Holiday Makeup Tips: Highlighters, Glitters, and Sparkles

“I think the wintertime is a great time to use your highlighters, glitters, and sparkles because it’s cold and gray outside, and you want to liven up your skin a little bit,” offered Alexis Hoerres at Horton Plaza Macy’s.

I’m talking to Alexis to get some holiday makeup tips. The little tan I get in summer masks my lack of makeup savvy. In winter, there’s no hiding it. I have last year’s Christmas photos to prove it.

“I’m a huge fan of highlighters, especially in the wintertime,” Alexis continued. “In the summer, people want that beachy, summery, not-a-lot-of-makeup look, which is beautiful. But when it’s raining and cold, and you’re feeling dull and boring — that’s the best time to spruce up your face, because it’s going to make you feel prettier than you usually would.”

Where should you put the highlighter?

“On your upper cheekbone, all around up until the brow. So if you take your finger, and make a V — like a ’70s dance move — and put it right on your cheekbone, your other finger should rest right above your brow bone. That’s the best place to put on a highlighter. It brightens up your eyes, makes you look shimmery.

“We just launched a new product called Watt’s Up! It has what we call three different levels of wattage. The 25 watts is when you wear the highlighter underneath the makeup, 50 watts is wearing it on top of the makeup, and 75 watts is wearing it both underneath and on top of the makeup. It depends on how much glow you want [$30 per stick at Macy’s].”

Alexis also recommended Benefit’s “I’m Glam…Therefore I Am” makeup kit ($36 at Macy’s).

“It comes with four eye-shadows: a light champagne color, a gray, a shimmery burgundy, and a black. It also comes with our Girl Meets Pearl, which is a primer for underneath your makeup. It has light reflectors in it, a great brightener that makes you look dewy and sun-kissed — great for the wintertime when your skin is looking dull. It goes all over your face; you can even put it on top of your makeup as a highlighter. The kit also has a blush bronzer combo, a nude lip gloss, and a mascara.”

Do you have a personal favorite?

“MAC’s Russian Red lipstick [$14.50 at Nordstrom]. It is the lipstick that put MAC on the map in the ’80s. It’s the lipstick that Madonna wore in all her videos that made her super big. It is the red to end all reds.”

And don’t forget to fill in your eyebrows, Alexis cautioned. “It’s so important, especially for pictures. You have to fill in your eyebrows, otherwise you can look washed out. With a brow pencil, mascara, or an eye-shadow, you can just comb it through at the end, and it looks natural and beautiful.”

The lady at the Estee Lauder counter at Fashion Valley mall told me her favorite pick of the season was the eye-shadow cyber green ($24). “It’s a deeper green, with a little bit of gold shimmer in it, a metallic green. Because it’s a deeper color, I think it’s best to pair it with more of a nude on the lips.”

The Sephora saleslady at University Towne Centre touted the Nars Danmari All About Cheeks palette ($65). “It’s gorgeous — a collection of their best-selling, most-popular blushes: Casino, Orgasm, Super Orgasm, Desire, Hungry Heart, and Sin.

“Another item everyone is coming in for is the magnetic nail polish by Nails Inc. [$16]. It’s a metallic nail lacquer that you can make nail-art effects.”

The Sephora saleslady’s favorite pick for the holidays: “A matte-red lip is all you need. The Nars Matte lip pencil in Damned is a beautiful magenta color for a holiday, or the Cruella, a scarlet red [$24]. They are a combination lipstick and lip pencil. Matte finishes are becoming more popular because of their wearability — with all the drinking and eating, it doesn’t smear off or bleed. A red lip is loud enough — it doesn’t need to be looking dripping wet as well. It’s a little bit more low key. Any age can wear the matte-red lip, where the high glossy lip is more of a younger lip.”