18 Beauty Buys We're Loving This Holiday Season

1. Full Coverage Foundation

There was a time where wearing full-coverage foundation was all the rage. From drugstore to high-end brands, it seems like they were consistently shoved in consumers’ faces to help us achieve a ‘full beat’ without sitting in a makeup artist’s chair. Also, those of us with dark spots or hyperpigmentation may have relied on them when we were in the thick of our skincare woes.

But these days, wearing too much foundation isn’t as popular as natural and skincare makeup are prioritized. If anything, more people are interested in wearing light-to-medium coverage foundation, skin tints, or tinted moisturizers.

2. Too Much Concealer

It wasn’t until I watched this video by makeup artist Katie Jane Hughes that I realized some of us have been too heavy-handed with our concealers. There’s no reason we should be slapping products under the thinnest parts of our face, but we didn’t know any better!

Now that you know you can still get the desired effect with a minimal amount of concealer, don’t revert back to painting your under eyes!

3. 'Baking' Your Setting Powder

Before you throw away your setting powders, step away from your makeup drawer and have a sit-down chat with me. There isn’t anything wrong with applying them to your face to help ‘set’ your foundation and concealer. However, spending over 10 minutes ‘baking’ your powder (AKA letting it sit untouched) doesn’t work for everyone.

It can lead to creased makeup which can derail your look, plus it’s a pain to correct when you’re halfway through your routine!

4. Overlining Lips

I love a good lip liner, especially if it mirrors my favorite ‘90s makeup look. But, there’s such a thing as overdoing it. The key to lining your lips is following the natural flow of them. Going out of your way to draw above and under your lips’ lines comes off as comical and exaggerated. If anything, use a lip plumping gloss to help your lips look fuller.

5. Overtweezing Your Eyebrows

I don’t even have the words for this outdated makeup look besides wanting to say “no” 20 times in a row. But, I’ll bite and say why this shouldn’t be on your 2025 beauty moodboard.

Some people naturally have thinner eyebrows which is A-okay! However, purposely tweezing your eyebrows to smithereens is cringey. If you truly want to wear this look, here’s what you can do instead of tweezing:

• Create a faux bleached look by applying a skin tone colored setting powder all over your brows.
• Once they’ve ‘disappeared,’ take an eyebrow pencil or eyeliner to draw a thin line over them.

I’m…wondering what the ramifications of telling you how to do this will be, but only use go for this look if it’s a part of a themed party…like Halloween.

6. Exaggerated Highlighter On Cheeks

The shimmery look is in since it’s winter, but please don’t make it look like you dipped your cheeks into a vat of glitter. You can lightly dust highlighter onto your cheeks for a more natural glow that flows with the rest of your look. Otherwise you’ll look like a walking disco ball which could be the opposite of what you were going for.

7. Heavy Contour Or Bronzer

I know the ‘sculpted’ look is popular, but too much contour or bronzer can overpower the rest of your makeup and face. While it’s not impossible to fix if you do it by mistake, using the wrong shade of contour or bronzer may still peep through no matter how much you try to buff it out.

When in doubt, be gentle with your contour or bronzer application!

8. Incredibly Matte Makeup

Matte makeup that didn’t budge was the ‘It Girl’ look for oily and combination skin girls! We thought it was the answer to our skin’s incessant need to hydrate our faces instead of actually using skincare products that focused on combatting that issue (psst…Vitamin C serums help!).

But now’s the time to break up with this look for good for one reason: dewy skin looks healthier.

1. Red-Tinted Lipgloss 

"I love the simplicity of this look because it takes less than 10 minutes to complete. I prepped my skin with e.l.f. Cosmetics' Power Grip Primer before applying Haus Labs Triclone Skin Tech Medium Coverage Foundation and Sephora's Best Skin Ever Concealer, a touch of One/Size Ultimate Blurring Setting Powder, and Ami Colé's Hydrating Lip Oil Treatment in the shade Romance (cranberry color)! IMO, the subtle pop of lip color is great for someone who doesn't want to overdo it on Christmas." — Jasmine Williams, Brit + Co's Writer.

2. Icy Blue Eye Makeup  

"When I want to try something different than my classic gold lid, I love breaking out an ice blue or periwinkle shadow. ColourPop is my favorite brand to get eyeshadows from just because of how pigmented they are, and I went crazy with this LAV_ISH palette. More is more in this case, y'all! I layered Mood Boost, Escapism, Serenity, and Virtual Love all together until it was just right. I've also found that skipping eyeliner for this look helps it feel a little more carefree instead of polished, which is always fun." — Chloe Williams, Brit + Co's Entertainment Editor

3.Sunset Eyeshadow 

While it's easy for bronze looks to sway into the skin-like neutral territory, this cute Christmas makeup idea is more festive. The difference has everything to do with adding brown, gold, or even pink shimmer towards the inner corner and middle of your eyelids.

Our recommendations: Milani Gilded Mini Eyeshadow Palette or Urban Decay Naked Mini Eyeshadow Palette

4. Glittery Purple Eyeshadow

Go big or go home with a Christmas makeup look that's as bold as your holiday decor. It doesn't hold anything back with its glittery purple eyeshadow and crimson lipstick! It's going to show up in all your pictures without an issue. As an added bonus, let your nails match your eyeshadow! We have plenty of Christmas naildesigns that'll help you narrow down the right polish or press-on nails to go with this.

