I want to try new makeup looks this season but I don’t know where to start. Can you suggest a few trends that are easy to do on my own? Thanks.
CHRISTINA P.
You’re in luck. Most makeup brands are coming out with their holiday collection, which means we’ll be seeing a lot of bright colors, happy tones, and plenty of sheen and shimmer in our makeup. And rightly so—this is the cheeriest season of the year, and pretty much everything is twinkling in lights and decorated in color, including makeup.
I guess you can consider this is a recurring trend, as each year, at around this time we’re allowed to go a little overboard with our makeup. Of course, I don’t expect anyone to be walking around looking like clowns, but to trends like bold tones, shimmery powders and pots and eye-catching colors, I give a resounding yes!
Three trends in particular really caught my eye, and they’re super do-able, too!
Of late we’re seeing a lot of the strong defined eye (in shimmer might I add), perfectly contoured cheekbones and a beautiful dark lip. Shimmer, color and definition are perfect holiday trends you can wear over and over in these next few weeks.
I would say now is just about the right time to get into the trend. But if you’re a little weary about overdoing it (there is such a thing, after all), it is best to try one bold thing at a time, until you gain the confidence to wear the entire look. Let me break down the trends for you.
Trend to try: Shimmery, defined eyes.
What you need: Eye makeup with lots of shimmer, in shades like soft white, pearl, champagne, gold and bronze. Or you can also play with color choosing tones like royal blue and purple.
How to do it: You can play around with colors like black, brown, blue and purple to give your eyes definition. Remember you will need to apply the shadow along the crease of the eye and blend it outward to give it a smoky effect. Do this on both upper and lower lash lines, concentrating on the outer corners of the eyes.
Then highlight the inner corners of the eye with bright, shimmery tones like cream, gold, peach, lilac and mauve. This will make eyes appear bigger and more striking. Finish by lining the inner lash line, and apply at least two coats of mascara after curling lashes.
Runway inspiration: Chanel, Gucci and Dior.
Trend to try: Strong contoured cheeks
What you need: Darker-than-usual-blusher, built-in with ultra-fine sparkle: choose from a warm brown base with yellow bronze, a coral pink base with peachy frost or opt for a violet tone with a cool shimmer.
How to do it: You’ll want to define your cheekbones softly-the way to do it is to apply the darker shade of blush or bronzer underneath your cheekbones (to find them try an old trick: suck in your cheeks) and blend the lighter shade on top of the cheekbones to give it definition. Remember you don’t want a dark stripe on your cheek so make sure to blend evenly.
Runway inspiration: Ralph Lauren, Narciso Rodriguez and Bottega Veneta.
Trend to try: Bold dark lips.
What you need: Ox blood, mauve and brown are colors to try this season. Take your pick from a selection of dark, dark lipsticks in mauve brown, plum and deep red.
How to do it: Dark lips require precision application. I find it easier to outline my lips first with a lip pencil then fill in the lines using the lipstick. This ensures that you don’t end up with an exaggerated lip shape, which can happen when you apply lipstick in many layers. To make sure you don’t make a mistake, use a lip brush to apply the lipstick.
Runway inspiration: Phillip Lim 3.1, Dolce & Gabbana and Fendi.
Email the author at [email protected]; follow her on Twitter @kellymisa; visit her blog www.kellymisa.com.
