This Mascara Hack Makes Your Eyes Look Years Younger

It started with the “party” brow. As beauty fans became more daring with their delicate face framers—think bleached, alien-like arches, rhinestone decals, and ethereal, pastel hues—it only makes sense they’d want to invite their lashes to the function. And there’s no better time than the holidays to trial a striking makeup trend.

Yet unlike other glam projects (graphic liners, glitter wings, and such), a colorful lash is an incredibly low-lift venture. A colored mascara ornaments your tiny flutters in pink, silver, purple, bronze, and blue. 

The question remains: Which hue suits you? 

Why colorful lashes? 

When you think of minimalist yet bold makeup looks, certainly a red lip reigns supreme. But don’t underestimate the ease of colorful lashes! A mere coat or two of rainbow mascara can add some subtle color to your holiday ensemble—perfect for those who resort to the chic, all-black uniform. 

Donni Davy cosigns the growing trend: As the co-founder of Half Magic and head makeup artist for Euphoria, Davy is no stranger to intricate, show-stopping face beats (“Euphoria makeup” is now a beauty category in its own right!), but she tells me that colorful mascara is one of the simplest ways to play. 

“Mascara is a daily staple in most people’s makeup bags and is the easiest step when it comes to eye makeup,” she says, so swapping your everyday hue with a colorful coat is “literally the easiest way you can experiment with color on your eyes.”

It’s a great choice no matter the time of day, and you really can’t go wrong with any hue. However, if you’re looking for which color frames your irises best, consider the below your field guide: 

4 steps to master the glam 

Behold, the refreshingly simple tutorial: curl, coat, accent, finish—then dazzle. 

If you’ve read this far, I’ll go ahead and assume you want your lashes to make a statement this holiday season. And a quick curl goes a long way in helping them stand out. Just take it from Davy: “Curl your lashes really well before a colored mascara to get the most color and definition pay off,” she notes. 

For even more definition, she also recommends tightlining your upper waterline with brown liner. “I’ve been loving the softer (but still defined) look that brown gives,” she shares, but you could totally use black for even more drama. 

Time to wiggle on your colored mascara of choice. Remember that purple hues fabulously accentuate green, blue, and hazel eyes, blues and greens make brown orbs pop, and burgundy looks superb on green and brown orbs. Feel free to play around with shades, too: For example, a rich navy or electric blue hue can help build contrast and visual interest for darker brown-eyed beauties. 

Generally, though, Davy recommends sticking to jewel tones for their festive flair, like purples, emeralds, blues, and burgundies. If you’re feeling extra fancy, you can even apply one color on top and another on your bottom lashes—Davy personally loves a violet-teal combo. 

If you don’t have a colorful mascara on-hand, you can technically saturate a clean, dry spoolie with your liquid eyeshadow of choice and swipe away. However, “be prepared to have colorful raccoon eyes!” notes Davy. “Mascara is formulated specifically to adhere to lashes, so you’ll get a better performance out of an actual mascara.” Good news: You can shop some of my favorite recs down below.

You could totally stop right there, or elevate the look even further by pairing your mascara with a matching or complementary eyeliner. I personally love a monochromatic moment, so I decided to run a purple and blue shadow (courtesy of Thrive Causemetics and Neen, respectively) on my top and bottom lash lines to really help the colors stand out. 

The exact shades were a bit lighter than the violet and navy mascaras I have on in the photos below, but I think it works—if anything, the brighter shades so close to my waterline make my eyes appear even wider. 

As for the rest of your beat? Feel free to keep the makeup minimal. A soft nude shadow looks particularly pretty with a purple mascara, says Davy but you really don’t need much more eye paint than that. 

“I love how effortless yet striking teal [mascara] looks when I pair it with glowy skin and literally no other eye makeup,” she adds. Aside from an accent liner (if you choose), no need to dip into other eyeshadows or graphic liner looks—unless, of course, you’d prefer to go all out.

But for the minimalists among us, all you really need is that swipe of colorful mascara to make a festive statement. Complement your eye look with a dab of berry blush (the perfect pair for purple lashes), or an extra pearlescent highlighter to mimic the frosted blue hue around your orbs. Finish with a juicy, glossy lip, for good measure. 

Party time! 

There you have it: a festive beauty look that makes your eyes appear brighter and takes seconds to master. I’m partial to jewel tones to dress up your holiday ensemble (Davy agrees), but again, feel free to choose any colored mascara you fancy.

Makeup really has no ground rules, and everyone’s invited to the party. Don a ribbon or two, and you’ll be the reigning queen of merry minimalism.