Gold makeup: 7 Beauty Panel ways to wear this versatile spring trend

Date April 3, 2014

Gold! We can’t think of a more perfect shade of makeup to be on trend for Spring 2014—it’s super flattering, super wearable and a colour that’s open to a variety of interpretations. Just ask the designers who all included gold makeup in their looks this season: Jason Wu did a classic splash of metallic shadow on eyelids, while Dior turned heads with gold-tinted eyebrows. And, taking it one step further was Dries Van Noten, whose models had a splash of gold to part their hair. So really, the gold makeup trend is all about wearing the shade in a way that best suits your style.

January Jones’s beauty look from last night’s Mad Men premiere is an excellent example of how easy the gold makeup trend is to adapt for any occasion. She added a bold swipe of gold underneath a deep blue cat-eye, citing another of-the-moment trend (dragons!) as her inspiration. Of course, the best way to explore a makeup trend is by asking our Beauty Panel to share their takes, and this week we’ve got quite the roundup of gold looks. A Pop of Colour‘s Shayna Wiwierski loves the shade because it makes her blue eyes pop, which is why she wore gold to the Juno Awards this past weekend. (Her look is a definite red carpet winner!) Ellie Somfelean from My Beauty Box used rose gold pigments in her look to warm up the metallic look, while Spiced Beauty’s Jennifer Francis layered pigments for a deeper shade of gold. Clearly, however you wear this makeup trend you can’t go wrong—just click through all of this week’s Beauty Panel answers to see what we mean!

Challenge 56: How do you wear spring’s gold makeup trend? See the answers now! »

Have a beauty question you want to see the panel answer? Send it our way at [email protected]. Read on for the answers to this week’s challenge and for more goodness, get to know all contributors on our Beauty Panel hub page.

Amy Mckissock
Burlington | The Prettyvain

From bedazzling gold brows at Dior to lightly dusted golden lids at Michael Van Der Ham, it was clear that the go to metallic this summer is GOLD! And yet as I sifted through the beautiful models who featured this golden trend on the runway there was one gold loving male I just just couldn’t seem to get off my mind: Goldmember (yes, the character from Austin Powers). The way he felt about the precious metal in the movie depicts my feelings towards this trend perfectly; I love gold.

But not all of us work in a creative field where we can waltz in with a gilded hair line and get away with it. So how do you re-create this trend for day to day wear? My solution is simple, a pop of gold liner along the lower lash line! Applying this metallic along the lash line is not only unexpected, it also remains work appropriate and brightens up the eye making it appear larger! And the best part is that you can achieve it by simply adding a few seconds onto your regular beauty regime! If you don’t own a gold liner simply dip a brush into a bit of water before picking up your favourite golden shadow to intensify it and then work it along the lower lash line. So embrace your inner Goldmember and go for the gold!

Products used: Urban Decay Naked Foundation, Rimmel Stay Matte Powder, Nars Bronzer in “Laguna,” Benefit Box’ O Powder Blush in “Dallas,” M.A.C Mineralize SkinFinish in “Lightscapade,” M.A.C Eyeshadow in”Charcoal Brown,” Lancôme Art Liner, Benefit They’re Real Mascara, Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil in “Goldmine,” and MAC Lipstick (LE) in “To Catch A Sailor”

Shayna Wiwierski
Winnipeg | A Pop of Colour

I was so excited to see that gold makeup was all the rage on the runways. When it comes to a glamorous look, I always go for the gold as I find it makes my blue eyes pop and it’s just so pretty and easy to pull off.

Personally, I think gold suits any skin tone, you just have to know how to pull it off. Since I have fair skin, I find that cooler-toned colours look better on me, however, I love pulling off a gold smoky eye just as much as a silver one. It’s also easily transferable from day to night, go with something a little lighter during the day and then add dark copper-toned hues to your crease to up the wow factor.

I wore this look to the Juno Awards this past Sunday night in Winnipeg because I figured I would go all glam since it’s an award show. If I’m pulling out all the stops, I know I’ll be as good as gold with this kind of look.

Products used: Marc Jacobs Beauty Style Eye-Con in “No. 3 The Star,” Rimmel London ScandalEyes Waterproof Gel Liner in “Black,” CoverGirl Lash Blast Clump Crusher mascara, Eylure false lashes, IT Cosmetics IT-02 Ultra Repair Liquid Oxygen Foundation in “Fair,” Make Up For Ever 5 Camouflage Concealer Palette in “2,” Marc Jacobs Beauty LOVEMARC Lip Gel in “Strange Magic,” Sleek Face Contour Kit in “Light,” Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in “Darling”

Janella Panchamsingh
Toronto | Bold n Beautiful Makeup

Gold is one of my favourite colours to work with, it complements every skin tone because there’s many shades and undertones to choose from. I especially love to pair gold shadows with a matte crease colour to give depth. It makes the eyes pop more. Also wearing gold shadows wet gives that foiled finish.

