10 Tips for Creating Enchanting Evening Makeup Looks

Get ready for a magical evening of feeling and looking your best with the tips, tricks, and makeup inspiration in my guide to evening makeup looks.

Darlings, before you embark on an enchanting evening, it’s time to create an elegant evening makeup look that will mesmerise everyone you meet. Discover my tips and tricks for dialling up your makeup on a magical evening and unlock evening makeup inspiration to transform your look ready for a night of delights!

What is an Evening Makeup Look?

An evening makeup look is a dialled-up makeup style that is more enhanced than a simple daytime look. When you are heading to an event in the evening, you may want to go slightly more glamorous with your makeup than you do on a day-to-day basis. Wearing makeup in the evening calls for enhancing the look of your eyes, perfecting the look of your skin, dialling up your natural glow and making your lips look even more luscious. 

Evening makeup looks differ from person to person and depend on the occasion and personal preference - you might choose to wear an understated, soft-glam makeup look or to create a full-glam makeup moment. Generally, the aim is to create an elegant look to wear on a beautiful evening out.

Evening Makeup Look model shot

The Differences Between Day Makeup and Evening Makeup

Evening makeup looks tend to use more makeup products than a simple daytime makeup routine and often feature bolder shades and artistic techniques. They are often more full coverage finish than a quick-and-easy daytime look and pay more attention to accentuating the look of the lips and eyes. The time of day also allows evening makeup looks to take on a more-is-more approach thanks to flattering mood lighting; during the evening, products like full-coverage foundations, highlighters and face powders look more diffused and don’t have to be concerned about looking unnatural in direct sunlight.

10 Essential Evening Makeup Tips

Darlings, discover how to create a beautiful, elegant evening makeup look with my top 10 tips for mesmerising makeup that looks gorgeous at events, on a night out and at any evening soirée.

  1. Charlotte's Beautiful Skin Foundation and Airbrush Flawless Foundation with texture swatches

    1. Reach for flattering medium to full-coverage foundations

    In the evening, reach for a long-lasting foundation formula that will look beautiful all night long. I recommend reaching for a medium or full-coverage foundation that perfects the look of your complexion and creates a flawless-looking base for the rest of your makeup to glide onto. When dialling up an evening makeup look by enhancing the look of the lips and eyes and applying blush, bronzer and contour, I like to work on a perfected-looking canvas as this helps the colours and textures look more seamless on the skin.

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  2. Model showing the placement for contour, blush and highlighter

    2. Contour for your face shape

    Contouring is the secret to unlocking the sculpted-looking facial framework that your evening makeup look is calling for. Always remember, darlings, for contour to successfully trick the eye and create a chiselling effect, you need to follow the dimensions of your individual face shape. Once you have identified whether you have a heart, diamond, square, oval or round face, you’ll discover how to contour your cheekbones, jawline and forehead to create the illusion of a more sculpted face shape.

    Learn more about contouring for your face shape

  3. Model applying Hollywood Glow Glide Face Architect Highlighter to the cheekbones

    3. Apply highlighter for an evening glow

    The evening is a perfect time to apply highlighter thanks to all the flattering types of light that are on display. From magical moonlight to ambient candlelight and mesmerising spotlights, the night will cast all sorts of light onto your face that will interact beautifully with the glow you’ve created with your highlighter. Applying a highlighter that plays with the light and gives your face and cheeks a gorgeous glow will light up the look of your evening makeup and ensure all eyes are on you!

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  4. Pillow Talk eye makeup perfect for creating an amped up evening makeup look

    4. Dial up your eyeshadow look

    Your evening makeup look is the perfect opportunity to experiment with your eye makeup. Choose a brighter-coloured eyeshadow than usual or add glistening shimmer shades to your go-to neutral eyeshadow looks to dial up your eye makeup ready for the evening. Buff a shimmering cream eyeshadow onto the lids for a simple wash of eye-enhancing colour, or perhaps apply a dazzling single eyeshadow all over the lid for an instant shot of shimmer.

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    Discover one eyeshadow makeup looks

  5. Close up of model wearing a winged eyeliner look using The Feline Flick liquid eyeliner

    5. Create a bold feline flick winged eyeliner

    My signature feline flick is the perfect addition to every evening makeup look! I love to create the most magical cat-eye effect by gliding a liquid or kohl eyeliner upwards and outwards from the lash line to form a classic wing. Winged eyeliner gives your eye look an instant lift effect and creates a sensationally sultry look that suits everyone! I love to wear a feline flick at any time of day, darlings, but in the evening, I like to go bigger, bolder, and more ferocious!

    Discover how to apply winged eyeliner

  6. MJ Rodriguez wearing a Pillow Talk evening makeup look

    6. Wear false eyelashes or an extra coat of mascara

    Everything looks diffused at night, darlings, so amplify the look of your lashes with a pair of false eyelashes or a couple of extra coats of mascara. False eyelashes are a wonderful way to cheat the look of fluttery, fanned-out lashes, however, layering lashings and lashings of volumising, lift-effect mascara can build up a mesmerising lash look that rivals the look of false eyelashes! When your lashes look fuller and more defined, they will enhance the look of your eye makeup and pop in any pictures from the evening.

