Holidays are just around the corner and the top of every ‘to-do’ list is celebrating the season and going out, right? Whether you’re having family get-togethers or late nights out in the city, mastering that flawless and effortless makeup look can be a challenge. So, to help you get through the holiday season without any extra stress, we have gathered 7 useful tips that will help you achieve a flawless makeup look this holiday season.
1. Prep your skin and start with the right moisturizer
Heard it before? Yes, prepping your skin is the key to flawless makeup, whether it is a natural everyday look, or something a bit more for the holidays. And yes, the best way to ensure a gorgeous complexion before a drop of makeup hits your face is to create a healthy base. Mattifying, oil-blocking primers may seem like a logical option to ensure a flawless finish, but that’s not the case most of the time. First, you have to wash and exfoliate your skin, then cleanse and tone, and finish the prepping with the right moisturizer, based on your skin type.
2. Know your skin tone
As the winter is full-on and we get less and less sunshine, our tan fades away and skin tone changes. Knowing your skin tone is essential all year round but especially when it comes to flash photography! And the foundation you used in the peak of the summer, most likely won’t match your skin now. So, to avoid foundation lines and unnatural skin tone, reach for lighter shades of foundation. And keep in mind, if you still feel like a shade lighter is too big of a step, you can blend a drop of lighter product with your usual one.
3. Add a few drops of luminizer
Holiday makeup could and should differ from natural everyday makeup. A little effect can be a luminizer. Add just a few drops to your foundation or moisturizer and your skin will get that natural glow. It’s an easy way to up the wattage without over-complicating things. This method will leave skin looking healthy and radiant and requires less coverage.
4. A little contouring goes a long way
It might be tough to determine what you truly need to highlight and contour with all the difficult way-too-many-step videos on social media. If you are not sure how to do it, start by studying your face and where you want to create shadows and only highlight what you want to stand out. Don’t feel as though you need to contour the same way your favorite influencer does – you might not have the same face shape or features, try out what is best for your face. Start with contouring your cheekbones and the sides of your forehead, for extra definition you can shape your nose and chin. For that effortless holiday glow, add a little bit of highlighter on top of your cheekbones and the tip of your nose.
5. No eyeshadow - no problem
Mastering that perfect smokey eye, using 8 different shades, sounds like a handful. But there is an easy way to manage smokey eyes with just one product – use an eye pencil or eye shadow stick. Apply a darker line near your lash line and then just blend it out with round blush, for extra sparkle add a shimmer on the center of your lid. But if you lean toward a more glowy and lighter eye look, you can replace your eye shadow with an illuminator and use the same highlighter you use for cheekbones, for that sparkling accent.
6. Brush your brows
Pushed-up brows are still in style and it will give your face a nice elevated look. Simply take a spoolie and dip it into the product and then with an upwards motion brush your eyebrows in. Start at the part closest to your nose. To ensure that your inner corner is upright and the tail ends of your brow form a beautiful brow arch, brush at a 45-degree angle in the direction of the tail end of your brow. If you still feel like you need to define the shape, draw the outer edge of the brow before brushing.
7. Take care of your lips
Winter is not gentle for your lips and nothing ruins that perfect red-lip look more than cracked dry lips, right? So, before putting on that bold lip always exfoliate lightly and hydrate. You can make an easy DYI scrub by mixing 1 to 1.5 teaspoons of olive or coconut oil with 1.5 to 2 teaspoons of sugar. Keep in mind to rub gently and apply moisturizing lip balm after. Bold lips are one of the timeless makeup trends, but if you would like to change things up, try matte lips. Don’t have your favorite shade in matte? Use translucent setting powder. Not only it will make your lips matte, but it will make the lipstick last longer.
Final thoughts
Holidays require a lot of going out and putting on more makeup than usual. So, first of all, you should take extra care of your skin as well. Secondly, choose your products wisely and we advise leaving the testing of new products until after the holiday period. And last but not least – stay hydrated, because it’s the key to healthy and glowing skin.