TikTok is infamous for creating viral {make up} trends…lookin’ at you Hailey Beiber and your ‘clean make up’ look. But have you noticed that some beauty looks evoke more of a ‘feeling’? The ‘Cold Girl’ make up trend, created by make up artist Zoe Kim Kenealy, is all about boosting serotonin by recreating perfectly flushed {cheeks}, as sported by protagonists in cringey (but very heartwarming) Christmas movies. How on earth is she able to have perfectly rosy cheeks in a blizzard, on Christmas morning, as she declares her undying love to the hot baker she just met, in the small town she recently moved to?! We’ll show you how, and you too can win the heart of the hot barista at your local Starbucks...
Step 1: Matte Matte and more Matte.
Firstly, we need you to step away from the dewyness. Although we’ve been obsessing over the glassy, glowy look for the last couple of years, we need to fall back in love with a good matte base. This look works its magic when your {complexion} is matte, making the cheeks pop with colour. We recommend using the OG in powder, Laura Mercier’s {Translucent Loose Setting Powder Ultra-Blur} over your foundation to really mattify the glow and get your base ready for blush. Or maybe try Vieve’s lightweight {Modern Powder Perfector} to tamp down the shiny parts of your complexion.
Step 2: Layer the Blush
The trick here is to layer a peachy-toned {blush}, with a pinky tone over the top. {Honest Beauty Creme Cheek Blush} in the shade ‘Coral Peach’ is perfect. This skin-friendly formula melts with the warmth of your fingers into a buildable pigment that suits every skin tone. You can then go wild with a powdery blush on top. We love {VIEVE Sunset Blush} in the shade Cherub. These finely milled pigments cast a soft-satin finish and meld with your skin. Heavenly… {PATRICK TA’s Major Headlines - Double-Take Cream + Powder Blush Duo} in the shade ‘Do We Know Her’ is also another perfect pairing of a coral-ly cream, and a pinky powder blush, housed in a sleek, slimline compact.
Step 3: Don’t forget your nose and moustache (gah!)
A most important step in this look is not forgetting to use that pink blush over your nose and above your lips. We know it sounds ridiculous, but applying the blush on these areas really helps to make the look more realistic. And we all know about Rudolph’s nose, don’t we…
Step 4: a soft blurred matte lip
Then pick a soft matte{lipstick} of your choice! We love Saie’s {Lip Blur Matte Blurring Lipstick} that is nourishing as well as pigmented or Kosas’s {Weightless Lipstick} which is full of lip-loving ingredients (including omega-rich mango seed butter and intensely hydrating shea butter). The trick here is not to just apply the lipstick as normal, but to use your fingers to dab the colour and blur it against your lip contours. No harsh liness here - it’s all about delicacy and looking as though you’ve just been kissed…
Step 5: powder over the cheeks to finish and apply some blush to the eyes.
Finally, swipe some of the blush over your lids and finish with a dab of loose powder on top of your blusher. This part is all about creating a ‘glistening’ effect to really bring the look together. Don't forget a bit of mascara and ta da you've nailed the cold girl look. But, if you’re feeling super lazy, and don’t want to use as many products, take your chosen lipstick and swipe on cheeks, nose and eyelids à la Katie Jane Hughes…Now where's that barista?...
Rina is Cult Beauty’s Junior SEO Copywriter and has always had a passion for beauty and skin care (rich moisturisers are her obsession). What started as a love for The Body Shop and their famed Born Lippy lip balms (in ‘Watermelon’ of course!), she is now more interested in finding products with proven effectiveness instead of broken promises. A loud and proud VIEVE fan, Rina owns nearly every item of the range and recommends the brand to anyone who will listen... When she’s not intently reading ingredient lists, you can find her either immersed in multiple true crime podcasts or co-hosting her own parenting one, with an *extra* hot cappuccino in hand.
