Classic & Simple Holiday Party Makeup

Dress: ASTR (only $89 and comes in so many colors! Wearing an XS–runs snug, size down if you need more room in the bust or waist) Red bell sleeve sweater: Vince Camuto (on sale! Runs TTS despite what the sizing tips say.) Bow: ribbon, but more foolproof hair bows here! Earrings: Kendra Scott (old but similar here) 

One of my favorite makeup looks for the holidays is a very subtle liquid liner with a dark red lip! Before you jump at the mention of a “cat eye”–let me assure you. I will be the first to admit, liquid eyeliner is NOT my best friend–not even close! I’ve experimented with a lot of different liquid liners over the years. I FINALLY found one that is easy to use! (HOORAY!) I’ll tell you more about it below. I’m showing you my tutorial for an easy, festive look that’s perfect for any holiday gathering!

As you guys know, I love makeup and testing out new products and looks all the time. But I always like my makeup to be natural looking. I never like for it to appear over the top. In my opinion, makeup should always enhance your natural beauty, not draw attention to the makeup itself. If you share my same philosophy, you’ll love some of these techniques!

This will come as no surprise to you that the majority of these products I use in this tutorial are from Nordstrom. I love purchasing beauty products from them because of the fast, free shipping both ways, and most importantly, because of their return policy. I never have to worry about being stuck with the wrong shade, or simply with a product that doesn’t work for me!

The other great perk: Right now, Nordstrom has a ton of gifts with purchase that you get for free with a lot of these products. Specifically, if you spend $28 or more on Clinique, you get a gift set of $75 value! (You can see all their current gifts with purchase right here–I’ve got my eye on this one from MAC too). Also, if you spend over a certain amount you get to pick from three different free beauty samples too!!

Anyway, let’s jump into the tutorial, and how you can recreate this look for your next festive function, yes?

Build your base:

Foundation: I have a bunch of different foundations that I rotate between, but I always gravitate back to Clinique’s Even Better foundation. They’re one of my favorite brands for sensitive skin and it’s the first foundation I ever used. (My mom still uses this today!) Its ideal for combination skin and with use it gradually helps to even skin tone and reduce dark spots! It has buildable, moderate coverage, too! If you aren’t a foundation person, I am a big lover of bareMinerals Complexion Rescue. It’s a super hydrating combo BB/CC/Tinted moisturizer. Sometimes it’s the only makeup I can wear when my skin is chronically dry (sometimes it gets SOO dry that everything else flakes off. Ew.) but it’s also great to wear by itself!

Concealer: I apply Burberry’s illuminating concealer to my under eyes. If there are any spots to cover, I use NARS.

Bronzer: I apply NARS Laguna sun wash diffusing bronzer with a contouring brush to the hollows of my cheeks. They make two kinds and this is their most recent development–this one is definitely more natural and goes on more subtly than their original version, so it’s good for winter when you need less color!

Blush: My favorite way to apply blush is to JUST a small, concentrated amount to the tops of the apples of my cheeks. I usually switch between Estee Lauder’s blush in “Peach Passion” and NARS in “Orgasm.” (Also this NARS blush/bronzer duo is amazing and would be so great for travel!)

Eyes and Brows:

Eyeshadow: “The Dolce Vita”Usually when you do liquid liner, you want to keep your shadow to a minimum to keep from looking “overdone,” but here, because we’re doing such a subtle winged liner, I like to add a bit of shadow to make the eyes pop! Charlotte Tilbury’s shadow palette in is by far my most used shadow ever. I use the lightest shade on the inner corners of my eyes, followed by the top right shade on the outer corners, and then I blend it with my finger or a shadow brush.

Then, with an eyeliner brush, I line my eyes underneath with the bottom right (darkest) shade to give my eyes a bit more depth. It doesn’t have to be perfect!

Lash curl: I use Charlotte Tilbury’s eyelash curler to give my lashes a boost prior to applying top liner and mascara! (I do this beforehand because the curler tends to smudge my eyeliner!)

Liquid liner: 

Okay, you’ve stuck with me this far. I admit, up until this point, the tutorial has scored a 10 out of 10 for easiness–now we’re kicking it up a notch but I PROMISE this will be the easiest liquid liner you’ve ever worked with! It’s Clinique’s formula and it’s literally called “Pretty Easy” liquid eyelining pen. It truly is like a marker that you just use to draw on your face. The tip is VERY pointed, so it’s really easy to control the thickness and then draw your wing to a fine point.

How I apply my liquid liner: start at the inner corner of your eye, and draw a thin line with the tip of the liner pen out toward the outer corner of your eye. Stop. Re-trace your steps back the other way, until you get the desired level of thickness. THEN, finish by winging the liner outward. I’ve found this is much more foolproof than drawing the line from one end to another, and finishing with the swoop/wing. That’s just a LOT of steps to cram into one swoop, you know?

Mascara:

Dior’s Iconic Overcurl mascara is hands down my favorite mascara of all time. For the past several months, I’ve had lash extensions but had to stop them for a bit because my eyelashes were falling out and the extensions basically had nothing to stick to, haha. (YIKES!) So I’m taking a breather for a few months (I love them so much though, I will totally get them again. See my whole post on them here). Long story short, I need a crazy lengthening AND thickening AND curling mascara, and this really does the trick.

Finishing touches:

Change into your party dress, you’re pretty much done! (Side note: this dress is to DIE for for any holiday party! It’s so beautiful for only $89! I’m wearing an XS, but it does run a bit small. So if you need some extra room in the bust or waist area, I would size up!)

For finishing touches, I swiped on RMS Beauty’s “Russian Roulette” lipstick–I absolutely LOVE this formula–it’s highly pigmented but unlike most super pigmented formulas, it’s still moisturizing and doesn’t make your lips feel dry.

What are your favorite beauty products to wear this holiday season? 

In partnership with Nordstrom. 

SaveSave