Make-up Soc’s guide to Winter glam

When I think of winter glam, my mind instantly goes to Charlotte Tilbury-inspired looks: glittery eyes, plenty of bronzer and highlighter, and bold lips. In this guide, I’ll be giving you inspiration for classic winter glam makeup from ways to spice up your looks, product recommendations, to tips and tricks. When those family dinners and holiday parties roll around, you’ll be prepared!

I usually use clubbing nights and house parties for colourful and experimental looks, but when it comes to festive celebrations, I prefer to keep it classic. I think gold eyeshadow paired with pink, red, or burgundy lipstick and blusher, highlighter and bronzer to bring the look to life is timeless. This colour scheme works as a great starting point for every winter look. It can be achieved by people of any experience level, customised to suit your skin tone, and kept minimalist if needed.

Achieving the look

Start off with whatever base you’d usually use for makeup looks – I use primer for longevity, then concealer and foundation for coverage.

Next, move on to eyes. Build up layers of eyeshadow in neutral tones going from light to dark as you work your way from the corner of your eye to the outside. You can add kohl eyeliner to your waterline to make your eyes pop, or winged eyeliner for a little extra something. Don’t forget to curl your lashes and apply mascara!

Then, bronzer, blusher, and highlighter. I feel that these really make a look pop if not overdone! Put bronzer on your forehead, nose and cheekbones for a subtle contour and definition. After, place blusher on your cheeks and nose for a rosy winter effect, and highlighter on the tip of your nose and cheekbones for a festive glow.

For an extra-special night, you might even want to use a little fake tan for an all-over bronze. The St. Moriz Moriz Professional Medium Mousse is an affordable option, perfect for a buildable colour and natural finish.

Finally, finish off the look with lips! Choose your lip liner, lipstick and gloss of choice. I prefer a coral toned lipstick for daytime looks and red or burgundy for the evening. The warm tones go really well with the gold or bronze glitter and complete the look nicely.

Extra ideas

Green eyeliner is a great way to make you stand out. It goes well with both the gold glitter and the lip colours, and if you celebrate Christmas, it’s a subtle way to incorporate traditional red and green tones into your look. Either pencil or liquid eyeliner work here, I personally love either MAC or NYX cosmetics for glittery pencil liners!

Glitter lips are perfect for the festive season, especially for evening looks. You can use either really sparkly lip glosses or makeup glitter to create this. I personally love glitter when paired with nude or red shades.

Fake lashes are an easy and cheap way to elevate a look. You can buy individual, half or full lashes in lots of different styles. For a more natural look, a good option is Lily Lashes’ Full Blown Flare Up Individuals. They allow you to build your lash line as much or as little as you desire. If you’re using these don’t add mascara until after these have been applied otherwise it can make them difficult to stick on!

You can take inspiration from Euphoria by adding rhinestones, gems or pearls to your makeup. You can buy them from drugstores, and even Amazon, then apply them with eyelash glue.

The last way you could spice up your festive look is by opting for a cooler-toned version. Switch up my gold eyeshadow for light blues and greys, and then add silver glitter. Keep bronzer minimal and use plenty of blusher and white highlighter. Finish off with a cool-toned pink lipstick.

The three best tips

1. Keep your makeup glowy! Make sure you’re applying your makeup to a well-prepped base. I.e. cleaned, moisturised and primed! Your highlight and glitter will really pop if your base glows. Primer will also help your makeup last for ages, as well as powder under your eyes to stop concealer from creasing.
2. Use shades from the same palette if you can. Palettes are designed so that all the colours work together, particularly neutrals. Keeping to one palette tends to make a look more cohesive. My favourite palettes are the 9-shade Morphe palettes or the Urban Decay Naked 3 or Naked Honey.
3. Last but not least, go with what suits you. I know that I look better with gold instead of bronze eyeshadow and that I have to apply a fair amount of bronzer and blusher for dark lipsticks to suit my fair skin tone. If you’re unsure what lipstick shade would suit you or what colour blusher to use, ask to try products in stores like Boots – the staff are usually very friendly and happy to help you figure out what works best for you.

I hope that this has helped give you some inspiration for festive glam makeup! For more ideas please check out Makeup Society’s Instagram, we’ll be posting our looks throughout the next week.