Festive faces

Festive faces

The holiday season is just a heartbeat away and what better way to get in the mood than to play with brightly coloured make-up

SOCIAL & LIFESTYLE
Festive faces

Doesn't time just fly? We were just writing down New Year resolutions a while ago and suddenly December comes knocking once again. Christmas trees are up and festive music is in the air. Why not jump on the bandwagon and get into the spirit by changing your make-up to match the season of joy and goodwill?

PHOTO: THE FACE SHOP

This year is all about fresh, vibrant colours, sparkle and shimmer, and a touch of over-the-top difference from what you usually look like throughout the year. It's time to shake off the old leaves and embrace something new in anticipation of New Year.

Nothing spells Christmas like a deep red colour. Think Santa Claus. Think Starbucks' seasonal paper cups. Think berry-stained lips. To achieve that effect, prep your lips with a colourless lip balm. Pick your favourite shade of red and gently pat it onto your lips with the tips of your fingers, or cotton buds if you don't want to get your hands messy. Rub the upper and lower lips together to smudge it some more.

The key is to make it look like a natural smudge with the focal point being on the centre of the lips.

With the lips outstanding already, perhaps you shouldn't overdo the eyes with, say, bright green eyeshadow, because you are not wrapping paper. You are still allowed to have fun with the eye colours, but pick something not too vibrant, or it will clash with the bold lips. A bit of shimmer is fine, but overloading on glitter is not.

But if you're going for natural, lightly coloured lips, the eyes can be as wild as you want. It can be a lot of fun mixing two colours together, one applied from the inner corner of the eye to the centre, and the other from the centre to the outer corner. Blend the middle area to create that beautifully fused colour. A combination of yellow and purple gives you a golden brown. Pink and blue results in a sort of lilac. It is better to mix shimmery eyeshadows as they reflect the light, so the fused area looks more blended, especially when taking photos. Matte colours are trickier to blend together.

Don't forget to give the cheeks a warm rosy glow. Choose a colour that looks closest to how your cheeks look when you are blushing. Asian skin has yellow undertones, so peachy pink is more flattering than Barbie pink.

This being the festive season, it is perfectly excusable to step out of your comfort zone and try something quirky. Do not hesitate to do the don't, because make-up is all about experimenting with different things. Who knows? You might look good in the look that magazines say you shouldn't try.

Mix two contrasting shades of shimmery eye colours together —purple with golden yellow, or pink with blue, to make the eyes stand out.

The Face Shop Lovely Me: EX Pastel Cushion Blusher comes in four funky colours to perk up your face with rosy cheeks.

Shiseido Maquillage True Rouge Lip Palette in the Aura Veil Collection gives beautiful berry-stained lips.

Avon Holiday Palette packs eight vibrant colours of eyeshadow and two shades of cheek colour to create different looks for every mood.


Adding new bounce

Clinique's Repairwear Uplifting SPF15/PA++ Firming Cream is formulated with ingredients specially selected to help visibly firm, volumise and restore skin texture as well as protect skin against photo damage. Skin achieves an immediate firming sensation upon application and with continued use skin begins to look "weightless" as the formula fights the long-term effects of gravity by helping to restore youthful volume.

Lifesaving scents

Oriental Princess invites women to wear fragrances that are more meaningful than just pleasing scents. Introducing LIFE Limited Edition, the new collection is inspired by the brand's philosophy to treat all lives equally, so animals are never victims of any test by the brand. The name of this limited edition, LIFE, is an acronym of the four fragrance sets in the collection, which captures adorable characters of four little species widely used in laboratory tests elsewhere, namely duckling (Lively), dog (Inspire), rodent (Fulfill) and cat (Enjoy). Each set is comprised of three products - Blissful Body Moisturiser, Smiley Bubble Bath and SPF 16 Happy Hand Cream.

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