tips," she tells me. "Hueglow, like many of Live Tinted's products, is packed with skincare superhero ingredients, and it's totally buildable so I wear it almost daily just to the office over some light concealer to look lit-from-within (even when the rest of me definitely doesn't scream red carpet)."

A photo of Meghan Markle walking the red carpet for the Paley Honors Tribute to Tyler Perry at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills on Dec. 4. 

Meghan Markle walks the red carpet for the Paley Honors Tribute to Tyler Perry at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills on Dec. 4. 

(Image credit: Getty Images)

So there you have it, dewy skin-seekers. The Duchess of good taste strikes again with a beauty find capable of enlivening even the driest winter skin. Snag it for holiday party season before the secret gets out—then listen as the compliments roll in.

Hanna Lustig
Staff Writer

Hanna Lustig is a staff writer at Marie Claire, where she gets to gab every day about the topics she holds most dear: fashion, beauty, and celebrity. Hanna’s editorial journey began with formative internships at Elle and InStyle, where she was lucky enough to work for some of the smartest women in media while she was still in college at the University of Tennessee. Hanna then accepted a digital culture reporting fellowship at Insider, where she helped carve out a new beat dedicated to covering influencers. Those experiences later served her well as a staff writer at Glamour, where she developed a knack for spinning quick turnaround celebrity news and trend reporting into juicy feature stories. Some of her greatest hits include an earnest ode to the no-pants trend, this meticulously reported feature exploring the rise of endoscopic facelifts, this snappy take on the Chanel-designed fantasy of Sofia Richie’s wedding, this tribute to WAGs past and present, and this timeline of Katie Holmes’s life and career as told through her denim collection.

Diane Keaton once hung up on Hanna during an interview, but thankfully that mishap did not derail what has otherwise been a deeply fulfilling career writing for and about women. As one of Marie Claire's resident experts on style and culture, her current coverage ranges from exploring TikTok's contrast makeup theory and the return of the boat shoe trend to interviews with costume designers for hit shows like Nobody Wants This and The Penguin. When she’s not at work, Hanna can probably be found listening to pop music, talking to her dog, and gossiping with her best friends. For more of Hanna’s perfect opinions on pop culture, you can follow her on Instagram and X.