Month: February 2019

I don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions, but I did set a few goals or challenges for myself in 2019, which I seriously hope will come to fruition. One of which has to do with my makeup aesthetic. I can’t help it. I like what I like, and I really like a full-coverage foundation, a bright pop of blush, a dash of liquid eyeliner, and layers of both mascara and highlighter. That’s probably why this particular makeup vibe has been my signature since, oh, college. Of course, I’m constantly changing my roster of products to achieve said look, but the results, more or less, are pretty much the same.

I suppose some would consider my makeup approach “maximalist” in that I love full-coverage everything, and I purposely command a heavy hand whenever I’m going to town on my lashes and cheekbones. (I actually wrote all about my go-big-or-go-home routine here.) But I’m far from maximalist in my reach of color and texture. I rarely apply eye shadow, and if I do, it’s some variation of nude or gold. I rarely play with texture—be it on my lips or lids. (Typically, I steer clear of anything too matte or, conversely, too shiny.)

Once upon a time, I did play a lot with my lip color, but lately, I’ve been doing a consistent hard lean into my collection of rosy pink lipsticks and balms. So I’m vowing to be more experimental this year, and obviously, there’s no better place to seek endless inspiration than Instagram.

Being a beauty editor and all, I have a special knack for identifying exact or nearly identical product matches, so re-creating a look in my head mid-scroll is a snap. But as far as completing a maximalist makeup look with an equally chic outfit choice? Well, that’s where I fall short. To help me out, I sought advice from two fashion experts (aka Who What Wear Editorial Director Kat Collings and managing editor Michelle Scanga) to dress four maximalist makeup looks of my choosing.

Here’s the game: I’d take charge of choosing the must-have beauty essentials, and they’d take care of the tops, bras, booties, and everything in between. Curious to see what the three of us came up with? Keep scrolling for four screenshot-worthy maximalist makeup looks and what to wear with each.

Why are you so good to us, Zara? Is it because we give you all of our money? (We’ll go with that.) Anyway, leave it to Zara to get better and better every season, and that’s exactly what it’s done with spring 2018’s It shoes: these $46 leather crossover sandals. Last year’s iteration (which we covered at length here) is surprisingly still in stock, but it’s just released this year’s iteration of the versatile flat sandals, and they’re even better (which we didn’t think was possible).

The sandals are still $46 and are still made of genuine leather, but now Zara has blessed them with one of this season’s biggest trends: croc embossing. As you know, faux croc makes everything look far more expensive. Right now, the croc sandals are only available in black, but we suspect that they’ll be wildly popular and Zara will bless us with more color options. (Anyone else hoping for hot pink, or is it just me?)

Keep scrolling to shop the former Zara It shoes that are also soon to be the current It shoes, along with other similar styles.

Next up, the new Zara drop our whole office is Slacking each other about.