Our recommendation: Revolution Beauty Forever Flawless Eyeshadow Palette

5. Pink Shimmery Eyeshadow 

"I love the femininity of the sugar plum fairy, which makes this all-pink look one of my favorites! I've been loving the glowy look of the L'oreal true match nude serum foundation along with peachy blush. For the eye, I use the Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette I got in high school along with the Rare Beauty All of the Above Weightless Eyeshadow Stick in Well-being. And to finish off the look, I don't go anywhere without my L’Oréal Paris Colour Riche Lipstick in Sugar Plum (fitting!). This is my third tube and it's literally like my lips but better." — Chloe Williams, Brit + Co's Entertainment Editor

6. White Gold Shimmery Eyeshadow + Nude Lip Combo

"This is probably my favorite Christmas makeup look I've worn because I decided to be adventurous with my eyes by adding white gold glitter to them. I didn't want to go overboard so I kept it light by using the shade * from Too Faced's * palette. For my lips, I used Maybelline's SuperStay Matte Lipstick in the shade Seductress and their Lifter Lipgloss in Stone on my lips. It's a great look for anyone who plans to wear statement outfits on Christmas!" — Jasmine Williams, Brit + Co's Writer

7. Sugar Plum Ice Princess 

As much as we love intricate designs and makeup looks, we know the best ones don't involve a lot of things. Kayla Walden, one of Brit + Co's Staff Writers and in-house Content Creator, knows how to create stunning looks that only involve a few products. All she did was add a sparkly white eyeshadow all over her eyelids while lining her bottom waterline with a white eyeliner.

Watch Kayla's Christmas Makeup Tutorial Here!

And just like that, you'll have the perfect makeup this holiday season!

1. Color Can Work In Your Favor

The colors you wear and use in your home are energetically connected to you and your own personal qi, or what is defined as your lifeforce energy. Black, navy and charcoal with a mix of whites and grays were particularly good colors for my zodiac animal (the rat), which is funny because my home is predominantly those colors.

While every zodiac animal has favorable colors, Cho and Morris discovered a combo of two colors to be the best colors for everyone in the Year of the Snake. "We think a vermillion persimmon color, a really fiery color that's connected to the wood snake, will be the best color for everyone for the Year of the Snake," says Cho. I happen to love this Persimmon Birds wallpaper by Nathan Turner and both Cho and Morris encouraged me to bring in this complementary color to all my blues and neutrals.

Of course, this doesn't mean you have to paint your space an orange or fiery red or buy a pricey sofa in that color. Maybe you always use a pen or notebook in that color or wear something in the vermillion persimmon family and start to notice how it makes you feel this year.

2. Crystals Can Impact Your Goals

Apparently, I have a lot of water in my Chinese zodiac, which can mean I’m very creative and intuitive. The crystal that's connected to all that water is labradorite, which has a bluish, watery quality to it. It’s also said to be supportive of wisdom and intellect. "Water is considered an element with a lot of depth," says Cho. "When you think about the ocean, there's so much life happening underneath. Water is really a connector, a communicator, and with a lot of depth of wisdom." That's the kind of energy I'm cultivating? I'll take it!

3. Know Your Bagua

Bagua in feng shui is like a grid or a mandala that you can overlay on your home. It can reveal obstacles and patterns in your home that you might want to unlock or rearrange. You place this grid over your bed or starting at your entry and it shows things like Abundance, Wisdom, Growth, etc. Morris and Cho overlayed the bagua over my bed and shared where I can place the labradorite to activate my career, communication and connection this year.

Mindful Living offers five floor plans to teach you how to read your mandala's home layout.

4. Plants Can Enhance Your Qi

Plant choice and placement can impact your home's qi too. For example, jade succulents are best placed in your Wisdom bagua area while the snake plant, which cuts through negative energy and signifies strength, is best placed in your Alignment area.

5. Timing Is Everything

There are auspicious hours/days/months and more challenging hours/days/months in the lunar new year. My best months are January, April, and August, while my challenging months are June and July. My best hours are 7AM to 9:00 AM to 3PM to 5:00 PM and 1AM to 3:00 AM, as well as a slew of days where I can make sure to align with important meetings, or plan an event, or even talk to someone about a difficult topic. I can be strategic with this time.

"My most challenging months are always the months that I overwork and I'm totally burnt out," says Cho. "So I look ahead and I definitely say no to the things that aren't the most important in those months."

Turns out, January 8th is a really great day for zodiac rats, so I'll be putting my labradorite stone underneath my bed then with the intention that I'm bringing in more wisdom, more resources, more support for my career and for my communication and connecting to others.

This is where your zodiac animal plays a part too. “Snakes have this magnetism and this charm and there's an attractive quality about them, but they're also really wise and thoughtful and clever, and that's actually a good thing for the rat,” says Morris. Those born in the year of the Tiger and Pig may find the 2025 lunar year more challenging, but that doesn't mean it's going to be a terrible year. (My challenging year is coming up in 2026, the Year of the Horse).

"It's not the year to push yourself," adds Cho. "It's the year to take care of yourself. It's the year to say no when you're going to be stretched thin. And it also reminds us you can't have your left side of your body without your right side of your body. There's a natural shift to things, and it reminds us there's times to be quieter. There's times to be more internal, and there's times where we'll have more challenges, but with the greatest challenge also comes the greatest rewards."

Mindful Living: A Guide to the Everyday Magic of Feng Shui

Learn more about your monthly forecast for 2025 and mindful rituals to get you through the year in peace and harmony in Mindful Living: A Guide to the Everyday Magic of Feng Shui!