Winter & Holidays 2020 natural makeup trends

2020: Holidays with a twist

It’s holiday season, this year with a major twist – a pandemic – which means many of us are not travelling to see one another and some will be wearing a new fashion accessory: a face mask. The makeup looks we chose to feature in our roundup of holiday makeup trends for 2020 weigh in as reflective of thoughtfulness and strength, as well as style. Some of us will be alone at home, others in small family or household groups, and many will be connecting with our loved ones virtually.

There are still many reasons to dress up and wear makeup this holiday season like ‘zoom parties’, long distance virtual dates but most notably perhaps, just because it makes us feel good! Feeling self-confident and comfortable with our looks can be especially important when that camera is on. Our hope is that with the following tips and the boost we can feel from applying makeup, you are happy with the image that you see reflected on that phone or computer screen.

We’re lucky here at SAPPHO New Paradigm to have a founder who is very experienced at helping people look fabulous on camera: JoAnn is an Emmy-nominated, Leo-winning makeup artist who spent over 30 years working on TV and film productions. She has expertly applied makeup on thousands of faces, from high profile actors to special effects characters, including some 3D, and many extras in between! Read all the way for bonus lighting tips to look good on camera.

Feeling festive with makeup, naturally...

This year’s festive season makeup looks combine soft matte and satin tones with just a subtle touch of sparkle – enough to bring a little more light into the eyes but not enough to look overdone.

Our models are wearing full faces of SAPPHO’s Essential Foundation, sculpted with our Shine Patrol Face Powders and highlighted with our Skin Luminizers.

Using foundation in the winter is a good idea for many reasons, but evening out skin tone, locking in moisture and helping to keep the elements at bay are some of the main ones an honest-to-goodness foundation, like ours, can help. If you’ve been experiencing maskne and could use a little extra covering up, know that our formula is buildable by tapping on a little more with your fingers where needed, and is totally suitable for acne and breakout prone skin. Lastly, if you’re looking to shine on camera, in a good way, consider choosing a foundation with a satin matte finish like ours as a canvas, mattifying areas that tend to get oily using a powder, and imparting light and glow to high points with luminizer.

SAPPHO’s Skin Luminizers are soft and not greasy, adding perfect natural glow. Always a favorite for festive makeup, it’s a multitasking product that can be used in many ways. Dab a little on your forehead, top of cheeks, middle of your chin, down your nose and above your lip bow and you are good to go. Use it lightly on your lips if you’re going to be wearing a mask and skipping the lipstick or lip gloss, or on your shoulder and collar bones if you’ll be wearing something sleeveless.

Other key products, this year especially: Brow Pomades are softly applied to frame the eyes and the face, and Vegan Mascara to impart a bright-eyed, impactful look.

Lips are downplayed with subtle application, the eyes telling the story.

All about the eyes.

1. Muse: Margot

Wearing her namesake Essential Foundation shade, Margot (Bingham)’s glowing look was created using our Skin Luminizer in Medium, mixed with a touch of Bronze for depth. Around the eyes, the light is soft and the colors have intensity that is highlighted with just a touch of sparkle. SAPPHO’s eyeshadows are made with low heavy metal minerals, ethically mined, and the truth is many of the brilliant tones we create, although deeply pigmented, are made without either animal by-products like carmine or FD&C/synthetic dyes, and so tend to be soft in nature.

Margot’s eye makeup starts with Raven Eyeshadow, applied wet as eyeliner. Jessica Eyeshadow, applied lightly on the largest part of the lid, is then layered and swept across the eye, deepening at the outer corners above the eyeliner. Here eyes are contoured and creased with Laura and Jono Eyeshadows, then Minaz is swept across the entire lid. Blending upward, toward the center of the lid, Merrady Eyeshadow adds that gorgeous teal tone, which is also applied under the eyes.  Finally, the eyeliner is touched up with a little wet Raven where needed to keep that clean line.

Topping her false lashes, a little Vegan Mascara adds extra length plus is lightly applied to the bottom lashes. Margot’s brows are filled in using Dark Brown Brow Pomade.

2. Muse: Willow

Willow’s eye makeup is primarily a combination of Rebekah, a soft pink with sparkle, and Gitte, a beautiful plum with a satin finish. Depth is imparted by using Raven for dark liner and a touch of Skin Luminizer in Light, placed at the inner corner for light.

