The holiday season is an ideal time to elevate your beauty game from everyday chic to unapologetic glam, a philosophy experts call “maximal glam.” This comprehensive routine, achievable entirely through the curated selection at Nordstrom, moves beyond basic makeup to focus on skin-supercharging treatments, strategic sculpting, and bold color placement with unmatched staying power. The key to this luminous look is building a flawless, high-performance base—using innovative serums and complexion products packed with skin-loving ingredients—before applying dramatic color. Whether you’re preparing for a festive gathering or simply treating yourself to a moment of luxurious self-care, this step-by-step guide is your blueprint for achieving a dazzling, photo-ready holiday look.
Step 1: The Luminous Skin Foundation
The success of any holiday glam look is entirely dependent on the quality of the canvas. Skin preparation is paramount, ensuring a dewy, glowing base that allows makeup to glide on smoothly and last all evening. This process begins with a focus on deep hydration and visible skin renewal.
Experts recommend starting with a potent serum to revitalize the skin, with innovative formulas rich in Vitamin C and proprietary anti-aging complexes being favorites. Layering a luxurious, deeply moisturizing cream immediately after can further plump the skin and impart a glossy luminosity. The final, crucial step in skin prep is applying a primer—often an acclaimed, hydrating cream—after moisturizer but before foundation. This creates a cushion, locking in hydration and ensuring that the makeup stays put for hours, preventing caking or settling into fine lines.
Step 2: Sculpting a Perfected Complexion
With the skincare base established, the focus shifts to creating a perfected, even-toned complexion that serves as the perfect backdrop for statement makeup. The modern approach to a flawless base is less about heavy coverage and more about strategic layering and sculpting.
For foundation, a lightweight, breathable formula that incorporates skincare ingredients, such as hyaluronic acid and ceramides, is preferred. These skin-infused formulas offer excellent coverage without compromising on comfort or wear-time. To define and contour features for a photo-ready finish, a creamy contour stick is essential. Applied subtly to carve out the features, these sticks often contain blending aids like jojoba oil for a foolproof application and kaolin clay for extended lasting power. A touch of high-quality concealer can then be used to spot-treat or brighten the under-eye area.
Step 3: Mastering the Maximal Eye Look
The holiday season is the ideal time to fully embrace bold definition and shimmer on the eyes. This step takes the look from everyday to truly maximalist glam, providing the sparkle and drama required for evening events.
Start by ensuring your brows are impeccably defined. Using a precision pencil to fill out and shape the arches provides a foundational frame for the eye area. For the actual eye color, a smoky or shimmery palette is highly recommended. For true drama, a black liquid eyeliner is a quick way to make the eyes pop, elevating the look instantly. Don’t forget to prime the eyelid first, sometimes simply using a quality concealer, to prevent creasing and to intensify the color payoff of your chosen shadows. The final touch for maximal eyes is a lengthening and volumizing mascara, ensuring lashes stand out against the festive shimmer.
Step 4: Blush and Highlight for the Ultimate Glow
To complete the sculpted look, blush and highlighter are applied to introduce warmth, dimension, and that quintessential holiday glow. This step is about enhancing the high points of the face for a luminous, radiant finish.
Cream blush, often in a convenient stick format, is a popular choice for its ease of blending and natural, skin-like finish. A subtle application on the apples of the cheeks lifts the face and introduces a healthy flush of color. For a maximal glow, a highlighting product—whether a liquid, powder, or stick—is essential. This is applied strategically to the cheekbones, the cupid’s bow, and sometimes subtly used under the eyes to set concealer and brighten. The use of multiple viral products, such as a blush and a duo of highlighters, ensures the cheeks truly glow and catch the light in a striking, three-dimensional way.
Step 5: The Statement Lip and Setting the Look
No holiday glam routine is complete without a striking lip color that anchors the entire look. The final step involves a focus on long-wear color and a finishing spray to ensure the entire ensemble is locked in place for the festive duration.
For the statement lip, a rich berry or a vibrant red matte lipstick is the classic choice for a festive feel. Experts advise pairing a matte formula with a hydrating gloss on top for added shine and dimension without sacrificing longevity. Using a precision lip pencil to define and shape the lips is crucial for a perfect, clean application. To achieve the maximal effect, a lip pencil that unites the performance of a lipstick is ideal, allowing for easy definition, shading, and shaping. Once the makeup is complete, a high-quality setting spray or powder ensures that the perfected complexion, contoured features, and bold color all hold up through hours of celebrations, leaving you polished until the last dance.
