6 Easy Make-Up Tips To Achieve Your Best-Ever Party Season Look

If you needed any proof of the arrival of party season, look to London's Bond Street. This week, the shopping district known best for its designer labels was lit up to celebrate forthcoming festivities in the way it has done for over 60 years, but this time with a double C-shaped twist. For 2024, Chanel Fragrance & Beauty has collaborated with the New West End Company to bring Londoners the enchanting Chanel Nº5 lights, which will light up the streets from Piccadilly to Oxford Street with an illuminated reinterpretation of the brand's iconic N°5 bottle. Lucy Boynton, British actress and Chanel ambassador, switched on the 85,750 LED bulbs used to create the dazzling installation on Thursday, which will remain in place until 12 January 2025.

The arrival of London's festive lights can only mean one thing: cue an overloaded social calendar, last minute shopping trips in the biting cold and, generally speaking, fun-filled chaos by the bucket load. One aspect of the never-ending check list you need not fret over though? Your make-up. While this time of year may fool you into thinking you need to 'go big or go home' on the beauty front, in reality all you really need is a couple of tips and tricks to elevate your look. They are subtle, simple and can likely be achieved with make-up buys you already have hidden in the back of your vanity.

To get you on your way, we enlisted the expertise of Marco Antonio, Chanel's pro make-up artist and beauty ambassador, who has condensed everything you need to know into six simple switch ups to get you ready for the coming weeks ahead. He'll be the first to say that, armed with the right set of products, you can transform your look in seconds. Unsurprisingly, Chanel's Winter Tale holiday collection is certainly a good place to start seeking some inspiration. Keen to start practicing? Here's everything you need to know.

Six Simple Make-Up Switches For Christmas

1. Open up your eyes

'Everyone knows to dot a little highlighter into the inner corners of their eyes to add some sparkle, but dotting the same highlighter onto the centre of your lower lash line and the centre of your eyelid, no matter what eyeshadow you’re wearing underneath, serves to really open up you eyes in a very polished way,' explains Marco.

2. Make the most of your nude lipstick

'If you’re wearing a nude or rose-toned lip shade, make sure to apply a little across the tops of your cheekbones and to the sides of your temples too. No, really. Doing this adds subtle dimension to your face and pulls your whole look together. I sometimes go so far as to dab a little across a client’s eyelids and the bridge of their nose too. It’s a pro tip that’s well worth perfecting.'

3. Less is more when it comes to bronzer

'Use a bronzer no more than three shades darker than your natural skin tone and apply with a view to adding a glow, rather than contouring. Using a large fluffy brush, layer on sparingly across the planes of your face that the sun would hit on holiday. Cream bronzers ensure your skin retains its natural dewiness, crucial when it comes to achieving a winter glow,' says Marco.

4. Blend better

'Paint-by-numbers palettes teach you to blend in depth with a darker shadow into the sockets of your eyes, but when your eyes are open and looking straight ahead, that shadow isn’t very visible. Instead of blending depth at the socket, sweep a darker shade of shadow slightly higher, onto the underside of your brow bone, the section of skin that is just visible above your eye sockets. You’ll end up with much more definition.'

5. Frost yourselves

'Shimmering liquid lip shades are back and I love to make them work harder than a lip gloss,' Marco notes. 'Tap into the centre of each lip to give the illusion of added fullness, and tap any excess onto the very tops of your cheekbones to very subtly boost your skin’s radiance.

6. Plump it up

'Finish off your look by sweeping a little of your highlighter across and into the dip of your cupid’s bow. It’s an easy trick that makes lips appear fuller and more puckered instantly.'

Sameeha Shaikh is Grazia's beauty writer, working across all categories to bring you insights on the latest trends, industry news and the products you need to know about, viral or not (most probably viral).