First, apply Gitte Eyeshadow, graduated from lid to eye contour. Mixing Gitte with a little Luv the Cheeks Blush, apply to the lid and the crease inward, then highlight with Rebekah Eyeshadow towards the brow bone and inner corners. With a damp brush, apply wet Raven Eyeshadow close to the lashes, dotted in, and sweep Gitte over top, under the lower lash line as well. You can also mix Gitte with some Skin Luminizer in Medium for a brighter, slightly more shimmery look.

Mascara layering is tripled on the outer corners. A tip to achieve this is to let your mascara dry in between coats; the third layer goes mostly on the outer edges and a little just on the very tip of the lashes all across.

3. Muse: Fay

Fay is wearing an interesting combination of products to create this bronzed smokey eye look. First, Unabashed Blush in Luv the Cheeks is applied across the whole lid. Norma Eyeshadow is applied on top, then Laura at the center of the lid as highlight. This is repeated under the lash line. Raven Eyeshadow is drawn along, very close to the lash line. With a wet brush first and then with a dry brush, dry eyeshadow is placed over top, buffed out and up to affect a soft minimalist smokey eye. A little Shine Patrol Pressed Powder in Dark was applied to the brow bone to soften the look and take down shine.

Fay’s gorgeous lashes didn’t need a ton of mascara, and her eyes are framed with Dark Brown pomade on the brows.

Lips are done with lip balm and Victoria Eyeshadow diffused with fingers, then topped with a tiny touch of Amy Lip Gloss.

Hot tip: if you’re going to be wearing a mask, keeping the lip makeup minimal like this is a good way to make sure it doesn’t rub off too much on your mask (and your face) and it’s easy to reapply with a quick touch-up later, no mirror necessary.

4. Muse: Amelie

Festive occasions are the perfect time to break out the glitter – we could probably all use a little sparkle under the circumstances! Amelie’s eye makeup started with a base of Rebekah Eyeshadow across the lid and contouring the eyes. Turtle Eyeshadow mixed with Skin Luminizer in Light brightens along the brow arches and Chloe Eyeshadow, applied dry, lines brightly the under eyes.

Vegan Mascara and Dark Brown Brow Pomade finish the job of ensuring all eyes are on…her eyes! In case you’re wondering, that gorgeous colour on her lips is Hazey Lip Gloss, our bestselling lip tone.

Ready for the fun part? Using bio-glitter JoAnn had in her kit (feel free to use glitter you already have at home, it’s just once!) and covering the eyes with a paper tissue as shown below, our makeup artist topped Amelie’s lids with a thick balm (think Egyptian Magic balm or Weleda Skin Food cream) following the shape of the crease, only slightly above, and applied glitter generously on top. You could also use lip gloss to make the glitter stick instead.

Preparing for Meetings, Dates and Zoom Parties Online

Bonus: Here are some practical tips and tricks for camera to help you look your best.

It’s all about the light.

The best light by far is natural light, so if you can manage to sit in front of a window, facing it, you should be good to go. However, at night time that doesn’t work obviously, or there just might not be a window available, and so placing a soft light behind your computer or phone is optimal. There are ways to achieve this including:

- If sitting at a desk, pull out your desk for extra room, grab a lamp with a daylight bulb and lampshade for filter and place it behind your computer or phone stand;

- Purchasing a ring light that you can plug in to the wall, or some smaller ones work with USB into a computer or phone;

- Be sure, under no circumstances, you are lit from behind (unless it’s Halloween, in which case that might have the desired effect!)

Camera angles.

The most flattering angle is one that has the camera slightly higher than eye level, but not so high that your chin is going way up. You can easily achieve this by putting your computer or phone stand on a few books, adjusting your chair, adjusting the angle, etc. If you’re going to be holding your phone with your hand, try to keep it higher than lower as best as you can.

The most flattering distance is one that frames your shoulders (with some wiggle room) as well as the top of your head (with some wiggle room).

And always remember to keep your back ground uncluttered!

Test first.

Don’t hesitate to try it all out first, before it happens for real, this way you don’t have to fiddle with any of those details in the moment and you can focus on being present and enjoying the time you’re spending with others instead, while feeling confident from your preparations. If you get the placement just right, you can put small pieces of paint tape (or other easily removable tape) on the floor or desk to mark where lights, desk, etc. need to be, so it’s quick and easy next time.