5 Holiday Party Makeup Tips

Got an office holiday party coming up? A Christmas soirée at a friend’s house? A charity ball? You’ll want to take your daytime makeup routine up a notch (or, if you’re anything like me, a couple notches) but it’s always a bit of a challenge to look glam without overdoing it.

I used to just put everything on a little bit heavier when I had a fancy event to attend. I would apply my regular makeup, but put it on extra heavy, maybe add a darker shade of eye shadow, and call it a day (or a night, rather.)

And inevitably, when I saw pictures of myself after the event, I was like “Who let the raccoon into the party!?”

Oh no, that’s ME!

Don’t let that happen to you. Here are a few tricks that will help you take your makeup up a notch without overdoing it.

5 Holiday Party Makeup Tips

1. Try a new color palette.

If you normally don’t wear a ton of makeup, you may not want to suddenly apply every product ever made for your fancy night out. Instead, choose a different color palette and stick with your typical routine. I normally wear earth tones during the day, but when I go out at night, I like to wear plums or blues on the eyes to give them a different look. I also like to wear a different shade of lipstick, just for kicks.

2. Try a dramatic eye.

There are lots of great smokey eye tutorials online (Google is your friend); just be sure to choose colors that suit your skin tone. Then keep the rest of your makeup minimal — a neutral color on the lips works best with a smokey eye. Or if the smokey eye is too much, use liquid liner and go for a more subtle cat eye (as pictured above) — it’s just as glam, but not quite as dramatic.

3. Bold lips.

A bold color on the lips instantly changes your look. Again, just be sure to choose a color that works for your skintone. This is a great way to go from office to party without having to overhaul your makeup. You can go all out with a deep lipstick such as Lancome’s L’ABSOLU ROUGE. Or just dip your toe in the trend with a colored gloss such as the Chanel Levres Scintillantes Glossimer Lip Glosses. Keep eye makeup simple so as not to distract from the lips. (By the way, bold doesn’t always mean red, as Camilla Belle shows us above with a gorgeous hot pink lip.)

4. Go for some sparkle.

Try a highlighter on the upper cheekbones and the bridge of your nose, such as Topshop Glow Highlighter. Or wear a sparkle eye shadow. I have recently discovered cream shadows, and I love Chanel’s Illusion D’Ombre Long Wear Luminous Eyeshadow. In fact, I wear it daily, but it would also be a great way to rev up your nighttime going-out look if you don’t normally wear a shimmery eyeshadow.

5. If you really want to splurge, get false eyelashes for the night.

I KNOW. It sounds extreme, but really they aren’t that crazy. And they will make your eyes the star of the show. The nice thing about false eyelashes is that the rest of your makeup can be super simple. Shu Uemura Feather False Lashes come highly recommended, and they retail for only about $20. (No, I’ve never tried them. Have you?)

So now you’re armed with a slew of ideas for taking your holiday party look up a notch. Which one will you try?

Photos courtesy of People Style Watch