Tips For Incorporating Colorful Makeup Into Your Routine
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Wearing color takes courage. There's a certain feeling that comes with wearing a bold red lip. You feel powerful, sexy, and, dare we say, untouchable? Color creates emotion, and packing it on the face feels expressive, daring, and stunning when done right. With dopamine glam on the rise, a term coined by Beyoncé's makeup artist Sir John, more people are painting fearlessly and watching how swatches of bright makeup boost their mood and confidence (via Hypebae). But aside from the massive upgrade in beauty positivity it lends, colorful makeup is simply gorgeous.
Even if your closet is jammed with black tops and bottoms, there's no denying a statement lip or a monochromatic eye. While many won't take risks in fashion, makeup offers a seemingly safer alternative. A punch lip can take your entire aesthetic from one to ten, and a colorful matte eye can look editorial even if done in your bedroom. Try these tips if you're unsure where to start incorporating fun color into your makeup.
Experiment with lip colors and textures
Lips have a way of being the statement accessory of the face. Instead of grabbing the old red lipstick in your drawer you haven't used in ages, grab a liner, a new lipstick, and a gloss — experiment with how you can create dimension with the lips using different textures and colors. Recently, Hailey Bieber made it known on Tiktok that she wears a "brownie glazed lip" by overdrawing a dark brown liner and topping it off with a sheer blush gloss. The black and brown community had a digital uproar, asserting that the classic brown-hued lip has been a longtime cultural aesthetic of theirs for decades and is just now gaining superficial clout. We love a good liner-gloss combo, but all credits due to the Cholas and 90s black supermodels for paving the lip ombré lane.
Try blush contouring
The cheeks offer a real opportunity to add color back to the face. Usually the accomplice to the eyes or lips, blush tends to play the role of background singer. However, playing with blush color can add dimension, depth, and even moving subtleties. Blush contouring, which involves sculpting the face with color placement, is a great way to experiment with color. Makeup experts at L'Oréal suggest applying a cream or liquid blush at the top of the apples and buffing the pigment up towards the cheekbones. If you want to go a step further, pick a deeper shade to use along the angled indentions of the cheeks and a lighter, more sheer shade upon the apples.
Try a monochromatic eye
The eye is probably the area of the face most accustomed to wearing color. The monochromatic eye means just taking one shade across the entire lid as a powerful affirmation of beauty. This is your chance to play with shades of blue, green, oranges, and purple. If you want to try this look, start by packing your color of choice onto the entire lid. Then take a fluffy brush and blend outwards, creating a smooth gradient that fits your eye shade. Lastly, take a pencil brush and continue to build the color around your lash line. If you're unsure what color to start with, Allure voted ColourPop's Fade Into Hue Palette Best of Beauty for its matte and shimmer shades in every color.
Apply colored gems and jewels
Pulling color into the face doesn't always have to mean matte powders or oozing liquids. Makeup gems add playfulness, dimension, and unexpected flair. Instead of opting for the usual clear crystals, take a look at the entire color spectrum of face gems. Available in every color, rhinestones don't have to be pricy and unattainable Swarovski crystals. These adhesive gems available on Amazon come in nearly every shade and can be the perfect touch to elevate any look. Think Euphoria rhinestone wings and jeweled eye ducts.
Pick up eye pencils
A colorful eye can be as easy as picking a colored eye pencil. The world of eyeliner shades is just as infinite and diverse as eyeshadow. There are shimmers, metallics, mattes, and liquids. When Halsey debuted her beauty brand About-Face, no one could predict how innovative her products would be in such a saturated market. Focused on bold gender-fluid color-blocking, her eyeliner line also received Allure's Best of Beauty award, giving makeup artists renewed inspiration to draw shapes and exaggerate eye looks. Her Shadow Sticks are also a crowd favorite because of the unique hues designed to look great on any skin tone and gender.