How to Wear Glitter to Work (Without Getting Written Up)
As a working mother and wife who spends most of her time in the office, fun things like bright colors, sparkles and iridescence rarely grace my body.
I mostly get my kicks when walking through the toddler girls section of Target or the sale section of H&M online, and grabbing the most interesting pieces for my three-year old. The assortment of options is really endless. While dressing my daughter serves as a temporary fix, the little girl inside of me who loves all these things still lives on. They make me happy.
If you’re anything like me, you too love to look at beautiful things that play tricks on the eyes, and better yet, wear them.
How can we ride the ever so delicate line between appropriate and professional, and yet still add a dash of dazzle and sprinkle of shimmer, to feed our inner child? Here are some ideas.
Duochrome Shadow
Source: Artist Couture
Iridescence is one of nature’s most spectacular phenomenons. On the surface of animals and insects, it comes from the texture of the surfaces that causes light to bounce off in such a way that plays with our eyes. From one angle, we see a certain color and from a few steps over we see something completely different. Somehow cosmetics creators have been able to replicate this, and we now can mimic that same effect on our own skin.
A swipe of a duochrome shadow that glints plays between a skin colored tone or a neutral is the best option for daytime makeup. Only in a certain light would the unexpected color appear. Here are some of my favorite options:
Liquid Highlighter
Source: Stila
I’m sure we all are pretty tired of highlighter after its huge outbreak over the last couple of years. Swipes of gold across the cheeks of women became the norm, even though they looked more like war marks than the glow they were supposed to replicate. But a little glow and sparkle need not be significant, or even that visible, to make our day. The best way to wear daytime highlight is to liquify it, and apply it in a controlled manner. I personally like to wet my beauty blender and dab it into a powder or loose highlighter. When applying I try to ensure that its smooth, and blends with the texture of my skin, as opposed to sitting on the skin. Another option is to just use a liquid highlighter, and smooth it over the face mixed into a moisturizer. Sparingly, though - we don’t want to look like the sun. Here are some of my favorites:
Gilded Glosses
A self-proclaimed lip gloss afficianado, there’s nothing I like better than a moisturizing, thick clear gloss. Sometimes, however, I like a little bit more depth, without going into the deep end of my lipstick collection. A sheerly pigmented gloss with a little bit of glitter or shimmer can usually do the trick, but one must choose carefully. Some glosses that appear to be sheer in the packaging, can cover your lips in metallic dust in one swipe. Of course there’s nothing wrong with that look if that’s what you’re going for. When entering the corporate world, however, we try to play it lowkey, and hide the juvenile in us if we can. Here are some of my favorite options of lip colors that pigmented enough for brown skin, sheer enough for daytime wear, but also have that effervescence that makes one smile:
There are lots of other ways to subtly bring some sparkle to the workplace. With our nails, body glitters, and even hair accessories.
Source: MAC
Cover Image Source: Lotstar, The Makeup Artist
