How to Create a Holiday Makeup Look in 5 Steps

Your holiday beauty routine is meant to be glamorous, glowy and most importantly — simple, so you can enjoy all the parties, yummy food and family time that the season brings. While that means saying yes to things like glitter and sharp winged eyeliner to elevate your look, it doesn’t mean you have to spend hours to achieve it. 

Below, find gorgeous holiday makeup that prioritizes flawless results while keeping things, dare we say it — easy. Let’s face it, the sooner you’re done getting ready, the sooner you can celebrate and we’re here to help you look your best for that.

What Do I Need for Holiday Makeup?

Holiday makeup tends to be a bit more elevated than our daily makeup looks. It’s the perfect time to experiment with glitter, smoky shadows and rich, statement-making shades of lipsticks. If you’re not sure where to start, replicate your everyday makeup routine and pick one element, like the eyes or lips, to play up with glitter or bold color. 

A 5-Step Holiday Beauty Tutorial

A glowy holiday beauty look starts with your complexion, and the glam part comes from the way you accentuate your other features. Check out this step-by-step guide to achieving easy holiday glam from start to finish.

1. Create a Glowing Base

The holiday lights are shining bright and your skin can too this season. It’s all about using the right products — namely ones that have a luminous finish. Start by applying L’Oréal Paris True Match Lumi Glotion Natural Glow Enhancer as a primer to hydrate and give skin a subtle glow. 

Then, use a long-wearing foundation like L’Oréal Paris Infallible 24 Hour Fresh Wear Foundation. With 30 shades, buildable coverage and a natural finish, it suits all skin types. 

For a glowy-skin hack, after you apply your foundation, take the same True Match Lumi Glotion Natural Glow Enhancer you used to prime your face and blend some highlighter with your fingertips onto your cheekbones for a natural, lit-from-within glow.  

Editor’s tip: If you enjoy a bronzed glow at any time of the year, reach for L’Oréal Paris Infallible Up to 24H Fresh Wear Soft Matte Bronzer to add some color and definition to your complexion. 

2. Add Blush

Holiday makeup is not complete without  flushed rosy cheeks.Blush adds color to your skin, and it perfectly mimics the cold glow that many of us sport in the winter thanks to the drop in temperature. Using a fluffy blush brush, blend L’Oréal Paris Infallible Up to 24H Fresh Wear Soft Matte Blush on your cheekbones, blending upward, toward your hairline to create a lifted effect.

3. Layer on Glittery Eyeshadow

While a smoky eye wows for any occasion, the variety of eyeshadows and meticulous blending means the look is a bit more time-consuming than we’d like. Instead, a single layer of glitter eyeshadow does the trick to let your holiday makeup appear glamorous and more intricate than it actually is. 

Using the doe foot applicator, apply L’Oréal Paris Brilliant Eyes Shimmer Liquid Eye Shadow Makeup to your lid in your shade of choice — we’re partial to the champagne hue, Crystal Shine. Lightly blend it onto your lid with your index finger or a small eyeshadow brush. The goal is to create a topcoat of shimmer that sparkles when the light hits it. 

Editor’s tip: Do your under-eye makeup after your eyeshadow to account for any fallout. Our favorite under-eye concealer is L’Oréal Paris Eye Cream in a Concealer, 0.5% Hyaluronic Acid, which combines the benefits of eye cream and concealer in a single product. 

4.  Add Eyeliner and Mascara

Winged eyeliner is a beautiful, timeless beauty look that’s just right for the holidays (or any day actually). After applying your shimmer eyeshadow, create a cat eye on the upper lash line using L’Oréal Paris Infallible Grip Precision Felt Waterproof Eyeliner. With a precise felt tip, you’ll be able to create a sharp, defined wing and the waterproof, smudge-proof formula lasts up to 30 hours, making it perfect for a long day of festivities.

No eye makeup look is complete without mascara so apply a few coats of L’Oréal Paris Telescopic Instant Lift Washable Mascara to achieve long and voluminous eyelashes without the need for falsies.

5. Choose a Long-lasting Lipstick

A gorgeous matte lipstick is a great way to define your pout with rich, velvety and long-lasting color. For matte lip color without the drying, flat and uncomfortable finish, try L’Oréal Paris Colour Riche Intense Volume Matte Lipstick. With an innovative powdery, matte formula that’s infused with hyaluronic acid, this lipstick is long-wearing with a hydrating slip. It comes in rich shades of rosy pinks and jewel-tone reds that remind us of the holidays. 

If you prefer a liquid lipstick, L’Oréal Paris Infallible Matte Resistance Liquid Lipstick includes the same aforementioned hyaluronic-acid infused formula with an updated liquid lipstick consistency that lasts for hours without smudging or feeling dry. To get in the holiday mood, we highly recommend the shade Pay Day, a rich, violet red hue that looks stunning on all skin tones.

Next: What Color Lipstick Makes Teeth Look Whiter?

Photographer: Stephanie Price, Photo Assistant: Thomas Miller, Digi Tech: Sergio Colon, Art Director: Hannah Packer, Creative Producer: Becca Solovay, Content Director: Shalwah Evans, Visual Designer: Sarah Duvivier, Makeup Artist: Kelly Bellevue, Hair Stylist: Akihisa Yamaguchi, Wardrobe Stylist: Rika Watanabe, Wardrobe Assistant: Fausti, Models: Jacky Lee, Anastasia Offutt