How To Still Look Gorgeous On Christmas Day

All women know that there are two types of people who celebrate Christmas in this country: people who run to every relative's house within a 3 hour driving distance on Christmas Day, and people who are determined to spend the entire day at home with their immediate family (and, somehow, succeed). Here's two makeup looks for both types of women... We'll start with the first one, for the lady-on-the-go all day on Christmas.

By the way, yes, the photo is me. Last Christmas. My hair only looks that gorgeously curly because I'd had it curled for Christmas Eve service the night before... unfortunately this tutorial does not include the steps needed to wake up from a night's beauty sleep with stellar curls like that.


(However, this lovely lady has a FANTASTIC tutorial for how to do it... yes I've tried it, and yes it works! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FV-YO46E8Y)

Anyway...

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1) Every great structure starts with a great foundation, and I'm not talking about the skin colored stuff you put on your skin. Even before that part, if you want your makeup to hold all day, you need to properly prepare your skin.

• Start with a moisturizer that's good for your skin type. If your skin is dry and blotchy in winter like most people, try mark.'s Calm & Composed ($18). If you're still an oil slick even though the air is drier than the desert, use mark.'s Matte Chance ($18).
• Once the moisturizer has totally "settled" into your skin (I'd wait 10-15 minutes), apply a makeup primer all over your face. I'd recommend mark.'s "Primed For Perfection." ($10)
• To make sure your eye makeup stays put all day, use an eye primer on your lids and up to the browbone that blends with your skin tone. Try mark.'s "Please Hold" ($8).

2) Now comes the literal foundation. Making your skin look flawless and have it last all day can be a challenge but with the right products it is entirely possible!

• Grab a foundation brush and apply a cream foundation to your entire face. Start at the center and brush outward, blending into your ears and down into the neck. Min-A-Real from mark. is excellent because it has all the benefits of a mineral foundation but in a cream formula.
• To conceal, use a lightweight liquid concealer on any blemishes and blend under the eyes. A little goes a long way here - don't want the under-eyes to look cakey! Use a concealer brush and try mark.'s "Conceal For Real." ($6.50)
• The most important step to making your foundation last all day is setting it - for a serious heavy-duty set, use a powder foundation on top of the cream foundation. Use a powder brush to tap it on lightly over your whole face to make sure the makeup doesn't move. (Powder Buff from mark. is excellent for $12.)
• Lastly, to add a nice flush to your cheeks, use a blush that compliments your skin tone. A nice neutral would be mark.'s "Good Glowing Cameo Glo" ($8).

3)  Your eyes are usually the most intricate part of any makeup job but try to keep it simple for this job. A light shimmery look with some depth will look great and last all day - plus won't make you look like a raccoon in family photos.

• Use a shimmering silver shadow to highlight your browbone. An eyeshadow brush with densely packed bristles will get a lot of shadow so you won't have to apply ten layers. For the color, try mark.'s "i-mark metallic" in shade "Moonshine." ($6)
• To keep with the shimmering look use a shimmering light pinky-peach on your lid. mark.'s "i-mark metallic" in shade "Sugar Sugar" is perfect.
• To finish it off and give the look some depth, use a medium brown shimmering color in the crease of your eye. The shade "Truffle" in another "i-mark metallic" looks very rich.
• Liner is always important for opening up your eyes and making you look alert and awake (even if you aren't.) A soft brown pencil liner should do fine - waterproof so if you shed a tear at an especially touching Christmas movie, it won't go anywhere! mark.'s "No Place To Run" liner in "Foxy Brown" ($8) is easy to apply and is completely smugde-and-budge-proof.
• Last step for the eyes (and another method for making them "open") is mascara. Use a really nice volumizing mascara and apply a few layers to make sure your eyes stay looking dramatic all day. "Lash All You Want" ($10) in either black or brown from mark. will be great for this.

4) Last but not least, your lips - possibly the easiest part of the whole process. You'll be talking, drinking and likely eating all day and you want something that won't go anywhere.

• Use a natural looking lipstain that gives your lips some color and evens them out. Keep it with you in case you do have to reapply after several hours - but it shouldn't be nearly as often as if it were a regular lipstick or gloss. "Gloss Gorgeous" ($10) from mark. is excellent - my favorite shade is "Bare."

Now that you know how to get a seriously heavy duty makeup job, let's look at the one for the family mom who just wants to make sure she doesn't have horrific looking fresh-out-of-bed skin in the photos from Christmas morning...


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1) Obviously, this one is going to have a lot less steps. However, you still need to start with a good foundation. This time though, instead of about eight steps, there's just one.

• Apply a tinted moisturizer all over your face to minimize redness and even skintone. It moisturizes your skin while providing a light coverage also - a perfect all-in-one. "Get A Tint" from mark. is excellent. ($10)
• If your undereye circles are terribly noticeable, apply a concealer lightly under your eyes. "Conceal For Real" ($6.50) from mark. would be perfect.

2) You'll still want to lighten and open your eyes, so there's just two steps you'll need to do there...

• Apply a light shimmering eyeshadow all over your lid and into the crease to brighten up your eyes. "Sugar Sugar" which is an i-mark metallic from mark. ($6) is perfect.
• Apply a coat of a volumizing mascara to top lashes (and lower lashes if desired) to open them up. "Lash All You Want" from mark. in black or brown ($10) is great.

3) Finish the look off with a quick and neutral lip gloss. Use one that isn't sticky and that has a good taste to it (for when you give your hubby a kiss for that extra special present he buys you!) "Glow Baby Glow" from mark. in the "Smooches" shade is perfectly neutral and even tastes like mint!

So there you have it - two distinctly different makeup looks for two very different types of days. Let me know how they work for you!