3 Non-Toxic Holiday Makeup Looks From A Clean Beauty Expert
The holidays are here and with it comes all the holiday looks! I’m talking makeup. But not just any makeup, clean makeup. That is as good as it looks on.
The holidays are the perfect time to try something new, be a little daring and think outside the box when it comes to makeup. It’s an excuse to get creative and try that smoky eye you’ve always been wanting to try or that bold lip.
Three makeup looks I love for the holidays are the smoky eye, red lip, and bronzed shimmer eye. These three scream holidays and can quickly turn any average look into something special.
Below I’m going to share just how to achieve each one of the looks, and some helpful tips I’ve picked up after years of application.
SMOKY EYE
This is the tried and true sultry makeup look. It elevates anyone’s eyes to the next level with some shadow and black liner. It’s all about the eyes with this look. The rest of the look is minimal. Lips and cheeks aren’t overdone but more of a taupe neutral. The eyes are the star of the show.
What you’ll need for the smoky eye:
- A larger shadow brush
- A smaller shadow brush
- A liner brush
- Charcoal eyeshadow
- Neutral eyeshadow
- Silver shadow
*Now don’t worry if the closest thing you have to a makeup brush is your finger and a Q-tip. You can totally work with that too.
Application:
- Take a tissue or a small square of toilet paper and get it slightly damp on one end. Stick the wet end right underneath your bottom lashes so it’s sticking to your face and hanging there. This will catch all the excess eyeshadow so there is no black eye situation when you’re done. Trust me – this is an important step. Once you’re done slide it off.
- Prep your lid before you do anything. I love using this Eye Primer. If you don’t have a primer, you can use a concealer too. Apply it all over your lid, from brows to the eyelash line. This helps the pigment from the shadow stick so it lasts throughout the day and it also really makes the pigment pop since you’re creating a neutral canvas – there’s nothing competing with the color.
- Next apply the neutral color with your larger eyeshadow brush underneath the brows, and down into the inner corners of the eyes. This really helps to lift your eye up and wake up your eyes.
- Take the smaller eyeshadow brush and apply the silver or grey color all over the lid. Once done use the larger brush to blend the neutral color and the silver or grey color together where they meet together on the eye.
- Use the smaller eyeshadow brush and get it slightly damp. Then apply charcoal color in a v shape on your eye. Start at the bottom middle of your eyelash line and then blend out, then start in the middle of the lid and blend out to meet the other point – like the letter v. I like to use a pressing motion, so the pigment stays on my eyes. Then fill in the v shape. Again use the large shadow brush and blend out wherever you need to.
- Grab the liner brush and get it damp and dip it into the charcoal color. Tap excess off and line the outer corners with the shadow. You can also line your lower eyelash line, called the waterline, with it to really make your eyes pop. You can use a liquid liner too. I love this one. It even has a stamp if you struggle with getting the perfect winged look.
- Don’t forget to apply mascara!
A couple tips for a smoky eye:
- It’s a good idea to wear some sort of face makeup to cancel out redness in the skin. It helps to pull the look together and keep the attention on the eyes.
- You don’t need to always choose dark charcoal or black colors for a smoky eye, you can also do a darker brown smoky eye or even a plum smoky eye.
- Less is more. If it’s your first time creating a smoky eye, go easy on the shadow. The more you experiment the better you’ll get. We just don’t want to end up with a black eye the first time around!
RED LIP
What better time to bust out a red lip then during the holidays! I love how quickly it can take any look from drab to wow with a swipe of some red lipstick. Plus, it really requires not a lot of time – something I think we call can get behind.
What you’ll need for a red lip:
- A lip balm – the worst thing is applying a rich pigmented lipstick on top of dry lips… cracked lips and red lipstick don’t mix.
- A lip primer, concealer or foundation. This is a great clean lip primer. We want to neutralize the lips of any redness they naturally have in them, so the color isn’t competing with red lipstick. This gives your lips an even canvas.
- Lip liner. I always opt for a neutral color that matches the lips or a color that matches the lipstick. This helps to outline your lips beforehand so you know exactly where to apply the lipstick. You can also make your lips more even or bigger if you want to. Plus, it helps the formula last longer.
- Lip brush. This isn’t a must but I’ve found can be very helpful for those who aren’t used to applying lipsticks.
I love using this brush for lipsticks. Just swipe the lipstick with the lip brush and then you are able to get such a precise application. - Paper for blotting. People often say use a tissue but tissue pieces often get stuck on the lips. Paper doesn’t have that issue. This helps to set your lipstick and get a deeper pigment. Then lightly apply one more swipe of color right in the center of the lips and slightly blend out.
Application:
- Exfoliate your lips. You want to make sure your lips are super smooth so there’s no dry skin hanging off. I really like using a wet washcloth to exfoliate. But you could also create your own sugar scrub with sugar and oil.
