It’s the holidays and the time for festive glitter and sparkle for those special looks you’ll be wearing to those special events and combining glitter into your look is one of the most show-stopping ways to do this.  There are so many forms of glitter for the different parts of the face in different formulas like gel, loose, pressed, liquid, and in palette form depending on what part of the face you are using it for as well as glitter (also sometimes called “pigments”) in many different types.  The formulas or “grades” of glitter can come in a sandy very fine small “grain” formula, a medium more coarse grain (varying in intensity), and the more “chunky” type formulas for high drama in Christmas and New Year’s Eve looks, or even glitter with tiny little silver and gold confetti type stars in them that you can apply to the eye or the cheeks with the proper adhesive.  The types of glitter to choose from you use just depends on the type of glitter you like to use the most or what formula you feel the most comfortable using.

Glitter can be tricky to work with but if you use the proper adhesive or glitter glue whether using your fingertips or an eye shadow shader brush, the glitter will adhere correctly with little fallout.  There are many types of glitter glue to choose from in different cosmetic and makeup brands but I think some of the best ones are the Too Faced “Glitter Glue Shadow Primer”, Ben Nyes “Glitter Glue”, Lit Cosmetics “Daily Wear Glitter Base”, E.L.F.’s “Glitter Primer” (which is a lightweight creamy liquid formula), Anastasia Beverly Hills “Glitter Adhesive”, NYX Professional Makeups “Glitter Primer Base Perfectrice Brilliance”, and Macs “Mixing Medium”.  When you are working with glitter, especially the eye area, always follow the brand’s safety instructions being very careful not to get it into your eyes.  You can also apply under eye covers or put powder under your eyes while you apply the glitter so that you can just brush off the excess fall out with a makeup brush with little effort that can sometimes happen when you are applying eye makeup.

To start off with, starting with the eye (which is where most of the glitter for makeup looks is going to go most likely), there is again, eye glitter eyeshadow in various forms and glitter liner in various colors, etc…  The colors that glitter and pigments come in are infinite and can be used for whatever your creative imagination can come up with to try in a holiday glam look.  There are glitter liners in gold, silver, ruby red, and emerald green or whatever your choice of color for the holiday look that is what you want to achieve with combined various same tone or shade shadows blended around or them.  There is also glitter in liquid, powder, loose, gel, and pressed glitter formulas for the eye that you can try depending on your own creativity whether you do a soft shimmer “halo” eye, or a high drama “cut crease” eye glam look.

I think a halo shimmer eye is particularly gorgeous using say Mac Cosmetic’s “Ruby” or “Platinum” Pigments for a festive red shimmer of silver or crystal shades for a festive and flashy New Years Eve look.  I think for this Mac Cosmetic’s “Vanilla” would also be gorgeous or the shades “Silver Hologram”, “Silver Stars”, and “Platinum” would also be a great choice with a New Year’s Eve look (depending on how costume you wanted your look to be) as well as “Glittering Gold”, “Ruby”, “Emerald” and even “Black Black” (depending on how smokey you wanted to go) would also be stunning. The Anastasia Beverly Hills loose pigments and glitters (for the face. body, and hair) in the shades “Star Power”, Crystal Cave”, and “Soft Gold” would also work well for this.

As everyone in the makeup world knows, Urban Decay and their “Moondust” Shadows (in singles, in liquid in the “Liquid Moondust” shadows, and in palette form with the “Pass The Glitter” palette with six new shades) are some of the most gorgeous shadows in the cosmetics industry with the shades “Space Cowboy”, “Stargazer”, “Moonspoon”, and “Scorpio”.  They can have a little bit of a slight powdery “kick” up so you might just need a bit of glitter glue or primer to get them to stick better and pack on the intensity.  They also have the ever-popular “Heavy Metals” line in gel and liner form.  NYX Professional Makeup has the “Glitter Brilliance” Glitter in “Silver” and “Bronze” that are also really pretty.  The Bobbi Brown Cosmetics “Sparkle Eyeshadows” in the shades “Brown” and “Black” are beautiful just lightly tapped on the lid for a bit of lid sparkle that is a lightly small to medium glitter in them but very smooth (I have a smokey eye look using her shadows on my Instagram @www.tracymoyersmua if you want to see what it looks like and could, of course, be applied more heavily for more intensity).

