I am both an incredibly pale human and a self-tanner hater (I’ll never, ever get over the smell). As you can imagine, that poses quite the dilemma come summer. My legs are borderline translucent, and yet I opt to wear exclusively skirts and micro shorts the second temperatures hit 75 degrees. Rather than look like Casper, I’ve become heavily reliant on shimmer body oils. They offer incredible hydration thanks to ingredients like squalane, hyaluronic acid, and ceramides, but also have the added bonus of small glitter flecks that help blur, tint, and make legs look more defined. “Legs naturally elongate the body, and when they’re glowing, it enhances their shape, length, and muscle tone,” makeup artist T.Cooper previously told Marie Claire.
I’ve never used just one: I like to stack my shimmer oils for max payoff. Currently my routine is going under a bit of makeover—there are so many gorgeous, new launches to test out. Jasmine Tooke’s brand just released a glowy version of its OG body oil (which won a 2025 Marie Claire Fragrance Award). Vacation, one of my all-time favorite SPF brands, gave its scented sunscreen a shimmer-oil twist. And French pharmacy brand Nuxe dropped a genius roll-on oil that takes all the mess out of the equation.