- Apply a lip balm. This shouldn’t be super gunky – just a nice smooth balm to hydrate the lips.
- Next apply a lip primer or concealer to neutralize the lips.
- Take a lip liner and line the lips, filling them in as well.
- Apply the lipstick. Use a lip brush if you need to for more precise application.
- Blot your lips on a piece of paper.
- Dust a little translucent powder on top. Press lips together. This helps to set the lipstick even more and really extend the longevity of the lip color.
- Apply lipstick again in middle and blend out.
A couple tips for a red lip:
- Keep eyes pretty neutral, as well as blush too. You really want your lips to stand out and not be competing with your eyes or cheeks. A little subtle light shimmer with your eyeshadow color is fine but nothing too bold.
- Some of my favorite red lipsticks: Kosas Electra, Thrillest, RMS Beauty Rebound, and Kjaer Weis KW Red.
- Pick the right red for your skin tone:
1. Red Heads – Use more brick toned reds, with orange undertones. Also, some corals are flattering on red heads.
2. Fair Skin with Cool Undertones – Hues with more raspberry undertones warm up a fair skin with cool undertones.
3. Light to Medium Skin – Use reds with more of a pinkish hue in them.
4. Golden/Olive Skin – Deep rich reds add warmth and compliment golden skin.
5. Medium Skin with Olive/Yellow Undertones – You can rock orangey reds.
6. Medium Skin with Golden Undertones – A true red is perfect on this skin tone. Make sure it doesn’t have blue undertones but orange.
7. Medium Skin with Neutral Undertones – A true red works that doesn’t have too much orange or blue but meets in the middle.
8. Tan with Warm Undertones – Orange-based Red.
9. Dark with Warm Undertones – A blue-based red compliments dark skin with warmth.
10. Dark with Cool Undertones – Ruby red lipstick that’s a touch glossy to bring out lips. Also, wine reds or deep berry hues with a hint of moisture.
BRONZED SHIMMER EYE
This look is fun, and a little ethereal. You can look like you’re glowing in all the right places. It also really lets you dig into those shimmer shadows you longingly look at all year long but might not touch.
What you’ll need for a bronzed shimmer eye:
- A larger shadow brush
- A smaller shadow brush
- A liner brush
- Shimmer bronzed shadow (or any shimmer eyeshadow)
- Neutral eyeshadow
- A medium bronze/brown color
Application:
- Just like with the smoky eye, take a tissue or a small square of toilet paper and get it slightly damp on one end. Stick the wet end right underneath your bottom lashes so it’s sticking to your face and hanging there. This will catch all the excess shimmer eyeshadow. Trust me – this is an important step. Once you’re done, slide it off.
- Prep your lid before you do anything. I love using this Eye Primer. If you don’t have a primer, you can use a concealer too. Apply it all over your lid, from brows to the eyelash line. This helps the pigment from the shadow stick so it lasts throughout the day and it also really makes the pigment pop since you’re creating a neutral canvas – there’s nothing competing with the color.
- Next, apply the neutral color with your larger eyeshadow brush underneath the brows, and down into the inner corners of the eyes. This really helps to lift your eye up and wake up your eyes.
- Take the smaller eyeshadow brush and apply the medium brown color all over the lid. Once done, use the larger brush to blend the neutral color and the medium brown color together where they meet together on the eye.
- Use the smaller eyeshadow brush and apply the bronzed/shimmer shadow color in a v shape on your eye. Start at the bottom on your eyelash line and then blend out. Then start in the middle of the lid and blend out to meet the other point – like the letter v. Then fill in the v shape. Again, use the large shadow brush and blend out wherever you need to.
- Grab the liner brush, get it damp and dip it into the bronze color. Tap excess off and line the outer corners with the shadow. You can also line your lower eyelash line (called the waterline) with it to really make your eyes pop. You can also use a liquid liner. I love this one. It even has a stamp if you struggle with getting the perfect winged look.
- Don’t forget to apply mascara!
- Apply a highlighter to the bridge of nose, inner corners of eyes, cupid’s bow, middle of chin, upper forehead and upper cheekbones. This will really give you a lit from within glow that adds to the warmness of the bronzed shadow look. Love this cream highlighter.
- I love this palette for achieving a bronzed look.
A couple tips for a bronzed eye look:
- Make sure and use a damp eyeshadow brush, this really helps the pigment adhere better to the brush instead of sprinkling off onto your face.
- Keep lips fresh looking with a rose-colored lip color, or poppy color. I like this one and this one.
That sums up my holiday makeup faves. Even though you are using clean beauty you don’t have to sacrifice one bit when it comes to getting all the fun, festive makeup looks!
For more clean beauty tips + tricks, follow Suzi on Instagram and check out her website for even more natural beauty inspo.
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