As we head into the New Year, it’s the perfect time to try some new makeup ideas to add a little pizzazz to your beauty routine and freshen up your look. This season’s beauty looks are bold, unexpected and make it super easy to pick and choose or mix and match your way to a brand new you. As celebrity makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury says, “Makeup can give you the confidence to achieve what you need to in life and control your own destiny. It’s a very powerful tool within a woman’s armory.” So true! Makeup is so much more about making yourself feel fabulous than look fabulous.
Your makeup should reflect your taste, personality and style. It should make you feel pulled together and ready to face the day or smolderingly sexy and armed for seduction. Most of all it should be fun. So we’ve found 12 fun, out of the box makeup ideas to try today.
1. Go Nude
Nudes and neutrals are making a subtle statement this season and they’re anything but dull. Metallic bronzes and golds, matte greys and taupes and everything in between. The key to this look is finding the right shades to highlight your skin tone and pulling it together with a strong brow. Urban Decay’s Naked line makes neutrals foolproof.
Read Related: A Latina’s Makeup Tips for the Holidays
2. Tightlining
It seems like everyone’s buzzing about tightening these days—done right, it makes your eyes look bigger without looking “made up”. This technique works best with waterproof pencil or gel eyeliner. Once you’ve mastered the art of lining your waterline and working the pigment into the base of your eyelashes, you can play with different colors. Black makes eyes pop, white or ivory on the lower lid opens them up and vivid color makes them pop.
3. Purple Pout
Purple lipstick is one of the most unexpected and unexpectedly flattering makeup trends for fall. And it won’t make you look like a 90’s goth chick—unless you want it to, of course. Once you find the right shade for your complexion, purple lipstick runs the gamut from girly pastels to vivid fuchsia to deep plum.
4. Green Eyes
Green eyeshadow is another one of those makeup ideas that sounds like a potential disaster but is actually extraordinarily versatile and wearable. Olive and khaki are gorgeous on darker complexions, while sheer pastels like mint or lime are ethereal on fair skin.
5. Vivid Colored Liner
Bold eyeliner can be super edgy, like Honor’s vivid cobalt cat-eye and Peter Som’s neon orange or ladylike and next-level simple pastel stickers at Dior—in stores now.
6. Heavy Metal
Try new ways of wearing shimmery metallic makeup. Try sheer silver shadow dusted over lids and at the inner corners of your eyes, a gilded cat-eye or burnished lips.
7. Blue Eyeshadow
Blue eyeshadow comes and goes and it still conjures up images of tacky baby blue lids from generations past. This fall’s blue shadows are pure glamour, making a statement in deep indigo, vivid cobalt and the palest pastels.
8. Babydoll Lashes
Just as statement brows are back and bolder than ever this fall, statement lashes are a fun look to try on for a new look. You can use individual false lashes or just layer on blackest black mascara. Maximize the babydoll effect (and avoid looking like a drag queen) by keeping the rest of your makeup bare and minimal. And bat those lashes!
9. Make it Multitask
If you want makeup ideas that are truly outside the box, makeup artists suggest finding ways to make your cosmetics multitask. There’s no rule that dictates lipstick must only be used on lips or eyeshadow has no place below the bridge of your nose. Metallic shadow over lip gloss creates a gorgeously glittery pout and a little gloss on your lids transforms your basic matte shadow.
10. White Out
Winter whites aren’t limited to your wardrobe. White eyeliner and shadow are a cool way to brighten your eyes and create subtle drama. Try graphic white liner or gleaming white shadow.
11. All that Glitters
Not to be confused with metallics—although there is some overlap—sparkly, glittering lips and eyes were everywhere at fashion week. Glitter should definitely play a part in your New Year’s Eve makeup ideas. Keep it sophisticated with a sheer glimmering lids or gilt accents or go glam with jewel-like violet lips.
12. Gloss
Gloss isn’t just for lips anymore. Glossy lids can go angelic or rock n’ roll depending on how pale or dark your shadow is. This is an extremely high maintenance look that’s best for getting glam for the evening. Glossy faces are generally referred to as shiny and in need of powder, but for fall’s extra dewy, natural makeup think just showered not unshowered. It’s the perfect antidote to winter’s harsh dry air.
13. Stickers
Who knew adhesive makeup and jewelry would become a style craze? Eyeliner appliqués make it possible for even the least adept with an eyeliner pencil to achieve the perfect cat-eye. Sephora has a few styles and straight off of the 2014-15 Fall-Winter runway, Dior Mirror Eyes are now available. Although they seem a bit pricey at $61 for four pairs, they’re reusable so it’s actually a bargain if you think about it.
