Holiday makeup is all about shimmer

By Paula Rath
Advertiser Staff Writer

This holiday season's hot makeup colors are subtle and shimmery, from eyeshadows to lipsticks to moisturizers. Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser

To usher in the new millennium, 1999 was the year of glitter. We sprinkled the stuff, in a dazzling array of colors, all over our eyes, lips, cheeks and bodies. 2000 toned the glitter down to shine, with glosses and glazes bringing up the color quotient.

Now, in 2001, a year when the entire world has taken a different tone, makeup is toned down from high shine to subtle shimmer.

Nearly every makeup line, from Neiman Marcus to Longs Drugs stores, has new products in special holiday colors. Here are a few that caught our eye.

Urban Decay's "Honey" (Sephora) is a golden face and body powder that looks, smells and, yes, tastes like honey. It's edible. A little dabbed on the decollete can create quite a stir.

Body & Soul, the internationally renowned makeup line that's based in Hawai'i, gets the glow with Glitz Face and Body Moisturizer. The sheer, neutral tone leaves skin glowing like a day at the beach. Ideal to dress up bare legs.

The line's new lip products are called "glows" rather than glosses. In precious little pots featuring "Gigi," the company's signature model, glows come in three colors: Reflection (sheer metallic), Heat (rich wine with gold undertones) and Imagine (pink with metallic gold). They're subtle worn alone with a lip liner or can add va-va-voom over any lipstick (Sephora and Body & Soul boutiques).

Eyeshadows take on a subtle shimmer in Almay's slim compact containing four shades: soft pink, deep chocolate, silvery putty and rich caramel (Longs).

Carol Shaw, creator of Lorac, offers an all-American salute with a triangle featuring three shimmering products in red, white and blue: Revel lip polish, Shimmer Highlight Cream and Navy Mascara (Sephora).

MAC's Christmas look, called "Black Tie," is all smoky eyes, silvery skin and burgundy lips. Then, in time for New Year's, the face will change to "Perverted Pearl," featuring the softest monochromatic sheen for eyes, cheeks and lips. Eyes are pearly grays, lavenders and blues. Cheeks and lips are pale pink or silver, alone or layered. It's a throwback to the '70s (MAC, Macy's).

From Lancome come "Juicy Tubes," a sheer smear of lipgloss in silver, coral, brown and beige (Macy's, Neiman Marcus).

Benefit's "Kitten" is powder that comes inside a puff. Pat the skin and a shimmer ensues. It comes in "Paris," a lilac shade, "New York," a coppery color, and "Kitten," a champagne look-alike (Macy's, Sephora).

Sugar, a line that appeals to teens and preteens, in which everything tastes like candy, has a palette of 10 shimmering lip shades in a pink container that's about as slim as a credit card (Sephora).

With these shimmery hints, it's easy to make this holiday season bright.