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For months now we have been in a cautious cycle of “clean girl makeup” (hold for yawns), but as the year comes to a close, there’s a new sparkle in the night. The holidays are “the perfect time to have fun with makeup,” says makeup artist Fulvia Farolfi, who dreamed up five glimmering beauty looks on model Yasmin Wijnaldum for Allure’s recent holiday-makeup shoot.
We are reaching for all that glitters — and that goes well beyond shades of gold. We are bedazzling every inch of the canvas that is our face, including brows, and doing so in graphic shapes. We are modernizing punk-rock glam to be fiercer than ever. And we are certain that these five daring looks by Farolfi will catch the light at every party.
This is not the time to be subtle. Color outside of the lines in metallic shadow from your lids to your brows. Along the top and bottom lash lines and over the lids, Farolfi applied an ivory metallic shadow (try the sparkly options in the Byredo Self Illusion Eyeshadow Palette) and then freestyled a crescent-moon shape in a silver pigment. The Danessa Myricks Colorfix Multiuse Pigment in Platinum is a perfectly striking shade when you want to channel your inner rock star and re-create this eye-catching design.
Much like a piercing strobe light on the dance floor, an electric swipe of neon blush has a way of directing all attention to you. Going beyond the apples of the cheeks, Farolfi applied MAC Pigment in Rose (a vivid fuschia) in a diagonal stripe across cheekbones, followed by a layer of Chanel powder blush in Rose Initial along the edges for a more diffused look. “I wanted to create a punk look without making it too harsh,” says Farolfi. For even more of a wow factor, she dabbed Make Up For Ever Star Lit Diamond Powder just above the blush.
These heavy-metal pigments and glimmering powders are bringing back drama that requires precision and strategic blending, which only makeup brushes can properly execute. As Farolfi tells us while reminiscing about creating these bold looks for Allure, “I didn’t use my fingers.” (Honestly, though, we can’t promise we won’t do a little blending here and there with our fingertips.)
When it comes to shimmer, more is more, which is why frosted lips and radiant skin are necessary. We love a swipe of Pat McGrath Lust Gloss in Astral Moon Flower for a high-shine finish.
Glazed everything — including lips, nails, and lids — was this year’s biggest beauty trend. But when it comes to a reflective complexion, hydrating and brightening serums are merely the foundation for this level of iridescence. Farolfi enhanced dewy skin by applying Make Up For Ever Star Lit Diamond Powder in all the right places: bridge of the nose, high points of the cheeks, even over the chin and forehead.
To take things up another notch and simultaneously add an unexpected edge, Farolfi defined the brows by dipping a lip brush in black diamond powder and concentrating this on the front of the arches. She used the same pigment to emphasize the inner corners of the eyes.
Try KVD Beauty Dazzle Flakes Vegan Metallic Eye Pigment, a shimmery inky pigment, to add just the right amount of dimension and twinkle to the eyes. A slick of lip gloss (we love Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb Ice Cooling Lip Luminizer) completes the look, while letting your skin be the star.
Bleached eyebrows may be the cool-girl way to make a statement on runways and red carpets, but it’s a commitment. If you’re not willing to permanently lighten your brows, consider embellishing them in shimmer. The effect looks just as shocking (in the best way), but washes off easily at the end of the day.
To get shine like a disco ball, Farolfi swiped on a coat of Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream Instensive Lip Repair Balm (the sticky texture acts as an adhesive), before tracing silver pigment along the natural shape of brows. In place of brow pencil or pomade, we suggest Rabanne Pure Metals Multi-use Powder for gilded arches.
Like a shiny red bow atop a neatly wrapped present, a striking crimson lip is the ultimate accessory for glistening skin. (For a glint of shimmer, add liquid highlighting drops, like Westman Atelier Liquid Illumination Drops, to your foundation.) And when you add a swipe of clear gloss on top of the powerful shade — as Farolfi did here — it really pops. One layer of Glossier Glassy High-Shine Lip Gloss makes even the most matte lipstick gleam.
Farolfi reached for Chanel 31 Le Rouge Lipstick in Rouge Premier. If you are still searching for your signature red, makeup artists suggest a blue-based hue like MAC Retro Matte Lipstick in Ruby Woo, which is near universal. For extra, extra (extra!) shine, we suggest Dior’s limited-edition Rouge Dior Liquid Lipstick. As you press your lips together, the formula shifts into a blinged-out glittery finish.
Because skin doesn’t stop at your face, the glow doesn’t either. On exposed areas (such as your shoulders and décolletage in that one-shoulder party dress you’ve been waiting to wear), keep the look alive and sparkling by massaging on a bit of body shimmer. Maison Francis Kurkdjian Baccarat Rouge 540 Sparkling Body Oil adds both an angelic shimmer and a heavenly amber scent. Prefer a cream? Fenty Skin Butta Drop Warm Cinnamon Shimmering Whipped Oil Body Cream will get you glowing, plus it’s infused with a spicy cinnamon aroma that doubles as fragrance.
Photographer: Jai Odell
Stylist: Ronald Burton
Hair: Tsuki
Makeup: Fulvia Farolfi
Nails: Noriko Yamanaka
Model: Yasmin Wijnaldum
Production: Lola Production
