How to Achieve a Sophisticated Holiday Glow (And Have Fun)

The holidays are a mixed bag of chips.

For many of you, it is in fact the most wonderful time of the year. You display every holiday decoration imaginable while wearing your reindeer antlers, ugly red Christmas sweater, and bright green holly earrings. Oh, yes, and Bing Crosby is playing in the background.

Others prefer a modified version of the Holidays. You suggest everyone draw a name for gift giving, plan a nice family meal where everyone brings something, and maybe hot chocolate with pumpkin pie to top it all off and call it good.

Then there is the “how can I possibly avoid this at all costs” type. Full disclosure, I fall into this category. One year, I attended a 10-day silent Vipassana Meditation Retreat during Christmas. It is to date my favorite holiday memory. (I know that sounds awful, sorry.)

Or perhaps you find yourself alone during the holidays, and it is painful. Maybe you didn’t choose to be alone, it’s just how things worked out. After some thought, you’ve decided that your goal this year is to feel good in a myriad of legal and (relatively) healthy ways.

Where does makeup come into all of this? Who cares about looking sophisticated? I don’t know about you, but in my normal life I sort of flop about looking relatively okay but nothing too serious. Once in a while, it feels absolutely fabulous to be glamorous. It shocks people. It makes me laugh and feel like a glorious diva even though that’s not reality.

Tossing Reality, Eating Pie

Let’s toss reality out of the window for a moment, grab glitter and pie, and learn how to look like an illustrious ballet dancer turned holiday maven. Our model is Pascal, who was in fact a professional ballet dancer in Canada, turned scrub-the-dishes mom and wife. To say she dug this process is an understatement. At the end of the video, she shows off her dancing skill at the local plaza’s Christmas tree, and we didn’t even get flagged by the cops.

Hydrate, Hydrate (Take a Bite of Pie)

I promise not to get on my soap-box about skin care, but the truth is, beautiful skin is 80% internal and 20% external. Take Omega 3-6-9 oils, vitamin C, E, D, A, and B, drink spring water, and avoid anything that doesn’t come from the earth. Okay, I’ve said it, now have a bite of pie.

For topical creams, I’m currently in love with Finlay + Green’s Moisturizer for all stages of menopause. It is specifically for mature women and it works. It also makes a wonderful base for foundation which is our next step. Let’s go there.

Foundation + Concealer + Contour (Start a New Piece of Pie)

I’m a fan of sheer to medium coverage foundation applied only where you need it, and then concealer on the bits the foundation didn’t minimize. Notice I didn’t say the bits the foundation didn’t cover, because sometimes trying to cover that age spot or redness makes it look more pronounced. If the goal is to minimize the so-called offender, it’s a lot more natural looking.

Contour is a funny business. It can look rad or ruinous depending on how well you blend it. I use circular motions with a stiff blender brush and check it in the daylight to be sure I didn’t bungle it up, because even the pros struggle with this part.

Eyebrows, Cream Shadow, and Pecan Pie

I have a thing for pecan pie. One time I sat down and ate an entire pecan pie by myself and hoped my husband didn’t notice. He did and called me a beluga whale. We are no longer married. What’s your favorite pie and did it cause your divorce as well?

Anyway, back to makeup and the all-important eyebrows. For every woman who sits in my chair, I pull out the PrimePrometics PrimeBrow Complete. It has a brow growth gel on one end and a colored gel on the other. It gives a wonderful lift, and I can’t live without it.

Then I applied a bronze eyeshadow called Nebula all over Pascal’s eyelid and under her eye. It’s creamy and easy to apply, doesn’t crease, and lasts all day at the Christmas party no matter how much eggnog you inhale. After that, I used a maroon power shadow on the lash line and in the outer crease. This really enhanced Pascal’s green eyes and gave her a more dramatic but soft look. Love it.

Lashes That Rock, Liner That Blends

How many of you in frustration have slammed an eyeliner in the trash along with a few choice words? I know, my potty mouth takes over sometimes, too. Having said that, this happens because we need a liner that is blendable on mature skin.

In the video, I used a warm brown, water repellent, blendable liner from (again) PrimePrometics. I really like this brand, if you haven’t noticed. It doesn’t make you look like a badger and stays on. Say no more.

Do you have thinning lashes? Hate false lashes? Join the club. On Pascal I used a lash primer and a thickening mascara that does wonders. Yes, it is two steps, but the combination is magical and the result undeniable.

Finish the Pie, Go for the Red

Do you inadvertently spit up with the idea of red lipstick? Pascal did, too, and we had to talk about it. Many of you can wear red lipstick if you mix it with a lip gloss. Here’s the plan; put foundation and powder on your lips, lipliner a little outside the lip-line, then the red lipstick/gloss mix on top. The color is less likely to bleed, stays on longer, and is pretty without frightening anyone.

With Pascal’s dramatic eye-makeup, the sheer red lips are pulchritudinous (I don’t know what that means but it makes me feel smart) and flashy.

With all of that said, put on your dancing shoes and leap gloriously around the Christmas tree like Pascal in the video. Oh, yes, and eat pie. Lots of it. If the spouse/partner/family complains, ditch them.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

How will you celebrate the holidays? What are your challenges and moments you are looking forward to? How will you glam up your pulchritudinous self?