If you’re anything like us, your daily makeup routine is good if you remember to moisturize, conceal some lack of sleep dark circles, and maybe add some lip balm. We’re totally supportive of letting our natural beauty shine through, but something about the season makes us want to add a little something extra to our holiday makeup routine. We’ve put together three EASY and flawless holiday makeup looks to guide you through the holiday season to make our smile shine brighter and our eyes pop! To create each of these looks, I started with my own tinted moisturizer, and let my beauty box from maurices Flawless Makeup Collection do the rest!
Check out our Three Easy, Flawless Holiday Makeup Looks below, watch our demonstration video, AND enter our giveaway (on the video!) to WIN your own Beauty Box from maurices Flawless Makeup Collection!
Easy Holiday Makeup Look #1: Family (Fun)ction
Holiday meals with my family are much more relaxed than other holiday gatherings. We play games, watch football and movies, open presents, spend time chatting, let the kiddos all play, and, most importantly, eat! Getting together with the family always makes for a long day, and I don’t want to have to worry about having to touch up or reapply anything. So, I like to keep things pretty simple with my casual holiday makeup. Here’s what I do to take me from fresh-faced to ready-for-Family-Fun (and photo ops) in a few easy steps! Notice, I don’t do any lip color, because reapplying isn’t something I want to do!
- Start out right:
Start with a fresh face and apply your favorite tinted moisturizer. Since Denver air dries my skin out, moisturizer isn’t something I skip! - Add a little blush:
Blush is my favorite way to add a little glow and instantly brighten my face with a fresh, youthful, pop of color. Peachy pink blush is good on every skin tone -light, medium, or dark . . . So, select your favorite peachy pink, grab a fluffy brush, and sweep the color onto the apples of your checks, blending upwards toward the temples. - Light up up your eyes:
Since I’m almost always up late the night before a holiday cooking, cleaning, prepping, or wrapping, I like to use a little shimmer eye shadow to catch some light and brighten my eyes. - Raise an eyebrow:
In case you haven’t heard, eyebrows are having a moment right now – a big moment. So, I always feel way more put together when I fill in my brows with a little powder and some gel to set it. The maurices palette has great eyebrow product AND the brushes you need to apply it just right. - Flutter to finish:
My makeup look isn’t finished until I’ve swiped on a little mascara – even if I’m just headed to the gym – mascara ties it all together and makes my whole look a little more polished. Also, don’t forget to curl your lashes! It makes a huge difference!
Easy Holiday Makeup Look #2: Holiday Happenings
When it’s time to head out on the town for a holiday happening, Christmas concert, special dinner, or event with friends, I like to add a little more color and depth to my makeup routine. I start out with the same steps from my Family Fun look, do a slight contour to my face, and then add a little bit of lip. If the word “contour” has you nervous that this look will be Kardashian-level difficult, don’t worry! These are easy makeup contouring instructions – I promise!
pro tip: Use powder bronzer and highlighter, then you can start light and build on the contouring to achieve the look you’re after!
- Bring on the bronzer:
Start light – put a little bronzer on your brush and tap off any excess. Apply the bronzer at your hairline on both sides of your forehead (if your face was a clock, between 10 and 11 on one side, and 1 to 2 on the other), and blend. Next, work a little bronzer into your hairline at your temples — blending is key with the bronzer. Okay, it’s time for your cheekbones, so take a deep breath . . . and again, start with a little color – you can always add. Angle your brush at the top of your ear and move it toward the corner of your mouth – take it slow, so you don’t end up with your face looking too sharp. Finally, if you want a little more definition, blend a little bronzer into your jawline on both sides. - Highlight your gorgeous self:
Now it’s time to use a little bit of highlight to bring out your gorgeous bone structure! Again, I recommend using a powder product, so you can start with a small amount and add more to achieve your desired look. Apply some color to the center of your forehead, and blend well. Next, blend highlighter to the top of your cheekbones to give them some dimension. I also LOVE putting the tiniest bit of highlighter to the top “v” of the cupid’s bow of my mouth (I blend this with my finger) — it makes my lips look fuller! - Blend in slightly more sunkissed shimmer:
This is the part in my makeup routine where I add a little more bronzer for a slight summertime glow. Using the same brush as before, I take a little bit of shimmery bronzer from my temples, down below my cheekbones, and under my chin in a 3-shaped motion. It’s a gorgeous insta-beach glow, and balances the highlighter. - Blush it up:
As I mentioned before, blush is basically a miracle product! So, after all the contouring and highlighting, I like to add a little bit more blush. So, from the top to bottom of my cheeks, it’s highlighter, blush, contour/bronzer — and it’s all blended! - Give yourself a little lip:
For a holiday event that’s not too fancy, I like to keep my lips simple but polished, and love a chubby lip crayon in a matte or very slightly shimmery color. It helps make my smile pop a little more - Finish it off:
As with the other looks, I recommend a swipe of translucent setting powder to finish this flawless makeup look.
Easy Holiday Makeup Look #3: Glitzy Gala
A few times each holiday season, I have the chance to really glam it up! For my husband’s black tie work party or if we plan a night out for New Years Eve, I like to take the opportunity to have some fun with my makeup! I usually start with everything above and then add some smokey eyes, eyeliner, and plum shimmer to my lips. How do I get those flawless, smokey eyes? Don’t worry, it’s not hard, I promise! I’ve provided easy instructions below, and don’t forget to check out the video demonstration!
- Preparation is key:
Start light – pick the lightest shadow color in your palette and apply it from your lash line to your brow bone. This neutralizes any redness and will help other shadow stay put. This is also a great time to be sure you’ve powdered under your eyes, to catch any loose particles of darker shadow. - Spread on the smokiness:
Using an eyeshadow brush, take the darkest color from your palette, and start at the lash line at the outer corner of your lid and blend a line of shadow up and out to your eyelid crease, brushing it on in the direction of the outer edge of your eyebrow. Then, about 1/3 of the way in from the outer corner of your eyelid, again blend the dark shadow from your lash line, up and out, meeting with the previous line, so you create a triangle of sorts. I then take a lighter shade of shadow in the middle of my lid and blend it to create a smooth transition from the light shadow on my inner lid to the dark on the outer lid, and blend so that it looks flawless. - Line it all up and flutter to finish:
Using a deep color of liner, line the upper and lower lash lines, making sure the lines meet at the outer corner of the eye. Smudge and smoke the lines by layering a powder shadow on top, or simply smudge the liner with a cream shadow brush. - Let your lips shine:
Now, the final touch in this look is a pretty plum gloss over my matte lip. Especially for photos, a lip with some sass and color makes a big difference in making my smile pop! - Finish it off:
As with the other looks, I recommend a swipe of translucent setting powder to finish this flawless makeup look.