Products used: M.A.C Eyeshadow in “Goldmine,” Smashbox Full Exposure Palette, Red Cherry #523 lashes, Marc Jacobs Marc’er Precision Pen Liner

Maggie Ng
Toronto | Beauty PhD

Going for the gold! Even though the Winter Olympics are now over, gold is still going strong, especially on the runways as of lately! Gold has a very similar feel to bronze, but a lot warmer. It’s a fairly neutral tone that with the right shade, most people should be able to pull off. For this look, I used a shimmery pigment by M.A.C called “Old Gold” for my eyes. It has a slight green-ish undertone to it when seen at different angles. I decided to contrast it with some purple liner on the bottom lid, which gives it a slight “royal” effect, definitely Egyptian-inspired with the top and bottom eyeliners winging out.

I wanted my skin to have a nice glow, so to prep, I used OROGOLD 24K Vitamin C Booster Facial Serum. Did you know all of OROGOLD products contain real gold in them?! (Pretty crazy, but on a side note, they say Cleopatra slept in a gold mask every night to enhance her captivating beauty. Interesting…) I then used a luminizing primer by Smashbox. I also used a bronzer for the cheeks and mixed some of the M.A.C “Old Gold” pigment with it for a more golden highlight on my cheekbones. And lastly, topped off my lips with a shimmery golden-toned gloss by Nars called “Gold Digger”!

Products used : OROGOLD 24K Vitamin C Booster Facial Serum, Laura Mercier Foundation Primer, Smashbox Photo Finish Luminizing Foundation Primer, Glo Minerals GloSatin II Finish in “Golden Light,” Make Up For Ever Brush in “#148,” Lise Watier Aquarella Bronzing Powder Duo, M.A.C Old Gold Pigment, M.A.C “Darling Coquette” Pigment, Lise Watier Eyeliner in Violet, NYC New York Color High Definition Liquid Eyeliner in “Extra Black,” NYC New York Color Big Bold Curl Mascara in “Black,” Deca Cosmetics Eyebrow Pencil in “Dark Brown,” Nars Lipgloss in “Gold Digger”

Ellie Somfelean
Montreal | My Beauty Box

Golden makeup is one of my favourites look to wear during the summer. It complements sunkissed skin so well and can look very sophisticated. This look is so glam, it’s perfect for a night out or, if you’re like, for days where you just want to look all made up.

For the eyes I busted out my beloved pigments, I used my Annabelle iTransformer to foil a light gold all over the lid and then applied a darker gold in the crease and blended it well; the more you blend the better it’ll look. I framed my eyes with an eyeliner and then took some of the gold pigment fixed with the transformer and used it as an under-eye eyeliner.
I started with a foundation a shade darker than my skin making sure to take it down my neck and blend it well. I contoured with bronzer and added a coral blush. I finished off the lip with the perfect summer lip: a bright coral orange which in my opinion complements the warmth of the pigments and pulls the entire look together. Plus, it screams summer! *sigh*

Products used: Neutrogena Healthy Skin Foundation, Covergirl Trumagic The Sunkisser, M.A.C Pigments in “Rose Gold” and “Old Gold,” Annabelle iTransformer, Clarins Lipstick in “Juicy Clementine”

Jennifer Francis
Durham | Spiced Beauty

I love gold! It’s a colour that you can never go wrong with. Plus it’s perfect for every occasion. Doesn’t matter if it’s day or night. It works on every skin tone. I tend to gravitate towards deeper golds on the lid with a lighter gold in the inner corners to make my eyes pop. To create this look I used three main products: Starting with Hard Candy’s That’s How Eye Roll in Emma-belle as a base. One end is a longwear shadow stick and the other is a loose shimmer which applies with a roller ball applicator. Then I used dapped Essence Metal Glam eyeshadow in Golden Up! over the Hard Candy loose shimmer.

I finished up the look with my new must have from Hard Candy Highlight & Contour Cheek duo in Sunkissed. In one swipe apply a highlighter/bronzer and illuminate my cheeks. I just used to fingers to blend it in.

Products used: Hard Candy That’s How Eye Roll in “Emma-belle,” Essence Metal Glam eyeshadow in “Golden Up!,” Hard Candy Highlight & Contour Cheek duo in “Sunkissed,” Maybelline Superstay 14 Hour Lipstick in “Wine and Forever,” Mary Kay Kohl Eyeliner in “Golden Illusion” and Hard Candy Ginormous Lash Voluminizing Mascara