The well-loved and always affordable Colourpop Cosmetics has its “Jelly Much” shadows in a  gel form, the “Glitterly Obsessed Smoke N Mirrors” Glitter Gel Collection which I think would be so beautiful for a New Year’s Eve smokey eye with its black, greyish-silver, and crystal shades (or even the “Smoke Show” Palette and the silver and black-grey shades in it to die for).  Stila Cosmetics has the really gorgeous “Glitter & Glow” Eye Shadows (an Allure winner!) in the shades “Diamond Dust” and “Perlina” that would be so gorgeous.  The new Pixie Beauty and Chloe Morello collaboration and the “Liquid Fairy Lights” Collection in the shades “Crystalline” and “Sunray” are really twinkling and eye-catching.  The Too Faced “Twinkle Twinkle” Liquid Eye Shadows in the shades “Pink Champagne Shimmer”, “Honey Please”, “Lemon Zest” (a gorgeous gold sparkle), “Guava Glitz”, (a sparkling crystal-silver) and “Licorice” (a beautiful black-gold shade for maybe a dramatic New Year’s Eve eye look) are absolutely stunning!

With the new Tati Textured Neutrals Palette Volume 1, the pressed glitters are so creamy and smooth that all you have to do is press a bit into the shadow with your finger firmly but gently and then press it on the lid and they adhere to the eyes beautifully without any glitter adhesive.  I particularly think the pressed glitter shadow in the row (or the metallic shade) called “Memory” would be absolutely gorgeous in a New Year’s Eve smokey eye look.  Also, the row “Aura” and the row “Poet” for a festive red shimmer eye look would be so beautiful.  Another palette that is beautiful is the Violet Voss “Sugar Crystals” Palette.  The “Go For The Gold” Eyeshadow Palette from Colourpop is also another gorgeous gold-toned festive palette.

For the face, you can add glimmer and shimmer to the cheekbones by applying a small light amount of glitter on the cheeks with a fluffy highlighting or eye blending brush in a smaller fine grade glitter by dipping into it and then tapping off the access and then very gently dot it over your blush or where you placed your highlighter on the high points or tops of your cheeks dotting ever so lightly with the blending or highlighting brush. Matching the same tone of glitter with the shade of highlighter you used can be a really stunning extra subtle shimmer and sparkly dimension to your face, especially when you turn your head from side to side and there is a gorgeous glow that others at your parties will look at you in awe with not being able to take their eyes away or pinpoint exactly what that lovely glow is on your cheeks that lights up your face.  I always find that so alluring.

Some sparkling and glitter type blushes like Benefit Cosmetics “Gold Rush”, Urban Decays “Naked Illuminating Powder”, Bobbi Browns “Shimmering Blush” in the shade “Coral” and Essence Cosmetics has a “Metal Chrome Blush” that would be gorgeous and particularly Butter London’s  “Glazen Blush Gelee” in the shade “Glimmer” is a jaw-dropping stunning sparkle for the cheeks.

For sparkling lipsticks there is Too Faced’s “Melted Gold” Lip Gloss either alone or over your lipstick as a lip topper and their “Throwback Lipstick” in the shades “That Girl”, “Too Too Hot” (a beautiful festive red), and “Hoochie” would sparkle up your lips with stunning shimmer.  Their “Rich And Dazzling High Shine Sparkling Lip Glosses” particularly the shade “All The Stars” are also a good lip choice for glittering high lacquer shine lips.  Also, a really amazing formula in glitter liquid lipstick that you apply and then just press your lips together to “glitter flip” them and activate the glitter in them from Ciate’ London called the “Glitter Flip Liquid Lipsticks” in the shade “Hollywood” (a classic festive red with silver and pink reflects), or even the shade “Undressed” (a shimmering nude) to wear especially if you want a nude lip to go with a glittery smokey eye look that really sparkle and shimmer on your lips especially when you turn your head from side to side.

So whatever way you decide to use glitter in your holiday looks this season, have fun and enjoy the many forms of it to use to create all the creative and imaginatively stunning festive looks for Christmas, New Year’s Eve, or whatever event you have planned this holiday season.