Hello everyone and Happy Saturday! I wanted to get a post up earlier this week, but the spring semester just started and I am still trying to figure out how to balance a 21 credit schedule + research with everything else going on in my life (I’m literally already late on an assignment and it’s week 1 – help me).

Anyway ❤︎! I wanted to make a post about colorful makeup this week, because I know that I really love bright colors in my looks, but they can be really off-putting to a lot of makeup wearers, especially beginners. Colorful makeup can glam up a look and take it to the next level, but it can also make you look like a clown or a little kid playing dress up if you are not too careful.

In this blog post, I’m going to offer some ideas and suggestions on how you can add pops of color to your look in ways that make it look really easy and effortless, without going overboard! I am going to start off with the most subtle ways, leading up to the most impactful ways!

Nail Polish

Not necessarily makeup related, but still in the realm of beauty – I think the easiest way to add a pop of color to your look is to branch out with your nails. Before I started studying geology, I used to get my nails done all the time. I loved to really go over the top with my nails, getting little gems and designs and even acrylic bows put on them!

Next time you’re doing your nails, reach for a neon or even a pastel, and if you can’t bring yourself to paint all your nails, then try just painting your ring finger for a little pop. You can also maybe just add a colorful glitter top coat over a neutral color like black or white.

(Funky Fingers are available from Five Below!)

Lip Gloss

The reason I am specifying lip gloss over all other lip products is because of their easiness and subtleness. If you’re looking to add color to a look, this is a great way for just a hint of it. Lip glosses tend to not be very opaque, and therefore you could rock a bold color while still appearing “wearable” (don’t like that word, wear what you want ya know?) with your natural lip color shining through. You can throw a gloss over bare lips, or lipsticks/liners for more of an impact.

For this tip I recommend sticking with glosses that are still somewhat “natural” looking like pinks, corals, and purples. You could also go with a clear gloss with a colorful shift or glitter as well!

Eyeliner & Mascara

This one is really simple, just swap out a black/brown eyeliner and mascara for a colored one! I started out using colors that were close to black, like a navy blue or deep forest green to bring out the theme of a look, that way it doesn’t look too far away from “normal”. For a more powerful look, though, try doing a winged liner in a fun, bright color (you can even use eyeshadow and an angled brush for this), or run a bright color over your waterline to finish a look. Colourpop makes some great liners for this!

Glitter

Before you panic – I know glitter can be extreme, but I think glitter can be worn in very subtle and impactful ways without looking like you just stepped out of a rave. Here are just a few tips!

• Pop some glitter just in the inner corners of your eye look for both a pop of color and a highlight.
• Using a glitter glue as a base, pat a glittery eyeshadow all over the lid then throw on some mascara, eyeliner, and a neutral lip!
• Add a loose glitter over your lid color with a wet brush or glitter glue, or even over a lipstick/gloss (make sure it is cosmetic grade glitter).
• Use a wet glitter an as eyeliner, or to trace along on top or bottom of an existing eyeliner wing.

Highlighter

Highlighting, even with neutral colors, has such a wow factor. When you highlight, you are strategically applying product in ways that emphasize and draw attention to certain features, typically your cheekbones, brow bone, the inner corners of your eyes, nose, and above the lips on the cupids bow. A trend that is especially popular right now is duochrome highlighters, which I especially am loving!

Duochrome highlighters have a color shift, typically with a neutral base (duo = two colors). This means that as you move, the color that the highlighter is shifting is going to shine through. While some might shift gold or peach, colors that compliment your natural undertones, many new highlighters are shifting blue, green, purple etc, which gives you a sort of “out of this world… literally I might be an extraterrestrial” kind of feel (but in the best possible way!).

If you’re looking to go this route with your pop of color, try using a duochrome highlighter that shifts to a color already present in your look or outfit, that way everything ties together! If you’re rocking a neutral eye, go for a gold shift, if you’re going for purple then add a purple shift etc. This way everything ties together without looking random or excessive.

Eyeshadow

This entire post was inspired by a conversation I had with my best friend as I was saying how I think every makeup lover should own a neutral eyeshadow palette, a smoky eyeshadow palette, and a colorful eyeshadow palette, to which Anthony responded that he wanted to try wearing colorful eyeshadows but didn’t know how.

I definitely think that colorful eyeshadow can be really scary, but once you dip your toes into the water you’ll finding yourself jumping right in in no time!

The palette I’m showing above is the Dreamworks Trolls Palette from Pur Cosmetics, which I think perfectly demonstrates the first way I recommend trying colorful eyeshadows: grab a palette with pops of color built in. This way, you know the colors will go together with the neutrals they are paired with, because there was a theme already built in for you. The easiest way to use them would be as an all-over lid color, but I also like to do a neutral eye then smudge a bright color along the lower lash line for a small but loud statement. You could also put a bright color in the crease and smudged on the lower lash line with a neutral lid color, for a sort of “radiating” effect.

Of coarse, you could also do a full colorful look with bright colors in the crease and lid, but this might take some practice just to figure out how certain colors pair together. To start off with a full look, trying sticking to shades of the same color family, like a full purple look or a full green look with just combined hues, then work your way up to mixing different color families together. Try pairing two different shades as upper and lower lid colors, for example, to start with.

Honestly, just practice! Create different looks before taking a shower or your nighttime skincare routine so you know that even if you mess up, it’s coming right off anyway. If you typically like rusty browns, try adding a pop of red to really bring out those colors, or if you like things smoky and grey, try maybe a blue or purple to compliment a dark look.

Lipstick

The reason I picked lipstick as my most EXTREME way to wear color is because of how turned off I think people get from colorful lipsticks. They really command attention, and can change an entire look with one swipe. This is so often where you are going to hear the word “wearable” in a makeup review, because the idea of a green lipstick can come off very extreme and is considered to be reserved for the strange and unusual (“I myself am strange and unusual”).

I do think, though, that this attitude is changing with so many mainstream and drugstore brands offering colorful lip options, like the Nyx Liquid Suede lipsticks shown above. If you really want to make a colorful statement, try doing a full neutral “no-makeup makeup” look with a bright, colorful lip. If you want to do something wilder for a night out or party, pair a bold lip with a smoky eye (very instagram!).

If the bright blues and purples scare you, try a taupe or a burgundy which, while still different, is closer to the lip colors we are used to and work your way up to the neons! If the brightness is what is too much for you, stay with colors that are dark and vampy. Play with finishes too, maybe a metallic might appeal to your more than a matte, or vise versa. Soon, you might even see yourself with glittery eyes and blue lips, who knows!

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Anyway, as always I hope this post was helpful in some way, and maybe inspired you to try some new things with your everyday makeup look. Remember, makeup should be fun and empowering, so try not to worry about what people might think if you try any of the above tips, and focus more on how it makes you feel! Love you guys and thank you to everyone who takes the time to support me, and have a great rest of the weekend!

-Lacie ❤︎❤︎❤︎