After a year of wide-swinging emotions, the arrival of New Year’s Eve means all sorts of good things: closure, celebration, Champagne. Yes, the revelry will be muted; the usual collective goodwill that floats through a crowd of soused strangers will be winnowed down to a party of pod-size proportions. But absent the pressure to have a perfect night, suddenly there’s room to dream up a different kind of New Year’s Eve, down to the makeup for the evening. After all, an unprecedented year calls for a free-wheeling send-off. Glitter is just the beginning.
With that in mind, eight makeup artists each propose a distinct vision for a glamorous night in. Romy Soleimani goes long on restorative skin prep, begun the night before, for a fresh-faced look brightened by a Chanel red lip and a touch of Swarovski. Lucky Bromhead, who oversaw Catherine O’Hara’s makeup on Schitt’s Creek, imagines Moira Rose as muse: no better spokesperson for extreme decadence in a state of cooped-up angst. For laid-back cool, Fara Homidi imagines a surfer’s sun-kissed take on disco glam. The idea is an experimental shake-up, or maybe just an indulgent night of skin care. Let the extra fineries usher in something good.
The editorial makeup artist, who recently readied Stacey Abrams and Serena Williams for their respective Vogue shoots and created the cat eyes for Salvatore Ferragamo’s spring 2021 runway, dubs her New Year’s Eve vibe “surf life x disco. Wearing anything neoprene in the color highlighter green will do!” Her makeup prescription calls for “beautifully sun-kissed skin accompanied with splashes of fine glitter on the eyes and cheekbones,” says Homidi. Starting with a base of Chantecaille’s Just Skin tinted moisturizer, she suggests a sweep of Tom Ford bronzer across the forehead, cheeks, nose, and chin. Next comes MAC’s finely milled glitter as an ethereal stand-in for highlighter: “It might look a bit messy, but that’s O.K.! It’s all about placement, not precision.” To finish the look: dark brown eyeliner in the waterline (“a bit more mysterious than a heavy black liner”), plus lipstick in what Homidi calls the “perfect universal warm bronze shade.”