Makeup Labs

Tag: maximalist makeup

  • Is Euphoria Makeup Back? Why Glitter Makeup and Face Gems Are Trending Again

    Is Euphoria Makeup Back? Why Glitter Makeup and Face Gems Are Trending Again

    If your TikTok feed has been filling up with rhinestone eyes, glitter tears and purple eyeshadow lately, you’re not imagining it. Euphoria makeup is back, and this time there’s a very good reason for it: Euphoria Season 3 finally premiered on HBO in April 2026 after a four-year wait, and the beauty world has responded exactly how you’d expect.

    The show’s lead makeup artist, Donni Davy, has described the Season 3 vibe as “feral, unapologetic, anti-clean girl high glam” (Marie Claire, 2026), which tells you pretty much everything about where things are headed this season. After years of barely-there skin tints and brushed-up brows, the pendulum has swung back toward colour, shimmer and a little deliberate chaos on the face, and honestly, it’s about time.

    Here’s what Euphoria makeup actually involves, why it’s resonating so hard right now, and how to recreate it.

     

    In This Guide:

     

    1. Why Euphoria Is Having a Moment
    2. The Eyes: Colour, Shimmer and Liner
    3. Face Gems: How to Wear Them Right
    4. The Lips
    5. The full product list

     

    1. Why Euphoria Is Having a Moment

     

    Euphoria’s original run back in 2019 didn’t just influence makeup trends, it created an entirely new aesthetic category. Glitter tears, rhinestone placement, neon graphic liner and bold pigmented eyeshadow became so recognisable that “Euphoria makeup” turned into its own searchable term in its own right.

    Season 3’s return has reignited all of it, and the timing couldn’t be better, with beauty writers noting that this kind of playful, maximalist eye makeup is set to dominate 2026, and crediting Euphoria as one of the shows that brought the trend into the mainstream in the first place (The Independent, 2026). Zara Larsson’s bedazzled tour looks have added more fuel to the fire too, and if you want to know more about those, have a read of our guide to Zara Larsson’s Midnight Sun makeup looks. Put it all together and you get a genuine cultural moment where glitter and face gems feel exciting again instead of excessive.

     

    2. The Eyes: Colour, Shimmer and Liner

     

    The eye look is really where Euphoria makeup lives. The signature isn’t one specific technique, it’s the combination of bold shadow, diffused colour and a kind of deliberate imprecision. Things aren’t meant to look perfectly blended or sharply lined here. The whole point is that it reads as emotional and expressive, a little undone in the best way.

    The Lancôme Hypnôse Eyeshadow Palette in Reflet d’Améthyste is the right starting point for the purple and pink tones that run through so much of this look. Sweep colour across the lid and brow bone without worrying too much about precision, then build depth at the outer corner. The Charlotte Tilbury Eyes to Mesmerise cream eyeshadow in Rose Gold adds a different dimension on top of that, since cream formulas catch the light in a way powder just can’t, giving you that glossy, almost wet-look lid that shows up throughout the show. It’s worth knowing this particular range is fully vegan too, which is a nice bonus if that’s something you look out for. Press it onto the centre of the lid over your powder base and blend the edges softly so it melts in rather than sitting on top.

    For the liner, the NYX Professional Makeup Epic Ink Liner gives you the clean, precise line you need along the upper lash line, and it holds up well even through a long night out since it’s waterproof. Draw it as sharp or as graphic as you want, there’s no wrong answer here. Then press the NYX Professional Makeup Face & Body Glitter underneath the eye or along the brow bone. This is the glitter tears moment, and it’s a lot easier to pull off than it looks once you’ve got the right product on hand. Both of these NYX products are vegan and PETA-certified cruelty-free.

     

    3. Face Gems: How to Wear Them Right

     

    Face gems are the detail most people find intimidating, but they’re also the one that makes the biggest difference to the overall look. The key is placement and restraint. A single cluster at the outer corner of the eye, or gems scattered loosely across the cheekbone, reads as intentional. Gems arranged in a perfectly symmetrical pattern across the whole face tends to read as costume rather than makeup.

    London-based makeup artist Amalie Russell has said that the key to wearing glitter tears or gems is pairing the look with minimal skin, so the result feels modern and editorial rather than overwhelming (The Independent, 2026). Keep your base light, let the gems do the talking, and scatter rather than pattern them. Use a small amount of lash glue on the back of each gem and press into place with tweezers, letting the glue dry slightly before you press down for a better hold.

     

    4. The Lips

     

    In most Euphoria looks, the lips are just as bold as the eyes. They’re glossy, shimmery and full of dimension, holding their own against all the colour and sparkle happening above them.

    The KIKO Milano 3D Hydra Lipgloss works perfectly for this. It gives a high-shine, hydrating finish with a slight shimmer in sheer to medium coverage shades, so you get that editorial, glassy lip that feels just as intentional as the eye look rather than an afterthought. Apply directly from the wand and build up coverage if you want even more dimension.

     

    5. The Full Product List

     

     

    The Euphoria aesthetic has always been about using makeup as self-expression rather than a tool for looking polished, and that’s exactly why it keeps coming back around. You don’t need a festival or a costume party as an excuse to wear glitter, you just need to feel like it. 

