Holidays are around the corner, which means a lot of free time, gift-wrapping, and putting together festive outfits. I’m definitely that person in the family who’s always overdressed for every event. No matter how simple the party is, I will show up with a full glam face and a nice outfit. It’s become a part of who I am. For this holiday season, I decided to experiment with the new trendy makeup looks I’ve been seeing all over TikTok and Instagram to find out which ones are going to be my makeup looks for the upcoming holiday gatherings.
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For me, makeup is an art form and it’s a creative outlet that I’ve used since I was barely a teenager. It’s something that’s always evolving. Not only do the products and trends come and go, but your skin also changes with time, which means your makeup routine won’t look the same now as it might have a few years ago. I started by only using eyeliner for my water line and then I added mascara and concealer to my routine. Soon enough, I incorporated eyebrow pencil and bronzer. Nowadays, my everyday makeup look has way more steps than my teenage self would ever care about. This means I’ve found a recipe that works for me, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that I won’t try new stuff. This is also why I especially enjoyed doing this little challenge; because it helped me understand what I like and what are the things I need to work on more in order to perfect my technique.
Here are the trends I tried for a week:
Laminated/Soap Eyebrows
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This was a huge no for me. As you can see in the picture, this trend (or hack), consists of laminating your brows with soapーeither styling soap or your regular skincare varietyー and then filling in the gaps with an eyebrow pencil. Yeah, it was just not for me. I didn’t like the feeling of my eyebrows or how my whole face felt as if it was lifted in the worst way. I didn’t like how they looked. I think it has to do more with the shape of my eyebrows and how it’s probably not very ideal for this particular style. I’m more of an old-school girl when it comes to my eyebrows. I like to fill them in with an eyebrow pencil and set them with my trusty ABH eyebrow powder. If I’m feeling fancy or if I know I’m in for a long day, I’ll add some eyebrow gel to prevent all the product from moving. But this trend? Never again.
Clean Makeup
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As soon as I noticed this trend going viral, I instantly rolled my eyes. Back in the days, the trend was to use as many makeup products as possible. Now, the trend is to look natural, glowy, and perfect without any blemishes with as little makeup as possible. The reason why I was annoyed with this “clean” look is because, in order to achieve a look like that, you need to have clear skin first. That’s the reality check!ーespecially considering that a lot of models are using this technique nowadays and are encouraging people to try it by doing a lot of skin prep and mixing your skincare products with your makeup. Right… If you don’t have a clear face, you would need to cover the blemishes with more product, but then your face won’t look as natural as you want, hence the struggle.
However, now there are various tutorials to achieve this look even if your skin doesn’t look as perfect as the pioneers of this trend. So I decided to try it, letting go of any prejudice I had before. I used concealers that more closely resemble my skin tone to hide my acne scars and rosacea, put a little bit of tint moisturizer instead of foundation to even out any color on my face and I finally did my eyebrows and put on some brown mascara. The results were better than expected, but it’s still not my favorite makeup trend. I live for the glam! But for days where I don’t want heavy makeup and longer routines, this may work just perfectly!
Lifting Concealer
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This was another makeup trend that I didn’t like that much. Oops! I know you may be thinking “If she doesn’t like it, why did she try it?” Well, my answer is because I’m wrong… sometimes. Which means I have to try it first to give my full review. The concealer trend consists of putting concealer vertically on certain parts of your face to get that lifting face look. See… I don’t know if it’s me, but I just don’t understand this hack because my face looked exactly the same as it would look if I did my concealer like I usually do. It’s not that I hated this one, but it didn’t work out for me. So I’ll just pass this hack on for the people who actually see a difference.
“I’m Cold” Makeup
This was fun to try out, mainly because I disliked it and liked it at the same time. First of all, this trend consists of putting blush on specific placements so you look “cold!” Well, trying to look cold while on a tropical island where no matter what season it is, it’s definitely not cold but very hot, was… an experience. This “Cold Girl” makeup look was just another version of the “Sunburn” makeup look and another way of using the W blush technique. Or, at least, they’re all the same to me. I’ve never been a fan of blushー I’m Team Bronzer all the way. But because capitalism is a thing and I fell into its trap, I bought a blush stick so I’ve been using it to at least get my money’s worth . Actually, that blush stick was the inspiration for this article. As I was looking for tutorials on how to apply blush without looking like a clown, I noticed all these viral techniques and trends using a lot of blush.
Here’s the thingー my skin is quite sensitive because of all the acne treatment. I also have rosacea in my cheeks. So this is yet another reason why I don’t use blush: the makeup will eventually start to move during the day, and all the pink will start showing, so why add more pink when I’m trying to hide it away? Having said that, I can’t deny that coral tone blush looks so cute on me! So this is why I tried it. Funnily, the same day I did this makeup look, I also did it on my baby niece. Let’s just say, she looked like the most beautiful doll with her rosy cheeks. I just looked like I had allergies. But in all seriousness, I didn’t look bad. I think I need to keep practicing this one to get the perfect look.
Glitter Everywhere
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Oh yes! I wish this trend stayed forever! I love glitter so much, and especially when it’s on my eyelids. There’s not a lot to say about this except that I love it and I will continue putting all kinds of glitter on my face even if the trend goes away. There’s nothing better to elevate eye makeup than glitter. It will always work. I recently purchased my first ever Colour Pop palette, and I can’t believe I didn’t buy it before. The pressed glitter eyeshadows are to die for. The smallest amount can make you look great! This is a yes for my holiday makeup look.
Graphic Eyeliner
I’ll let you in on a secret of mine: every time there’s a party or I have to go somewhere where I have to meet new people and socialize, I wear graphic eyeliner. It’s the perfect makeup to get people to compliment you and start a conversation about makeup. It works every time like a charm! There are just too many ways to make eyeliner look good. It doesn’t have to be perfect, and you don’t have to follow any specific rules. You just draw lines and make them look pretty. It’s also so fun! It can take a lot of practice to get the hang of it, but once you do, you won’t regret all the times you had to remove the eyeliner because you made a disaster (speaking from personal experience). I have them in every color and I still want to purchase more, especially the more neutral colors for the holidays!
Siren Eyes
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Last but not least, my favorite trend of the challenge was the Siren Eye. Ironically, I hated it when I first tried it back in summer. I was in a rush and I didn’t feel great, so it came out looking like a hot mess, but I still managed to make it worse. Nevertheless, I kept trying it because, if there’s something I love about how I do my makeup, it’s my winged eyeliner. This siren eye look was technically a more elevated and glam version of my regular winged eyeliner. This makeup consists of extending your winged liner to your crease and blending it with eyeshadow. You also have to leave a space in the middle of your eyes, and then continue the eyeliner to make it look like a fox eye. The trick here is to blend everything and put some light or glitter eyeshadow in the space you left without eyeliner. It was complicated for me at first, but once I got the hang of it, I kept doing a different, more simple version for my everyday look. I just love how sultry my eyes look! This will definitely be a banger for New Years!
Trying these trends for a week was the most fun I had in a while. Makeup will always be one of my favorite art mediums, and I can only wish it’s as fun for you as it is for me. If you decide to try any of these makeup looks, I wish you the best of luck. Have fun and don’t get frustrated if you can’t get them on the first try. Sometimes practice is all you need. Other times, all you need is realizing that some things just won’t work for you and that’s perfectly fine. I can’t wait to see all the new trends in the upcoming year and how many I’ll try out!