How To Brighten Up Your Look For Winter

Are you trying to brighten up your ashy pale winter makeup? Maybe you're feeling washed out, or just bored with the dull, cold winter days?
Don't fall down the rabbit hole of trying to juice up your pallid winter complexion with bronzer - it will look orange against your ultra white skin. Instead follow these 10 steps to brighten up your look for winter.

makeup at Jean Paul Gaultier A/W13

Here’s what you do:

* Start by gently exfoliating. Dry, flaky winter skin will make makeup look dead, so we need to get the complexion clear first.

*Next use a really emollient and hydrating moisturizer and give your skin a good long drink. Cold weather and indoor heating strip the skin. Once we have the skin exfoliated and super moisturized makeup will look brighter anyway.

*Use a luminizer to add a little glow to the upper cheekbones before you put on your foundation.

*Stay away from crushed mineral foundations - they make skin look dead and dry. Instead opt for a silicone based foundation like Makeup Forever HD or Face Atelier Ultra Foundation. Both of these will make the skin glow and look alive.

*Make sure you choose a shade that matches your winter color, not your summer color. A foundation that is too dark will make your skin look muddy.

*Use a cream blush, and choose a rosy shade. Cream blush naturally brightens up the skin, and a warm rosy shade will add a nice flush to the skin.

Brighten your winter makeup

*Accent the eyebrows. The are like punctuation marks on the face. You can get a lift and brightening to the face just by defining the brow.

*Keep eye shadow sheer and choose a shade opposite your eye color on the color wheel. This will brighten the eye and make your color spark. Pale eyes look great with pinky peachy tones, every color looks great with a soft berry tone. Add a little shimmer just on the eyeball itself, not all over the eye.

*Curl the lashes to wake the eye up, and use several coats of a luscious, glossy mascara.

*Use a bold, bright color on your lips, like a punchy fuchsia. Fuchsia is bright and fun and lights the face up. It also makes the teeth look whiter and will make pale eyes totally spark, bright and alive.