Beauty

A Classic Christmas Cocktail

Beauty | 6.11.2014 | Katja Kokko

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The two bright spots in this early-winter greyness are candles and Christmas parties (there are others, but we’ll get to them later). The nice thing about Christmas parties is getting dolled up – in an effortlessly glamorous way, without too much pomp.

I believe in letting a professional do your hair and makeup if you can afford it, but there are ways of creating an elegant party look at home with the help of some high quality products. Professional makeup brand Zuii has launched its new products just in time for the holiday season. New additions include an eye shadow palette, and an impressive selection of lip colors.

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Zuii is to eye shadows what Kjaer Weis is to mascara*: the absolute best. The pigments are strong, and the smallest amount of product is enough to cover the entire lid. The colors are also easy to blend because, in addition to being heavily pigmented, they have an almost glide-on consistency. Zuii’s importer gave me some of these new arrivals for testing, and I figured I would use them to create a few easy looks for you.

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My favorite eye shadow palette is Natural*, which has all my favorite colors in one pan. I love browns in general, and taupes in particular. They brighten up any eye color, and even neutralize redness around the eye. Cooler greys are a bit too harsh for my tastes, and the coppery ones too warm. For this look I applied Chestnut* (my favorite eye shadow from Zuii) over the entire lid, followed by Tawney, which I faded up from the lash line towards the crease. In the crease itself I applied Bronze, the second darkest color in the palette. I like the colors to blend together seamlessly, while still being nuanced. With the tiniest hint of Mustard on my brow bone, I curled my lashes and laid on a few coats of Kjaer Weis’s mascara*, foregoing eyeliner entirely.

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For the base, I mixed Warm Glow and Natural Glow from Juice Beauty’s Stem Cellular range, and covered up my dark circles with a concealer from Suki. I dabbed on my favorite powder from Couleur Caramel*, the consistency of which is like powdered silk. On my cheeks I have the usual suspects from Zuii: Mango* and Peach*.

I used Zuii’s brow pencil in Taupe* to give shape to my eyebrows. They are a bit all over the place at the moment, much to my displeasure. Who thought I would need all this hair on my brows? They require daily plucking, and often end up lopsided, anyway. Ugh. Long story short, I’m growing them out, but I did my best to Photoshop the worst of the runaways.

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The piece de resistance is the lips, on which I used Zuii’s new Sheer Stick in Fire*. A more perfect shade of red simply cannot exist, and it’s just the right shade to put you in the mood for Christmas. It is deliciously pigmented, glides on like a dream, and has good staying power despite its rather light consistency. I think I might put together a collage, using these new lip shades. I skipped the lip liner, too, because the lipstick was sharp enough to create a clean line. I know some professionals swear by lip liners but I don’t much care for them. Casual is more my style.

Anyone can pull off this look, so grab a brush, slip into your little black dress, et voilà – you’re ready to go!

DSC_0031 *Affiliate link

Second product photo features Alvar Magazine

Photos Katja Kokko

Translation Katja Nikula

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