Key Takeaways
- “Snowflake Shadow” is sheer, shimmery, and on everyone’s winter makeup mood board.
- To get the look, all you need is an icy shimmery eyeshadow.
I live in Minnesota, and so far this winter it has been snowing nonstop. This is a good thing (I’d rather it be cold and snowy than just cold) made even better by the fact that the snow has been light and fluffy, easy to shovel, and ultimately very pretty.
I might have to stay inside most of the time, but the view out my window is—what do they call it in “Let it Snow,” again?—delightful. So delightful, in fact, that it’s inspired the name of my current favorite makeup look. The winter glam forecast is in, and it’s going to be all “Snowflake Shadow,” all season long.
The Trend
Snowflake Shadow is a sheer, shimmery eyeshadow look reminiscent of a hundred (a thousand? they’re hard to quantify) tiny snowflakes resting on your lids. This year’s take on Fairy Dust Eyeshadow, it’s super soft and ethereal, the eyeshadow equivalent of the final performance in Ice Princessminus when she falls.
@paintedbyesther/Instagram
Donni Davy, Euphoria’s makeup head and founder of Half Magic Beauty, called the look “grown up” while previously chatting with Byrdie.
“By grown-up I mean chic, non-chunky, highly shimmery ‘glitter’ on the eyelids,” she explained. Think “a magical veil of diamonds on your eyelids.” Or snowflakes, obviously. They’re nature’s diamonds, aside from actual diamonds.
We’ve seen this look showing up on red carpets recently, as well as in basically every celebrity’s holiday party Instagram posts. It’s very pop star (imagine how it gleams under the stage lights!) but could look just as at home when worn to your cookie exchange. ‘Tis the season, after all.
The most important aspects of Snowflake Shadow is its lack of opacity and high percentage of teeny tiny glitter pigments, which give it a sort of slick, wet look. Cream-based shadows often work best in this situation, though the right powder will do just fine.
@lilly_keys/Instagram
How to Get the Look
Snowflake Shadow is super easy to do yourself. You only need one really good shadow (though there’s no harm in building a collection) and a vision (of sugarplums, specifically).
@gracemariaellington/Instagram
When she created the gorgeous Snowflake Shadow look on Havana Rose Liu you see at the top of this story, makeup artist Misha Shahzada’s wanted to compliment the actor’s silver dress with fresh makeup that included a little pop of “something.”
“The goal was to create a texture that is transparent and glowy,” she tells Byrdie. “With that being said, all the products used were cream based and extremely sheer/buildable formulas. To add more of a pop, I added the slightest amount of loose fine pigment to the inner corners of the eye.”
@misha212/Instagram
As for the rest of your glam?
“It’s important to add that skin prep is critical in achieving this overall look, as it helps create a glow from within,” Shahzada adds. “Avoid matte textures, and use a sheer foundation (such as the Victoria Beckham Beauty) and only apply translucent powder to the T-Zone, so the rest of the face stays dimensional. Lastly, keep everything diffused, avoiding any harsh lines.”
Snow pretty.
