Us girls are known to frequently ponder new ways to mix up our holiday make up looks. Glimmer or no glimmer? How about a smoky eye? The debate never ends. Here are four creative looks you can try out this holiday season!
1. Red Gradient Wing
Sick and tired of a plain old winged liner? If you want to try something a little more risky or feel like you want a pop of colour in your eye look, this is your best bet!
Beauty Hack: if you don’t have any colored liners, don’t fret! Use a lip crème or a lipstick on a small angle brush and you are good to go. We all know the classic cat eye is a hard look to master, but forget the frustration, because that’s what I’m here to help you with.
Here are the steps to get this look:
Step 1: use a piece of tape from the outer corner of your eye diagonally to the edge of your brow.
Step 2: use a small angled brush to take the red lip product and line starting from the inner corner and working your way to the wing in a steady line reaching the edge of the tape.
Step 3: Once you have your base color down, let it dry, and then take the same angled brush and use a black shadow to make gradient effect along outer part of the wing.
Step 4: Take a glitter liner color of your choice – I chose to use a gold for this look – and carefully follow the initial red liner in the inner corner, leaving the midsection of the liner red for a gradient look.
Step 5: top your look off with a couple coats of mascara and a cherry red lip, and you are complete!
Model: Sveta Pasko, first year UVic
2. Green Halo Smokey Eye
Need a look to compliment brown eyes? A moss green and mauve smoked out eye is for you. This festive take on a smoky eye is versatile and can be worn on an average day but is also perfect for any party you may be attending over the holidays!
Beauty Hack: if you want your lashes to look bold and luscious but don’t have falsies? Heat your eyelash curler with a hair dryer, wait 40 seconds until warm and then curl lashes and apply mascara! Guaranteed to help make your eyelash curl last longer!
Step 1: Prime eyes with an eye shadow base
Step 2: Use a light mauve shade shadow (I used Limit from the Urban Decay Naked 3 palette) starting from the outer corner through the crease working your way in to the inner corner in a window wiper motion, continue until blended.
Step 3: Apply a green crème eye shadow and blend out over centre of eyelid until even.
Step 4: go back in with mauve shade and use shadow to blend in with green crème shadow
Step 5: Take a darker mauve shade (I used Nooner, once again from the Naked 3 palette) and blend in window wiper motion, concentrating the shadow on the inner and outer corners of the eyelid.
Step 6: Take the same darker mauve shadow and drag below lower lash line and blend out.
Step 7: Take a champagne shadow or highlighter and add in very inner corners and below brow bone.
Step 7: Curl eyelashes & apply a few coats of mascara, add a highlight along cheekbone and berry-toned nude lipstick and your look is complete!
Model: Katja Kiefer, first year UVic
3. Starry Night
This dramatic navy blue shadow teamed with opal and gold glitter is guaranteed to have everyone envying your makeup skills!
Beauty Hack: Do you have a shadow that isn’t coming off as pigmented as you want? Try using a white cream shadow as a base to help your colour show off more vibrant!
Step 1: Apply eye shadow primer
Step 2: Take a warm toned medium brown and apply in crease blending in small circular motions.
Step 3: Take navy blue shadow and apply heavily onto the lower section of your eyelid. Don’t worry about this being too perfect because you will be blending it out, using same circular motion as mentioned before.
Step 4: Use a jet black liquid liner starting from the inner corner of your eye working your way outwards creating a wing. If you have trouble making the wing perfect use tape to help assist you until you get the hang of it!
Step 5: Take a glitter liner or pigment in an opal shade and apply to the centre of the eye, avoiding touching the liner and not going beyond the crease of the eye.
Step 5: Take a gold glitter liner or pigment and do the same as above, try not to apply too much! Glitter can be a total bitch to get off once it’s on there!
Step 6: Apply a couple coats of mascara onto your curled lashes and add a nude dusty pink lip crème and you are ready to go!
Model: Sarah Mcleod, first year Uvic
4. Classic Gold Glamour
A gold toned eye and deep red lip is guaranteed to make you look red carpet elegant in no time!
Beauty Hack: Ever wear a dramatic dark lip and have it smudge all over and ruin the rest of your makeup look? After you apply the lipstick blot with a piece of tissue, place a new clean tissue over your lips, take a translucent powder and apply over the tissue – this will help the lipstick stay in place for longer!
Step 1: Apply a eye shadow base or primer to make this eye look last all day and not crease!
Step 2: Take a medium toned orange shadow and apply in a window wiping motion through out your crease as a transition shade using a fluffy brush.
Step 3: Apply a warm brown shadow (I used Buck from the first Naked Palette by Urban Decay) in the crease of the eyelid and concentrating on the outer corner of the eyelid.
Step 4: Take a rose toned dark orange shadow and apply in crease to blend the first orange shadow and medium brown together, drag this colour below along the lower lash line.
Step 5: Use the first orange shade and bring along the middle to inner lower lash line using a small angled brush to bring the eye look together.
Step 6: Take a champagne shadow or pigment on a damp brush and apply to very inner corners of eye and under brow bone.
Step 7: Take a light gold eye shadow (I used the light gold shade from the NYX Dusk Til Dawn Palette) on fluffy brush and drag across whole lid.
Step 8: Now apply a straight winged liner to upper lash line using a black liquid liner.
Step 9: Finally the fun part! Use a gold glitter liner or pigment and apply to the inner corner to midsection of the eyelid and your eye look is complete!
Step 10: Curl lashes and apply a few coats of mascara and put on a generous amount of highlight (despite what some people may say, there is no such thing as too much highlighter – you should be allowed to shine if you want to!) Lastly, using a small lip brush and a dark red lipstick, apply red over your lips.
Model: Elinor Atkins, first year UVic
What is your favorite holiday look? Let us know!