How to: Holiday Makeup Look

The holiday season is typically filled with lots of parties, and while 2020 may not look like every other year, this is a great time of year to up your makeup game with a fun, simple and glam holiday look featuring a bold lip! Enjoy a favorite tutorial of mine!

Primer

After moisturizing, start by applying primer. I typically start with eye makeup, but usually with a bold lip, keeping your eye makeup simple is best so starting with the face makes more sense with the look.

For this look, I used BECCA Velvet Blurring Primer Perfecting Base. The velvet texture of this primer is perfect for this look because it really helps to matte the skin and make it appear soft!

Foundation

Once primer is applied, start applying foundation. I used MAKEUP FOREVER Ultra HD Stick Foundation because its creamy consistency makes it perfect for the winter season, especially if you have dry skin.

Note: Paying attention to the seasons and what it does to your skin is always super important to make sure you’re using the right types of products to best care for your skin, and make sure you never forget SPF! Even though it’s not hot out, the sun is still there!

This is a great buildable foundation to wear light when you’re just out running errands or to keep applying for fuller coverage. When wearing a red lip, it’s typically a good idea to make sure your foundation is really covering any red spots on your skin, otherwise they may look more prominent once the lipstick is applied. So make sure you coat your foundation on pretty well!

Concealer

I like to mix both NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer and Taste Shape Tape Contour Concealer to give a little more coverage. Don’t be afraid to apply this with your finger, sometimes it can really help the product melt into your skin easier.

Adding concealer to the inner part of your eye is a step you shouldn’t skip! Often times, you have darkness there that you may not even notice, so adding just a little concealer there will really help to brighten up your eyes and face!

Before moving onto eyes, make sure you set your face with a translucent powder like MAKEUP FOREVER Ulta HD Microfinishing Loose Powder.

Eyes

I started by applying Morphe Bronzer Stick in “Look at Me” to my lids. Because it’s a super creamy product, you can use your finger to apply to help control how much you’re using.

Sadly this product has now been discontinued, but another similar product is the NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in “Iced Mocha” which can be used the same way.

This is a really lived-in and sultry look, so don’t overthink it! You can even be a little messy with the application! Once you’re done applying with your finger, you can blend it in with a clean blending brush. And if it’s your style, you can try adding a little bit under your eye as well.

Next, try applying a shadow like Bobbi Brown Melting Point Luxe Eye Shadow in “Melting Point” to the center of your lid. It’s a nice little pop/glow to add into the overall eye look.

Then apply eyeliner. I used the NYX Slide-On Pencil in “Jet Black” to the top of the eye right underneath the lashes. This is similar to adding liner to the waterline of your under-eye, but doing it on the waterline of your top lid. This creates a nice illusion of more density to your lashes and let’s be honest, you can never have too much lash!

Once that’s finished, curl your lashes and apply mascara. I used Clinique High Impact Mascara.

Bronzer

Use a bronzer brush to apply bronzer like MAC Bronzer in “Matte Bronze” to your skin as contour. With this being a holiday, more glam look, you can go a little heavier with the contour and really shape your face! Don’t make it too harsh, but don’t be afraid to define your cheek bones with it!

Blush

Apply blush to your cheeks with a blush brush. If you accidentally add too much, you can go back in with your foundation brush to soften or blend it. One of my favorite blush palettes is Morphe Blush Palette which was used in this look.

Brows

I personally have pretty dark brows for my hair color. So for me, I just use the Anastasia Brow Wiz pencil to softly shade in my brows, but do your own brow thing that you’re comfortable with here! And don’t forget… eyebrows are sisters, not twins! So don’t go nuts!

Setting them in place with a product like European Wax Center "Ready. Set. Brow!" in “Clear” really helps finish them off.

Lips

Now we’re to the fun part… lips! When doing a look with a bold lip, you want to make sure the edges are really defined. So that’s why starting with a pencil is a good idea! Here, I used NARS Precision Lip Liner in “Holy Red.”

Start by tracing out your lip shape and then you can choose to overdraw a little bit if that’s your thing! Once you trace your lip, color everything in to help prime your lips for the lipstick and help with longevity.

On top of the pencil, use a lipstick like Lime Crime Red Velvet Matte Velvetine Lipstick. This is a really classic red shade! Because you did the pencil, you don’t have to go crazy with this.

When you’re done, look at your face and see if there’s anything else you need more of. I chose to add more blush because it’s the holidays, why not?!

You can do a look like this with any bold lip color like burgundy or fuschia, whatever is your style! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and it helps you gain some confidence when doing your makeup this season. Happy holidays!

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