The Christmas Party Makeup Menu

It's almost that time of year again! If you were in need of some inspiration for your Christmas party; you've come to the right place. Last year I went for a full-on berry lip, so this year I decided to let my eyes take centre stage. I rarely talk about my 'going out' makeup routine on this blog so hopefully you'll also enjoy seeing something a little bit different from me!

I'm going to be starting with the Soap & Glory One Heck of a Blot Primer | £10. This is a cream-based primer that smooths out my skin and blots away shine without being overly drying. It provides the perfect satin base for foundation and makes sure it lasts! If you don't have major dark circles then you can skip this step, but I use the Bobbi Brown Corrector | £19.50 | under the eyes. It just helps cancel out the colour of my dark circles and putting it on before my foundation ensures my makeup doesn't look too heavy. It's a special occasion, so of course I reach for the Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Makeup | £31! It's a full coverage, matte foundation however never seems to look caky, dry or too much. It just gives a flawless and long-wearing finish (I wear the shade 3W2 Cashew, for reference). To get that perfected finish (without the brush strokes) I recommend using a flat foundation brush. 

Next I use the Too Faced Born This Way Concealer | £20 | review | in the shade Medium to cover any little blemishes and conceal my dark circles. It's very natural, lightweight and hydrating (so needs setting). I love how radiant it looks under the eyes; it really helps give my skin a healthy, glowing look. I also add in a bit of my YSL Touche Eclat | £25 | in the shade 4.5, which just brightens up under my eyes further. I blend both the Too Faced and YSL products out with a damp beauty sponge to ensure it looks natural and is seamlessly blended in with my foundation. To set everything in place I use the Ben Nye Banana Luxury Powder | £11.95. Under the eyes I use a tiny amount with the same damp sponge I did my concealer with. For my t-zone I use a tapered synthetic powder brush and go for a stippling motion.

For the cheeks, I reach for the Becca x Jaclyn Hill Champagne Face Collection Palette | £48 | review. Sadly this was limited edition and isn't available any more so I'll suggest some alternatives to give you a similar look. I start by highlighting down the centre of the nose, my cheekbones and my brow bone using a fan brush with a mix of the peachy-champagne-gold Champagne Pop (you can buy this individually here) and Prosecco Pop, the gold-toned shade from this palette (an alternative would be Gilded Honey by Laura Geller, review). I love this highlighter formula because it's not at all glittery but gives such a high-impact, dewy finish on the skin. If you can't look super highlighted for a Christmas party then when can you?! 

On a day-to-day basis, I tend to skip the contour however for a special occasion I do like some more definition. So I'll be using the Rosie for Autograph Killer a Contour Stick* | £15 | which is perfect if you, like me, aren't really a contouring expert. It's a cream stick formula that's so easy to work with. All I do is swipe it under each of my cheekbones and blend it out with a synthetic contour brush. This gives such a natural look with minimal effort. I then want to add a bit of warmth and soften out the contour with my trusty Urban Decay Beached Bronzer in Bronzed | £20. This isn't overly orange and has a matte finish, so works perfectly, plus I find it so easy to apply (there's no patchiness or anything like that). I'll then go back to my Becca palette and take the shade Amaretto and blend that out onto my cheeks (an alternative to this would be Suede by Sleek, review). This is a gorgeous warm caramel brown shade that I'd describe as having a luminous matte finish. It's perfect paired with this eye look because the colour ties in without drawing too much attention. Plus it's a very long-wearing, which is essential for an evening out. For this kind of look I like to finish my face off with a spritz of MAC Fix + | £17.50. This just helps my skin to appear glowing and my makeup look seamless, as opposed to increasing the wear-time.

As I mentioned, the eyes are going to be the main attraction for this look so what better opportunity to get some use out of my Charlotte Tilbury Dolce Vita Luxury Eyeshadow Quad | £38. First I like to prime my lids with the Urban Decay Primer Potion | £16 | which is indispensable for a dramatic eye look. It just ensures nothing creases and the shades stay looking fresh throughout the night. I'll then apply my Bobbi Brown Stick Eyeshadow in Taupe | £21 | as a cream base. It's a nude shade that's perfect for my skin tone, as it isn't too warm or too cool in tone. It evens out the tone of my eyelids to ensure the eyeshadows applied on top show true to colour. Going into the Charlotte Tilbury palette, I first sweep this sheeny cream-champagne shade Prime across the inner part of the lid and apply it to the inner corner. Next I take the shade Enhance, a warm red tone with the same muted sheeny finish, on a medium-sized blending brush and run it through the crease. The shade Pop is a pressed warm gold pigment and I apply it like Charlotte does in her videos; by packing it onto the centre of the lid using my finger. Finally for this eyeshadow look, I take a small, precise crease brush and define the outer corner and crease further with the shade Smoke, a sort of charcoal brown with a semi-matte finish. The shadows are quite pigmented and the texture is fairly solid so a light hand is definitely needed, however this consistency also ensures they wear well.

I know I'm like a broken record with my eyeliner routine so I'll breeze over this quickly, however there are two new additions to the lineup! For a night out, first I use my ColourPop Creme Gel Eyeliner Pencils in Overboard & Swerve | $5 each. They're very creamy and pigmented in texture but do set down and stay in place even on my watery eyes. Swerve is a matte black to tight-line with (ensuring the liquid liner I'll be applying later looks as solidly black as possible and to make my lashes appear fuller). Overboard is a brown-red-bronze shimmer to use on the waterline, as the tone ties in perfectly with the eyeshadow. I think I'll then be opting for my trusty Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Eyeliner in Carbon Black | £14.50. This is such an amazing, smudge-proof but pigmented formula. It has a very precise tip so is perfect for my usual winged liner look. I then like to fill in my eyebrows using the Anastasia DipBrow Pomade | £15. I have the shade Ebony (which is perfect for very dark brown hair) and apply it with a winged liner brush. You can go as 'Instagram' as you want with this product! However personally I prefer to take my time drawing in each individual hair for a more natural look. This is incredibly long-wearing so again is going to be perfect for the evening. To finish my eyes I'm going to apply a good layer of Benefit's They're Real Mascara | £19.50 | which is amazing if you love a long, separated false  lash effect. To finish off the look I then will be using the Eylure Fleur Loves Lashes | £5.25 | which are quite subtle but that's why I like them in all honesty. They're 3/4 length and blend in beautifully with my lashes when I use the Benefit mascara.

I have two options for lips and I'm not sure which one I'll end up going for! The first is the Beauty Bakerie Lip Whip in Ginger Snap | £16. I absolutely love the colour of this, a warm reddish-brown that sits midway between a brown nude and a burnt red. The formula is a little bit drying though so I'm not sure how I'd like wearing it for a long evening. The other option is the warm caramel-brown nude of the Gerard Cosmetics Hydra Matte Liquid Lipstick in Everything Nice | £11.50. I've worn this on many nights out and I know I can trust the long-wearing but non-drying formula, though even with the focus on the eyes I'm just not sure it's quite show stopping enough for a party but let me know what you think!

What kind of makeup look will you be wearing for your Christmas party (or any other festive occasion you have coming up)?

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*DISCLOSURE
PRODUCTS MARKED WITH AN ASTERISK ARE PR SAMPLES/GIFTS. 
ALL OPINIONS ARE MY OWN. 

PLEASE VISIT MY DISCLOSURE PAGE FOR MORE INFORMATION.