Your Shimmeriest, Glitteriest Holiday Beauty Looks

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I don’t know who made the rule that we can only wear shimmery makeup during the holidays, but they lied to you. You shine on anytime, you crazy diamond.

That being said, there's still that unspoken rule about saving your most glam looks for the holiday season. Fine, I’ll play along. Just remember that you can still wear glitter liner to the beach or whatever. You can do whatever you want.

For nail sparkle you won't regret in the New Year:

Nothing is more festive (and glamorous) than glitter polish. But, the ugly truth is that glitter polish is more trouble than it’s worth. Achieving full coverage with glitter is a huge pain, and getting it off is a special kind of torture. All those tricks about you’ve heard about removing glitter polish? NONE OF THEM WORK.

But thankfully, ncLA has come through for us just in time for the holidays. Their new Opulence collection ($18) looks just like glitter polish, but applies and removes with the ease of a wrap. Available in six colors, they look and feel just like real lacquer without leaving you scrubbing your nails with acetone for an hour (I’m not exaggerating) when you finally want to remove them. They’re genius, I don’t know why we didn’t think of this before. Plus, each set includes 26 wraps! How many fingers do we have? I don’t even know, but that’s definitely enough for at least two full manicures.

For coverage that matches you better than Aunt Joan's present:

The Cover FX Custom Cover Drops ($44) are straight pigments that turn your favorite skincare product — from moisturizer, primer, face oil, to anything in between — into a custom foundation. One drop evens tone and gives you sheer tint of color, four drops will give you full coverage. Finding the right base can be difficult to do, when you’ve got so many things (shade, undertone, wear, finish, etc) to consider. These allow you to pick a product that already works for you and create a custom shade for yourself.

It’s hard enough to find the right products to protect your skin in the cold winter months, then layer makeup on top of them and hoping everything stays put throughout the day. Why not just make your favorite moisturizer work overtime as your foundation? Problem solved.

The Custom Cover Drops are available in 25 shades from light to deep, deeper than any drugstore foundation you’re going to find.

For a subtle shimmer that says "I’m gonna meet your parents":

I hate eyeshadow and I’m bad at it. However, these Butter London's double-ended shadow sticks ($20) are fool-proof and more importantly, gorgeous. On one end, you’ll find a dark, matte shadow in either black or deep jewel tones, and on the other, a highlighter in a range of shimmery champagnes. They’re easy to apply and blend out beautifully. The darks make for a great, easy smoky eye, the champagnes create a beautiful shimmery lid, and they look great when combined! My faves are Night Shift, a matte black and a champagney gold, or Posh Paradise, a deep purple with a shimmery lavender.

For bold eyes that say "I’m gonna take your man":

Charlotte Tilbury’s Nocturnal Cat Eyes To Hypnotise ($39) is a liner and shadow set, and it is stunning. The mini kohl pencil is great, but the real star here is the matching Nocturnal Cat Eyeshadow. It’s richly pigmented to really black out your eye sockets, and packed — and I mean packed — with a high shine shimmer. Bonus: the glitter won’t fall from your lid onto your face throughout the day (but you’d be smart to use a primer anyway). The inky shadow paired with the high shine shimmer makes for an incredible duo that’s sure to turn some heads.

For lips that will outlive the mistletoe:

A strong lip for the holidays is an obvious choice, and it’s an easy way to trick everyone into thinking you’ve got your whole face done, even if you’re just wearing lipstick and mascara. Everyone has got their one product that they swear by when they need their lip to last through all of the eating and drinking (and kissing.) ColourPop Ultra Matte Liquid Lipstick ($6) is mine.

I’m a huge fan of liquid lipsticks because of their pigmentation and stay power, and ColourPop gives you an amazing formula, a huge range of colors, and a price point you can’t beat. Whether you need a classic red for a holiday party or want to experiment with a dark lip without dropping $30 on a color you might end up hating, you can’t go wrong with ColourPop. Last weekend, I wore Jellies, a royal blue, to a friend’s birthday party and the color stayed perfect from dinner until last call.

For highlighter that lets you shine like a thousand tiny lights:

My own personal clutch product is a great highlighter, Smashbox's LA Lights Blendable Lip & Cheek Color in "Hollywood & Highlight" ($29). You can make yourself look more awake, your skin look brighter, and your whole look more glam with just a little product in the right places — but you already knew that.

The LA Lights Lip & Cheek color has a cream stick highlighter on one side and a sponge on the other. This is great because you can build a high-shine highlight and blend it out, without having to use your grimy fingers (we’ve all fixed our makeup in bar bathrooms, and we all wished we hadn’t). The creamy pearl product leaves behind no color, just a slick sheen that can be diffused fore a more candlelit glow, or layered for a serious shine. Different formulas give you different end results, but LA Lights is a great, middle of the road product that lets you decide just how much you want to amp it.