Need Some Makeup Inspiration For the Festive Party Season? Here's 14 Celebrity Looks to Get You Started

Because it’s cool in tone and flecked with glitter, an iridescent lilac colour – like the one worn by Dua Lipa at this year’s Grammy Awards – has a wintery, festive vibe. Define your lashes with black liquid eyeliner and complete the look with a neutral lip.

Need a lilac-coloured shadow to add to your makeup? We love the range of purple shades in the Morphe 35C Everyday Chic Artistry Palette.

Purple is definitely a colour we’re feeling this festive season (you’ll see it pop up multiple times on this list). Lady Gaga’s glittery amethyst eyes are definitely a very dramatic way to wear the shade, but we love the idea of such a glamorous look for a wintertime party or night out. On Instagram, Gaga’s longtime makeup artist Sarah Tanno shared how she created this look for the London premiere of House of Gucci. Spoiler alert: it’s all from Gaga’s makeup line Haus Labs.

Want to go the more unexpected route this Christmas or New Year’s? Dress up your brows with a little bling à la Sydney Sweeney at the 2021 LACMA Art & Film Gala. Makeup artist Melissa Hernandez created the look using individual pieces of sequins and gluing them in a neat row along the underside of Sweeney’s brows. She then kept the rest of the makeup super simple with false lashes and a pinky-beige lipstick. It’s actually one of the easiest makeup looks on this list to DIY. Just grab some silver sequins – either from a haberdashery, art supply store, or an old skirt you never wear anymore – some lash glue, and a pair of tweezers to place the sequins onto your skin.

We’re in awe of Peak’s neon green winged liner from the 2021 Met Gala, which instead of being a straight fluid line of pigment is actually a line of crystals and studs that makeup artist Tyron Macchausen carefully placed along her top lashes using a pair of tweezers. If you don’t have lime-green crystals studs (we’d be impressed if you did), you can use a bright green liquid liner, like the Barry M Hi Vis Neon Liquid Eyeliner or the Dior Beauty Diorshow On Stage Liner in Matte Pop Green and use it to paint dots along your top lashes.

A deep, wine-coloured lipstick is a simple way to up the glam factor of any festive look – especially if you take a page from Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s book and keep your eye makeup super simple. Any dark red or purple lipstick will do, but if you want this exact hue, Mbatha-Raw’s makeup artist, Alex Babsky, confirmed on his Instagram that it’s Lancôme L’Absolu Rouge Drama Matte Lipstick in Purple Temptation.

There’s something futuristic about the shimmering violet-and-lilac eye makeup that makeup artist Raoúl Alejandre created for Zendaya at the UK screening of Dune. But there’s also something incredibly beautiful about it.

This makeup look is a bit more complicated, as it has many different elements, but we think it’s totally worth a try – especially since we can actually go out this festive season. There’s an iridescent lilac pigment highlighting her brows, a plum tone along her brow bones, and smoky black wings at the outer corners of her eyes. Then, there’s violet-coloured eyeliner that extends along her lower lashes and into the inner corners of her eyes – what we often call a reverse eyeliner – and another touch of shimmery pale purple that fills in the space between the violet eyeliner and her tear ducts.

A super easy way to add a little Christmas cheer to your makeup look is with a touch of colourful liner added to a classic black cat eye. Case in point: at the BAFTAs this year, in addition to black winged liner, Clara Amfo also has a dark green shade stacked on top, just across the lids. The effect is subtle and sophisticated and really makes her eyes shine.

Unfortunately, we don’t know the exact shade of green eyeliner she’s wearing, but we’d have to say that Charlotte Tilbury Eye Colour Magic Liner Duo in Green Lights is a pretty good match.

Take a cue from Julia Garner’s makeup at the Met Gala (courtesy of makeup artist Dame Pat McGrath) and switch out your black winged liner this festive season with a wing of twinkly crystals. To re-create the look, place five tiny individual flat-back gems from the outer corners of your eyes up toward the end of the brows, as well as three smaller gems on the inner corners.

Want just a hint of Christmasy colour incorporated into your eye makeup? We like Emma Chamberlain’s strategy of placing just a sliver of mint along her top lashes and inner corners, whilst the rest of her eyes are circled in browns and blacks. Chamberlain’s makeup artist used Byredo makeup to create the look, but you can also try E.l.f. Mint Melt Eyeshadow Stick in Mint For You or M.A.C. Eyeshadow in Mint Condition, and whatever neutral-toned shadows you already have in your makeup bag.

Full of decadent colours and lots of shimmer, ’70s-inspired makeup works perfectly for glamorous festive occasions. For the Met Gala this year, Keke Palmer channeled Diana Ross with her beauty look, which included voluminous, brushed-out curls and dramatic gold-and-black winged shadow. We’re not going to lie: this look is going to take a lot of disposable cotton buds and makeup remover to get right, but the “wow” factor is absolutely worth it. You’re also going to need black and gold powder eye shadows.

Once you’ve applied your gold shadow to the inner half of your lids, then you need to go in with black, extending the pigment all the way to the temples. Use a cotton bud or flat brush dipped in makeup remover to get your shape super sharp.

Gem-studded makeup was one of 2021’s biggest celebrity makeup trends on the red carpet, and we think the festive season is the perfect opportunity to try it out on your own.

If you’re in need of inspiration, look no further than Storm Reid’s pearl eye makeup at the 2021 Met Gala (created by makeup artist Paul Blanch), which included teeny-tiny pearls applied in the shape of a wing shape around her eyes. You can either use flat-black faux pearls that you get at a haberdashery and stick them on with lash glue, or use pearl makeup stickers.

You can never go wrong with the classic pairing of black winged eyeliner and red lipstick, whether you go with a bright cherry colour, or a deeper merlot, like Elle Fanning recently wore for the LACMA Art + Film Gala.

Gemma Chan offers up yet another way to wear purple makeup this festive season: a gorgeous contoured eye with lavender on the lids and a grape shade along the sockets, all of which makeup artist Alex Babsky anchored with winged black eyeliner along the top lashes. To complete the look, he used a peach-coloured blush and mauve-toned matte lipstick.

If colour and shimmer isn’t your thing and you prefer a neutral makeup look, you can up the glam factor with a ’90s-style beat like Mabel wore for the Brit Awards. The key is putting lots of emphasis on defining your brows, contouring your lids, building up your lashes, and lining your lips before filling them in with a brown-tinged lipstick.