    Discover how to get the false-lash effect with mascara

  7. Model close up wearing Airbrush Flawless Lip Blur in Ruby Blur

    7. Choose a statement shade of lipstick

    Make a statement with your evening makeup by applying a bold and beautiful shade of lipstick! During the daytime, so many of us opt for barely there lipstick shades like nudes and pinks – so I’m encouraging you to change things up on your evening out! Whether you wear a vibrant red, a beautiful berry, an out-of-the-box orange, or a perfect plum, make a statement with your lipstick and you’re sure to turn heads for all the right reasons!

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  8. Model wearing a dialled up evening makeup look using Pinkgasm Sunset Beauty Light Wand

    8. Go bolder with your blush

    Darlings, during the daytime it can be easy to over-do your blush, but the evening is every blush lover’s time to shine! Evening makeup looks are dressier and more dialled up than a simple daytime look, so add an extra dot or two of beautifying liquid blush – perhaps even choose a bolder, brighter shade than you normally would to really make the apples of your cheeks pop! Your blush is often the first part of your makeup to fade, darlings, so don’t be afraid to add a little bit more!

    Tilbury Tip: When you apply your eye and lip makeup before blush, it becomes easier to gauge how much blush will suit your look, so I suggest always applying your blush last.

  9. Airbrush Flawless Finish and Airbrush Brightening Flawless Finish setting and brightening powders

    9.  Use a finishing powder

    Adding a finishing powder to your evening makeup routine will help to give your complexion a flawless, poreless-looking finish. Finishing powder helps to blur and beautify the look of skin; applying a soft veil of powder on top of your foundation and concealer helps products to look seamless and gives your look an airbrushed effect. I recommend picking up finishing powder on a fluffy brush, tapping off the excess and then lightly pressing it into the skin for an effortless blend.

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  10. Airbrush Flawless Setting Spray helps set your evening makeup look into place

    10. Set your makeup with setting spray

    When you’re partying all night, darlings, setting spray is non-optional. A lightweight veil of setting spray helps to meld your liquid, cream and powder makeup together, creating an airbrushed, flawless look. Setting spray is essential for helping your makeup to last all evening long – it smooths and blurs the look of your complexion while locking in your evening makeup look with magical staying power!

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Evening Makeup Looks To Try

  1. Model wearing a beach to bar evening makeup look using Charlotte's Beach Sticks

    Beach to Bar Makeup

    My beach to bar makeup look is a casual, beachy makeup look that embodies that fresh-from-the-surf feeling. It’s a sun-kissed, easy, breezy look that captures the effortless, summertime feeling of an Ibizan escape where golden goddesses take their makeup from day to night by swiping on some lipstick, a cream eyeshadow and lots of cream bronzer while on their way to a bustling beach bar.

    Discover more beach makeup looks

  2. Model wearing a classic red lip evening makeup look using Airbrush Flawless Lip Blur

    Classic Red Lips

    Nothing is more timeless than a red lipstick look – it symbolises ultimate makeup confidence and is instant glamour! Letting an iconic red lipstick be the star of your evening makeup look is a simple but impactful way to dial up your makeup. Whether you love a blue-red like Airbrush Flawless Lip Blur in Ruby Blur, a hot, orange-red like Hot Lips in Tell Laura, or a true red like Matte Revolution in Red Carpet Red, discover the perfect red for you and unlock limitless makeup confidence!

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  3. Jourdan Dunn wearing a glowy Hollywood-inspired evening makeup look using Hollywood Flawless Filter

    Glowy Hollywood-Inspired Makeup

    Darlings, my Hollywood glow secrets look gorgeous in every type of light! I’ve created glowing makeup looks on red carpets around the world using my glow-giving icons: Hollywood Flawless Filter, Beauty Light Wands and Hollywood Glow Glide Face Architect Highlighters, as well as my sculpting-effect Hollywood Contour Wands to unlock the ultimate Hollywood-inspired complexion. Use my Hollywood makeup must-haves to create a luminous evening makeup look that makes you glow like a Hollywood star!

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  4. Bruna wearing an evening makeup look using Pillow Talk collection

    The Pillow Talk Look

    Pillow Talk is for every occasion, darlings! My iconic, nude-pink shade has beautified lips, cheeks and eyes around the world on countless evenings. Discover the magic of my Pillow Talk collection and use my universally flattering products to create an enchanting evening makeup look that goes with everything! Keep it understated with a classic Pillow Talk pout and lashings of Pillow Talk Push Up Lashes! mascara, or dial it up with my Hypnotising Pop Shot in Pillow Talk Diamonds – Diamond Dimension and my Pillow Talk Beauty Light Wand.

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