Norman Sands from NARS Cosmetics talks holiday makeup!

*** This is an exciting post because Norman Sands will share some of his makeup tips for the holidays that were featured in a recent edition of OK! magazine. As with all of Norman’s tips, this is as detailed as can be ladies!***

How to add sparkles to your holiday makeup by Norman Sands

Let’s start from the beginning, here are three mistakes women make when they use sparkles:

1) I think women get overwhelmed with all the options and they don’t know how to wear sparkle makeup.

2) It can be difficult to know where to start because women don’t want to get it wrong … after all, we’ve all seen the girl at the party who looks like she’s from the cast of Xanadu!

Cast of the musical Xanadu below:

3) Most women are fearful of sparkle but also drawn to it … it’s sort of a love/hate relationship.

That said, adding a bit of glitz is a fun way to give your makeup a festive holiday twist.

Tip from Norman Sands: Pair sparkle with matte textures to keep makeup sophisticated and modern.

The idea is to add radiance and luminosity in a playful way and NOT look like you spent the afternoon at Libby Lu.

Tip from Norman Sands: You should shy away from products that look like chunky craft glitter.

Many women feel like they can’t or shouldn’t wear sparkle but it’s actually more about how and where it’s applied.

1) Choose no more than one to two features to add sparkle and keep the rest neutral. If you wear sparkle all over your face, you’ll end up looking like a seven year old school girl!

2) Think of shimmery sparkle as an accessory … use it sparingly in specific areas.

3) If you are afraid of sparkle then opt for shimmer or metallic textures.

Normand Sands’ step-by-step guide to adding sparkle to your holiday makeup:

1) Your EYES:

* Glitter pencils are an easy way to take a day look to the office party. Depending on the shade they can be used on the eyes, lips, face or body. I’d recommend these NARS Cosmetic shades: Le Sept, Mud Club and Danceteria Glitter Pencils.

* Keep sparkle close to the lash line or inner corner of the eyes to brighten and dazzle eyes.

Glitter pencils can also be used as an eye shadow base. Blend onto the lid and set with a complimentary powder shadow.

* You can also dip a damp your eyeliner brush into a sparkling silver or gold shadow to line the eyes, the effect is dazzling. Try Night Life or Silent Night by NARS Cosmetics.

Tip from Norman Sands: Sparkle and shimmer makeup should be applied with a soft natural brush to avoid using too much. Try the NARS Cosmetics Wide Contour Brush #16 for eyes and Kabuki Yachiyo Brush for cheeks.

* Silver and gold combined on the eye is very flattering and modern.

* For something fun dust your favorite shimmer shadow onto mascara before it dries for eyes that sparkle.

* You can also apply false lashes that have a sparkly band at the lash line (Sephora Glitter Lashes are great).

* Remember that all that sparkles in not gold.  You should try silver and copper shadow to brighten tired eyes.

2) Your CHEEKS: 

* Sparkling pressed powder creates an ethereal glow for any skin tone and is appropriate for any age or occasion. It can even be worn to the office.

* Use a fluffy soft brush and dust over bronzer to highlight and illuminate the complexion. Try using Ita brush #28 by NARS Cosmetics.

* Add some sparkle under the brow bone, on the inner corner of the eyes, on the top part of the cheekbones and in the center of the face for a candlelit glow. You might to take a look at these pressed powder options by NARS Cosmetics: Venus, Macchu Picchu or Gold Rush Sparkling.

* For an evening look dust shoulders and décolleté or layer a sparkling blush with gold tones (like Super Orgasm) over a cream blush to create red carpet luminous skin.

On Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl) I used Nars Brightening Serum with Toumota Bronzing Mutiple topped with Super Orgasm blush to give her a dazzling radiance.

Don’t forget to catch some great tips from Norman’s makeup tips he applied to create an amazing look for Leighton Meester: Norman Sands shares his makeup tips from a recent makeup job with Leighton Meester (star of Gossip Girl)

Tip from Norman Sands: Add a little blush beneath the brows blended into the outer lid to brighten and give the eyes a lift.

3) Your LIPS:

* NARS Cosmetics’ Galactica Lacquer is made from Japanese crushed pearl and can liven up any lipstick shade. It also takes the deeper tones from fall and creates a new holiday lipcolor.

The twist: Apply Galactica Lacquer (Sparkly Lip Gloss) first and blend bright lipsticks over.

Here my favorite trick: Apply a frosty lipstick over glossed lips for a patent leather shine. Sexual Healing lipstick is the perfect frosty lipstick to do the job.

* Use a metallic raspberry gloss like Boogie Nights over your favorite nude lipstick or gloss to vamp up lips for the holiday season.

Remember that shimmer, frost and sparkle textures makes lips appear pouty and fuller while golden lip gloss shades will accentuate any red lipstick and create ultra glamour. You might want to try Moon Fleet or Greek Holiday.

Tip from Norman Sands: Apply lip gloss to the center of the bottom lip with fingertip and blot lips together. Too much gloss causes lipstick to feather and bleed.

4) Your NAILS:

* Adding sparkle to the nails is appropriate for any age. Create a holiday manicure or pedicure by topping off bold and dark polishes with an iridescent or sparkly one. You might want to try Arabesque or Orgasm polish on top of your darker shades.

Tip from Norman Sands: Glitter polish is very long wearing and more difficult to remove than other polish textures.

When it comes to adding sparkles to your Holiday makeup, ALWAYS think of sparkly makeup as fun accessory!

The bottom line is simple: have fun … it’s only makeup!

Top photo of Norman Sands and a model by Kurtis Bowerstock Photography