The new cool: A modern toolkit for updating your winter makeup wardrobe

Winter makeup isn’t what it used to be.

In fact, our makeup kits of late are a far cry from the powder-filled routines of our past, coloured with vampy shades of brown lipstick and matte-finish foundations. 

As the weather cools down, we’re reaching for hydrating complexion-perfectors that err on the side of skin care. Cream formulas for everything from eyeshadow to blush is a given. And we’re rarely seen with a lip option heavier than an opaque gloss.

So rustle up a pen and paper and prepare to take notes, school’s in session, and we’re learning all about the new way to wear makeup in winter.

Switch: Powder for cream formulas

As far as we’re concerned, using powder makeup formulas at a time of year when our skin is at its driest is just plain dumb. Instead we’re trying to emulate the soft glow we’re usually seen sporting in summer with a slew of dewy-finish cream formula products.

We’re talking blush that melts into skin for a seamlessly blended flush, highlighter that leaves you with that highly-coveted glass skin finish, and cream eyeshadows that add a natural dose of colour to the lids, and diffuse easily with the light touch of a finger.

We recommend:

The Charlotte Tilbury Quick & Easy Makeup Kit in ‘Sun-kissed’ ($99 at Charlotte Tilbury) is one of those makeup concepts that sounds too good to be true. Yet here we are in a day and age where a 5-minute makeup kit can fit easily into even the slimmest of purses. 

Equipped with a bronze eyeshadow stick, creamy blush stick, and translucent-finish highlighter stick, this kit is our best buddy for days when we opted to hit the snooze button on our alarm in exchange for 10 more minutes in bed.

Switch: Full-coverage foundation for tinted serums

We don’t know when it happened, but somewhere along the road, the idea of plastering a full-coverage, matte-finish foundation on our dry, pallid winter skin just seemed to lose its cache. 

Over time these far less-forgiving foundation options were swapped out for lightweight serum foundations. These barely-detectable formulas incorporated some of our favourite skin care ingredients, and subsequently quelled our anxiety about drowning our pores in a sea of cakey makeup.

We recommend:

As far as our current complexion routine goes, we’re doing the bare-minimum. We reach for the Rose Inc Skin Enhance Luminous Tinted Serum ($73 at MECCA) most days and touch up any redness or dark circles with a few carefully placed dots of concealer. 

Infused with a slew of hydrating, brightening and protecting ingredients such as hyaluronic acid and squalane, this stuff helps to keep our skin feeling and looking moisturised, radiant and smooth all damn day. Seriously, if you want to dupe people into thinking you’re drinking your recommended eight glasses of water a day without actually putting the work in, we’d add this one to the roster.

Switch: Lipsticks for lip oils

Who remembers when we all used to rely on lipstick shades of plum, brown and deep red to let everyone around us know that we had officially transitioned into our winter makeup routine? So bold. So brave. 

It’s time (thank god) to retire your drying liquid lipstick formulas and reach for more moisturising options. Forget the gloss you wore all summer long too. 

Lip oils offer a far more nourishing solution to lasting lip colour, and leave your pout with a flattering stain that lasts well past application.

We recommend:

While everyone on TikTok may be obsessed with finding Dior Addict Lip Glow Oil dupes, if you play your cards right and spend your money wisely, a luxury lip oil can last you all season. 

We’re reaching for the fruit-inspired shades of the Hermès Paris Hermesistible Infused Care Oil ($80 at Hermès). Citrus-centric or cherry-stained, there’s a hydrating, high-shine hue for you.

Your makeup routine isn’t the only thing in need of updating when the weather cools down. These are the best winter perfumes on offer this season. 

Main image credit: @ninapark