I absolutely love glitter and shimmer and when the festive season comes around I try to incorporate it into my looks immediately! However some people aren’t confident with glitter and shimmer products, so here are a few tips to have you sparkling this festive season!
Eyes
The easiest way to incorporate glitter into your look is to use it in your eye make up. There are countless products out there with glitter and shimmer in them – sometimes we find it hard to get matte eye products these days! Here are a few of my favourite glittery eye products and how to use them.
MAC Reflects Pearl and Make Up Forever Diamond Powder in 15
You’re probably tired of hearing me rave about my Make Up Forever Diamond Powder but it is a great product if you’re looking to add a bit of glitter to your eye make up. The glitter is very fine and can be applied on top of your eyeshadows for that extra special sparkle. MAC Reflects glitters are very similar. The one pictured is Reflects Pearl from a MAC gift set I believe. I wear it over a grey smoky eye and it looks amazing. If you have not tried these products I recommend taking a look at them, you feel very special with them sparkling on your eyes!
Left to right: Benefit Lust Duster in Nugget, Barry M Dazzle Dust in 91 and Models Own Loose Powder in Mocha
When I want to add a bit of glitter to my eyes I find loose pigments are better than pressed eyeshadows, as they tend to be more glittery than shimmery. I’m not a big user of loose pigments when I don’t want to ‘dazzle’ so I usually stick to cheaper brands. I have Benefit’s Lust Duster in Nugget, which is gorgeous (and can also be used as a highlight) but the quality of the Dazzle Dust and the Models Own pigment is just as good. You can cleary see the sparkle from the photograph! Apply these like eyeshadows, and perhaps use a matte colour, or a very subtle shimmery colour, to shade the crease as you don’t want the look to be too overpowering – or look like a child who has been let loose with Dazzle Dusts!
Collection 200o Glam Crystals Dazzling Gel Liner in Funk
Urban Decay also do a glitter liner but when I’m not wearing it that often, I prefer Collection 2000′s version. Very good quality, you get a lot of glitter in a few strokes! You can wear this as a normal liner, but I prefer to wear it under my lower lashline to add that extra something festive to my Christmas eye make up. I have also gone to a party where I wore this all over the eye. It was comfortable, and it certainly made a festive statement!
Face
For the really brave, I recommend applying a little of MAC’s Reflects Pearl along the tops of your cheeks. But this is only if you really want to stand out with your make up! For most of us, we’ll prefer a bit of shimmer to real glitter on our faces this festive season.
Left to Right: Body Shop Baked to Last Blush in Petal & Body Shop Baked to Last Bronzer in Warm
I, somehow, manage to buy an enormous amount of Body Shop products. I think it’s because there is always a discount code or sale on, which is amazing! I bought these products in the summer on a Buy One Get One Half Price offer and I certainly don’t regret it! Both products contain quite a lot of shimmer (you can almost see it radiating from the picture!) but they give your face a wonderful glow and I used them constantly in the summer months (thought not both together!). In the winter I find they warm up my face just enough and make me look slightly healthier (I’m Scottish and it’s winter – it’s all I can do to stop myself from going blue!). I don’t recommend these if you are planning to wear glitter or shimmer anywhere else, but if you want to add a very subtle sparkle to your cheeks and face these are perfect and not too overpowering.
Jemma Kidd Make Up School Dual Illuminator Creme Highlighter and Shimmer Dust in Champagne
My boyfriend bought this for me for Valentine’s Day this year (well trained!) and I think it is so cute. If you’re looking for a beauty related gift this Christmas look to Jemma Kidd! This is packaged beautifully. You lift the lid to reveal a creme highlighter and a very cute mirror for touch ups on the go. Unscrew the top containing the creme highlighter to reveal a tiny powder puff and a shimmer dust. Gorgeous! The camera hasn’t quite picked up the amount of shimmer in the shimmer dust (hence the name I guess!) but it is packed with it! The creme also contains a shimmer but a slightly more subtle one. If you are wearing the shimmer dust it will literally light up your face! Definitely not one for the day time but perfect for this time of year. I will be wearing it this Christmas! I use the creme highlighter on my cupid’s bow for a subtle shimmer to make my thin lips look bigger and the dust across the tops of my cheeks for all out glamour.
Lips
When wearing glitter on the lips it is a good idea to keep the eye make up subtle and understated – so as not to have glitter overkill. This goes for most products with glitter in it but I would generally recommend either lips or eyes (cheeks and face can get away with a subtle shimmer at the same time as a glitter eye or lip). If you usually wear a subtle eye and don’t like the thought of changing that up for the holidays a glitter gloss can be an easy way to transform your look. You can even choose a shade suitable to wear over your favourite lipstick. Facekitt’s creator, Nicole, shared her favourite glitter glosses for the festive season.
Nails
If using glitter in your make up just really isn’t for you, you can still join in the festive fun by adding glitter to your nails. And if, like me, you are crazy about of festive glitter you can use glitter in an element of your make up and still get away with it on your nails!
These cute Japanese nail polishes are perfect to add some sparkle to your everyday polish. Facekitt creator Nicole reviewed these beauties for this post:
‘I bought these the day before I was going to a party, because I wanted my nails to be appropriate for the Christmas party theme. It’s very opaque with 2 coats. In the image, I have 1 coat on the entire nails, and another coat just half on the tips of my nails. The only con is that these take a little longer to dry than the usual nail polishes. The pro is that these are really affordable Japanese nail polishes, and the glitter is so shimmery, even in dim lighting, I can totally see them shinning through.’
And now for the exciting bit! The competition! For your chance to win these gorgeous nail polishes, simply go and ‘like’ the Facekitt page on Facebook: http://facebook.com/facekitt
Then, leave us a comment telling us what you do to make your nail polish last longer.
This competition is open internationally, but you must be over 18 to enter. Competition ends on the 24th of December – so get your skates on! Winner gets both nail polishes.
Writer Recommendations
Here are some other glitter products as recommended by the other Facekitt writers!
Francene – Urban Decay glitter lipsticks and the L’Oreal Glam Shine Lipglosses (check out Francene’s post on the Glam Shine Lipgloss – a great glittery addition to your lips!)
Lauren – ‘Sephora exclusively sells Urban Decay’s Super-Saturated High Gloss Lip Color’ (Check out her post on these!) The two glitter versions are Big Bang and Adrenaline – both $19. Also recommended by Lauren are the tarte LipSurgence Natural Lip Lusters.
Nicole – Recommends the Wet n Wild glitter palettes and the NYX Cream Glitter Palettes. Reviews haven’t been brilliant for them, but for the price Nicole doesn’t think you can go wrong, especially if you only intend to use them for a party.
Laila - Suggests the ‘Rags to Riches’ Dazzleglass from MAC. She says ‘Its a light purple and very pretty! (dazzleglasses are very sticky though, but…I deal with it because It looks great over Fashion Mews (L.E. Lipstick) M.A.C.’
Dunia – Thinks the silver Dazzleglass from MAC (Pleasure Paradise) is great. She says ‘It looks super silver in the tube but on the lips it is a nice glittery, a little duo-chrome, color.’
I hope you have enjoyed this post and will now be getting glammed up and glittery this Christmas and New Year! Please tell me your favourite glitter/shimmer products below, I’m always looking to add some to my collection!
You must log in to post a comment.