Tonight is the annual Christmas party for the company I work for. It’s completely my brain child. One that I birthed, reared and have to clean up after.

So I’m going to try and make things as easy as I can on myself tomorrow. Starting with my makeup.

I’m going to demonstrate the look on my model, Dina, here. Thanks Dina!

Start with a festive shadow. My favorite for this is gold because it really brings out the warmth of my brown eyes. And I think the flecks I have going on in there are gold. The mirror is way too far away for me to confirm that, and let’s face it, you probably don’t even care.

Look at what color the flecks in your eyes are and find a shadow that mimics it.

Apply that all over your lid (lightly) and put a little under your eyes. Ninety percent of the time I apply shadow below my eye as well because I like how it makes them look bigger, but you don’t have to if you don’t want to. What I’ll do next is add a little more shadow near my lash line. I always start with a light layer because, much like salt, it’s a lot easier to add more than it is to take it away. I usually do go back and fill it in a little more on my lid, though.

Next, get your eye liner. Take a black eye pencil (you do need an eye pencil for this – not any other liner) and run it over your lid, making it kind of thick. It doesn’t have to be perfect because you’re going to smudge it. Ok, now smudge it. Get it there and mess it up! Ok stop.

Now take the pencil and run it really close to your lash line this time. I like a little definition at my lashes to help them look fuller. This line you do want to be a bit more perfect, but if you mess up, it’s ok. Just smudge it again with your finger.

What this creates is kind of a gradient from black to whatever shadow you’ve gone with. Aka: an awesome party look!