Hello, beauty fans! New Year’s Eve is almost upon us, so it’s time to bust out those fancy shmanzy dresses and suits and party like a rock star! Or if you are like me fall asleep before midnight, haha! So grab your favorite drink, settle in, and let’s talk beauty!
New Year’s is synonymous with decadence. The flashier the better, but should your makeup be that way too? If you are wearing a show-stopping glittering dress should you go flashy on the eyes and face too? The answer is, you do you boo! However, generally, if your dress lights up like a disco ball you should downplay the glitter on your peepers, and go easy on the cheek highlight babies. I remember reading an article the other day by a non-beauty expert suggesting glitter on the eyes and tons of face highlighter and I was like hold the phone! I am all for glitter and I love me a good highlight but there is such a thing as too much! Keep on reading to see my favorite NYE looks that combine glitz and glam while still keeping it cute!
Glitter Halo Eyes
Perhaps one of my favorite looks is the glitter halo eye! This still gives you some eye bling without having to cover your entire lid in glitter, so you still get the glam factor without showing up your snazzy outfit! Just make sure if you do use glitter, do not forget that glitter adhesive. If you do, your glitter will be falling down all over your face all night, and let’s face it beauty fans, that is not a cute look!
Another thing about the halo eye that I love is that if you struggle with winged eyeliner this is a great alternative since most of the time eyeliner is not used with this look since to do so would defeat the whole purpose of the halo. I’ve seen people suggest glitter winged eyeliner which can be absolutely beautiful, but let’s face it unless you have been doing winged eyeliner since you were in grade school it can often times be challenging to do an even, regular wing let alone a glitter wing. The halo eye is no muss no fuss!
If you are going to do glitter on the eyes, downplay the face highlighter. You can still highlight but don’t bathe in it like water!
Smokey Eyes
If you don’t feel like wearing bling on your eyes, a traditional blackout smokey eye is a timeless classic that will never go out of style! You don’t even have to do just black, you could also do a chocolate brown smokey eye or even a plum or burgundy which would look amazing with a gold dress! The key to a good smokey eye is making sure you blend like crazy and to keep the lid color low otherwise it will look like you got smacked in the eye. With this look, you can add more highlighter since the eyes are not a fount of glitter.
Semi Smokey Eyes
This is probably the most requested style of eye makeup that my clients want for pretty much all occasions. You can make this look as bold or as natural as you want, it just all depends on what you are vibing on! A semi-smokey eye is a look where there is a lighter shadow on the lid (or even a glitter if you want) and darker shadows on the outer V of the eye. This is a great way to open the eyes up and the color combos are endless! A more “natural” look would be something like Soft Brown and Saddle in the crease with Embark on the outer V and All That Glitters on the lid (all MAC shadows). For a bolder look you could do eyeshadows in Peach Smoothie, Soft Brown, and Saddle in the crease with Bitten and Cherry Cola in the outer V with gold eyeshadow or gold glitter on the lid. Eyeliner optional! (Shadows are a mix of MAC and Makeup Geek). Highlight at will!
**Notes on Highlighter
I do love me a good highlighter, but you need to make sure you aren’t overdoing it to the point that you look like a grease ball. If I am going to be wearing a good amount of highlighter I tend to go more “natural” on the eyes, meaning no chunky glitter. Think MAC’s tan pigment on the lid with Soft Brown, Brown Script, and Saddle in the crease with no outer V shade. Eyeliner optional! That being said I usually do a wing on all of my clients that request this look.
This eye combo looks absolutely stunning on pretty much any skin tone. The pigment gives that little boost of sparkle without being glittery. It’s my ride or die for pretty much all of my clients that want a little extra without being overly dramatic
There is an art to applying highlighter. In order to prevent the greasy look that highlighter can sometimes give off (happens when you use waaaay too much) lightly swirl your brush on your highlighter of choice tap off the excess, this is a must, then go to town!
Caution: Highlighter makes texture stand out like crazy, so if you have any texture be it little bumps (milia), skin tags, or zits it will make them stand out, yet another reason you don’t want to overdo the face highlighter.
If you want a nice highlight but don’t want it overly dramatic I would mix a liquid luminizer in with your foundation. This will give you that soft supple glow without making any texture you have stand out.
Whatever look you choose, have fun with it! Have a safe and happy New Year and I will see all my Beauty Babies in 2017, muah!!!
