Holiday Makeup Tutorial Feat. Essence

We’re so excited to partner with essence makeup once again! Today, we’re going to be doing a holiday makeup tutorial for you using some essence products that we’ve been testing and loving. This look is perfect for a holiday party or even Christmas Eve spent with loved ones. We didn’t get too crazy with the eyeshadow or eyeliner, we wanted to do a very wearable smokey eye paired with a fun lip. We think you’ll love this look and we hope you re-create it this holiday season!

Let’s start with eyeshadow! Today we’re going to be using the All About Roses eyeshadow palette from essence. This palette is filled with rose and taupe tones in a mix of matte and shimmer finishes.

Step 1: Use a flat eyeshadow brush to apply the matte cream shade all over your eyelid. This shade is actually found in the lower left-hand corner of the palette, I’m not sure why I had my brush in the top left corner shade in the photo! I do this step first to get rid of any tackiness that may be on my eyelid from foundation or concealer. All of the eyeshadows will go on better if you do this so don’t skip this step!Step 2: Since this is a holiday look, we want it to be pretty bold. Before we go in with the deeper colors we need to lay down what is commonly referred to as a transition shade. This is a lighter matte shade you can put in your crease (eye socket) to help blend the darker shade that will go under it.

Using a fluffy crease brush, apply the matte taupe shade (bottom row, 2nd from the right) into your eye socket/crease. You don’t have to be precise with this shade but don’t put it all over your eyelid.Step 3: Now it’s time to darken the crease. We want to add definition to the crease to make the eyes really pop. To do that, we’re going to apply the deepest matte shade into the crease. (bottom row, all the way to the right). For this shade, use a crease brush that is slightly smaller and less fluffy than the one you used to apply the shade in step 2.Step 4: Time to add a color all over our lid! When I first saw this palette, I immediately knew I wanted to layer two shades on the lid.  The two shade in the center of the top row just looked like they’d be beautifully layered and I was right.

The first shade we’re going to lay down is the dark shimmering taupe found on the top row, 2nd in from the right. Use a flat eyeshadow brush to brush this all over your lid.Step 5: Next, use your finger to apply the light taupe purple shimmer (top row, 2nd in from the left) to the center of your lid. Try to concentrate this color in the middle of your eye. Doing this will make the shade pop more since it’s the lightest part of the lid.Step 6: When doing deeper looks, it’s important to put some color under your lower lashline to balance the eye look. Dip a pencil brush into the shade second from the right in the bottom row and apply that under your lower lashline. Feel free to build up the color until you feel it’s deep enough to pull the look together!Step 7: Time to highlight the inner corner of the eye. This step is essential for this look since it really just brightens the entire eye area and makes the eyes just sparkle. Instead of using a brush, I used my pinky finger and dipped into the bright white shimmer shade in the top left corner and applied it to the inner corners of my eyes. You can also use a pencil brush but with the glitter in this shade, I found I get the most impact with my finger.Step 8: To define the eyes more, we’re going to apply the essence Superfine Eyeliner Pen to the top of the lashline. Try to get as close to the lashline as possible so the liner looks more natural and not super bold. This liner is a felt tip that is super black. It went on very easily and dried fast. We love it!Step 9: Since we started wearing makeup, mascara has been our favorite product. It’s just amazing what it can do to your lashes! Today, we’re using the Essence Lash Princess False Lash Effect Mascara and it’s amazing! It does an awesome job of defining every lash and it’s so black which makes it perfect for more dramatic looks.Step 10: Time to apply blush! This essence Satin Touch Blush (in 10 Satin Coral) is pretty pigmented so we suggest using a fluffier brush to apply it to the cheeks.Step 11: Most holiday looks always include a red lip but we wanted to switch out the classic red for a deep berry. We decided to go with essence’s Matt Matt Matt lipstick in shade 07, Purple Power. This shade is stunning because even though it’s a berry hue, it has a good amount of pink in it which really just brightens the face.

These essence lipsticks, in general, are some of our favs. They’re so creamy but last awhile on the lips. They also have this amazing fruity smell to them!Here’s the finished look using some of our favorite essence products! Side note: we’ve raved about the essence Pure NUDE Highlighter before and if you’re going to buy one product from essence, that one is our all-time fav!  Use our code ‘BRITTA&CARLI20’ on the essence website to save 20% off!This post is sponsored by essence and Her Campus Media. All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make Twinspiration possible!