Party Tricks

Easy ways to take your makeup from day to night

Dashing from the office to an event doesn’t mean stashing a curling iron in your desk (though there’s nothing wrong with that). There are simple ways to step up your regular makeup, no special tools required. Sarah Lucero, stila’s pro makeup artist and red carpet veteran, says, “You don’t have to try too hard. Choose one key element to be the star, and let everything around it be the supporting cast.” Here are some ideas to get you going.

All-Over Sheen

Highlighters are a goof-proof way to add grown-up shine. Lucero loves liquid highlighters like stila’s all over shimmer or NARS Orgasm because they’re so easy to work with. “Drop it into your own foundation or tinted moisturizer to make it luminizing, or mix it with eye concealer for an instant undereye brightener.” Or simply brush a champagne eyeshadow, like stila’s Kitten, over your blush to get a pearlized finish.

Colorful Eyeliner

“Put away the black eyeliner,” Lucero says. For a more sultry, worn-in eye, go with a creamy kohl pencil in a deep jewel tone — she loves stila’s Kajal liner in Tiger’s Eye and Sapphire. If you’re wary of giving up your black liner, start with navy, which is flattering on all skin tones and makes the whites of your eyes look brighter.

Parisian Chic

When in doubt, go the Parisian chic route: an almost-bare face with tons of precise eyeliner. “Everyone needs a good inky liquid liner in their bag,” Lucero says. “It’s the key to that timeless Hollywood glamourous feel.” To get the look, cover your entire lid with a matte, neutral shadow, and then trace the upper lid with liquid liner, flicking it up at the end (read our winged liner tutorial for tips). Finish with a ton of mascara and a neutral lip, like stila’s lip glaze in kitten.

Bonus Tip: Mega Mascara

If you’re going from work to a party, opt for a cream-based mascara, which is typically anything that isn’t waterproof or tubing (formulas that encase the lash in a, yes, polymer tube). Cream-based mascaras are softer and let you pile on the coats without getting flaky or clumpy. Lucero uses a special technique to get extra dramatic lashes: “I glob it on right at the base of the lashes, so that it darkens the lash line and almost acts like a liner. Then I re-dip and apply a coat in a zigzag motion from lash line to tip.”

 - By Mollie Chen