How to win at holiday eye makeup

Your office holiday party or family get-together has been sneaking up on you for months. You have an idea of what you’re going to wear but completely freeze when it comes to figuring out your makeup. Even though you’re feeling festive and want to shake up your normal beauty routine, the infinite possibilities are seriously stressing you out. We’re here to help you figure out your holiday eye makeup.

If you’re anything like me, your inner monologue for the past few weeks has been this: Do I go super sexy and dramatic by playing up my eyes? Or should I take a subtler route with a simple liner? So many questions, so little time.

But now that the holidays are already here, you have the perfect excuse to test those glitter eye shadow palettes you stocked up on from Sephora’s year-end sale (You know, the ones that have slowly taken over your dresser). ‘Tis the season to show off your glam factor. Here are our favorite holiday eye makeup ideas!

A glitzy take on the cat eye

I want my cat eye sharp enough to cut through glass. This shimmery twist on the classic cat eye is perfect for the job. The gold is bold enough to draw attention to your eyes without being too overwhelming. Pair it with a subtler eye shadow and let your eyes do the talking.

Blend your way to the perfect smoky eye

The first time I tried blending my eye shadow, it turned into a total mess. I was going for a pink-purple-grey gradient but ended up with what looked like a black eye. After a pretty embarrassing amount of trial and error, I finally figured out what makeup gurus are born knowing. Turn your muddy look into a masterpiece by first thinking about what direction you want your shadow to go in. Having a game plan makes a huge difference. For example, starting with a lighter color first makes it much easier to blend in deeper colors later (and avoid that pesky dark spot you get from applying a darker color over your primer first). Make sure you choose colors that are either in the same family or complement each other.

Channel winter with a blue smoky eye

Switch up your usual grey and black smoky eye look for a brighter one. Blue is one of the colors that look fantastic on every skin tone. This wintery smoky eye will give everyone at your holiday party serious makeup envy. The best part is that it doesn’t even matter what your eye color is. If you blend the lighter and darker shades of blue correctly, your eyes will really pop.

Say Yes to Class Wings and Red Eye Shadow

One of the things that I love about wearing winged liner is how dramatically sexy it makes me look and feel. Whenever I’m outlining my eyes, all it takes is one flick of my wrist to feel like I have my life together. Even though winged liner may be a bit too heavy for work or school, you can soften the look by simply tracing your bottom lid with white eyeliner. Sneak in one of the biggest shades this season by pairing your liner with red eye shadow.

Go bold or go home with a glitter cut crease

This one goes out to the metallic makeup lovers. If you’re freaking out about how to look festive without overdoing it, you can’t go wrong with a glitter cut crease. This small dash of glitter will make a huge statement and play up your eyes. This is my go-to look whenever I’m getting together with family because it distracts them from asking me about my love life or needing to take my biological clock in for repairs.

Get your smolder on in rose gold

Rose gold is super trendy right now. It’s very flattering on all skin types, and gives your eyes true definition. The rosy hue brightens your eyes and erases any traces of exhaustion leftover from the night before, which is what makes it the best part of my everyday beauty routine. It also brings a level of elegance and old Hollywood glamour to your outfit.

Keep it simple and sexy with a green palette

Ring in the holidays in style with beautiful green eye shadow. While you’re dressed to the nines on New Year’s, you’ll be pulling in double duty with this breathtaking look. You’ll also get more bang for your buck since green is one of the few shades that is always in season. This is perfect for girls who aren’t ready to take the plunge into bold, metallic eyes but still want to stand out.