     

    Featured Products

    References:

     

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  • Zara Larsson’s Midnight Sun Makeup Looks: A Step by Step Guide

    Zara Larsson’s Midnight Sun Makeup Looks: A Step by Step Guide

    If you’ve been anywhere near TikTok or Instagram this year, you already know about the Zara Larsson Midnight Sun era. The Swedish pop star has been serving look after look on her world tour, and her makeup, created by close friend and collaborator Sophia Sinot, has taken on a life of its own online (Refinery29, 2026). Think rhinestone-scattered cheekbones, purple and pink eyeshadow blended into something that looks like a sunset, face gems cascading down the temples, and lips so glossy they could double as a mirror. 

    As Sinot explained it, the clean girl era has had its moment, and she felt it was time to bring some fun back into makeup (Napier, 2026), and honestly, looking at how this trend has taken over everyone’s feeds, she’s onto something. The Midnight Sun aesthetic has been described as cosmic-fairy-meets-iridescent-siren, which sounds a bit much until you actually see it: bold enough to stop a scroll, but surprisingly wearable once you break it down step by step (Who What Wear, 2025).

    Here’s how to get it.

     

    In This Guide:

    1. The Base: Glowy, Not Cakey
    2. The Eyes: Purple, Pink and Plenty of Shimmer
    3. The Blush: Turned All the Way Up
    4. Face Gems and Glitter: The Signature Detail
    5. The Lips: Glossy and Glazed
    6. The Full Product List

    1. The Base: Glowy, Not Cakey

    The base for this look is all about skin that looks alive rather than perfected. Zara’s skin on stage reads luminous rather than matte, so reach for a light-coverage foundation or tinted moisturiser, something that lets your skin breathe instead of masking it completely, and apply it with a damp sponge without overworking it into the skin.

    A light dusting of setting powder under the eyes only is really all you need here, since anything more starts to dull the glow you’re trying to build. The goal is a base that almost disappears so the eye and cheek drama can do the talking later on. If you want to go deeper on how to get that lit-from-within finish to actually last, our guide to glowy makeup secrets walks through how to build it without it sliding off your face by midday.

    2. The Eyes: Purple, Pink and Plenty of Shimmer

    This is where the look really comes alive. Sinot’s signature on Zara is a wash of colour across the entire lid and up into the brow bone, with no sharp cut crease and no harsh lines, just colours that melt into each other like an actual sunset.

    The Lancôme Hypnôse Eyeshadow Palette in Reflet d’Améthyste is exactly what you need for this. Start with a soft lavender or lilac tone across the entire lid and brow bone, then deepen the outer corner with a richer purple or magenta, blending until the edges are diffused and dreamy rather than crisp.

    Once the shadow’s set, it’s time for shimmer. Press NYX Professional Makeup Face & Body Glitter onto the centre of the lid and inner corner using your ring finger, and resist the urge to blend this part out since you want it sitting as a concentrated sparkle exactly where the light hits. NYX has also been PETA-certified cruelty-free for years now, so if that’s something you look out for when buying makeup, it’s worth knowing this one ticks that box too.

    Lashes should be full but not overly dramatic, just a few coats of black mascara and you’re done on the lash front. The eyeshadow and gems are doing enough work already.

    3. The Blush: Turned All The Way Up

    Zara’s blush placement is genuinely one of the most recognisable parts of the look, and it’s not subtle in the slightest. It sweeps high onto the cheekbones, blends up toward the temples, and sometimes wraps slightly under the eye to create that flushed, almost sun-warmed look.

    Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blush in Happy is perfect for getting this right. Use a fluffy blending brush and apply in circular motions, starting at the apple of the cheek and sweeping upward, then keep building it up rather than holding back. If it looks like a lot, you’re probably on the right track, since the blush on Zara’s tour looks would read as “way too much” by clean girl standards, and that’s really the whole point. It’s worth knowing too that the formula is Leaping Bunny certified and fully vegan, so the brand’s ethics keep pace with how good the actual product is.

    4. Face Gems and Glitter: The Signature Detail

    This is the step that ties the whole thing together. On stage, Zara and Sinot scatter rhinestones and face gems across the cheekbones, temples, and sometimes along the inner corners of the eyes, and while it sounds extra (because it is extra), the effect is genuinely stunning both in photos and in person.

    Reusable, adhesive-backed face gems are easier to apply than you’d think. Use a small amount of lash glue or the adhesive included in the kit, apply it to the back of each gem with tweezers, and press onto clean skin, placing them in loose clusters rather than perfectly symmetrical rows since the imperfect scatter is what makes the look feel intentional instead of try-hard.

    You can also dust a little loose glitter along the cheekbone above the gems for extra dimension, layering sparkle so it catches light from a few different angles at once.

    5. The Lips: Glossy and Glazed

    After all that eye drama, the lips need to stay simple. Zara’s lip looks on tour tend to be a rosy nude or soft pink, nothing that competes with the eyes, but just enough to look glossy and glazed.

    Line your lips lightly with a nude liner to define the shape, then apply the Maybelline Lifter Gloss in Moon straight from the wand. This gloss gives a plumped, high-shine finish that reads beautifully on camera and in the mirror, and thanks to the hyaluronic acid in the formula, your lips actually feel hydrated instead of tacky or stiff.

    6. The Full Product List

     

     

    Zara’s look is proof that maximalist makeup isn’t about doing the most, it’s about doing it with intention, and you can start with just one element of this and build from there. For more inspiration on bringing texture and shimmer into your everyday look, have a read of our piece on glitter makeup and face gems making a comeback for ways to wear this trend well beyond the stage. You don’t need to be performing at a sold-out arena to have a bit of fun with your face.

    Featured Products

    References:

     

    This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through our links, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. See our affiliate disclosure for more information.