Popular Makeup Trends On Our Radar In 2024

This year we see that the makeup trends are all about bold expressions and innovative techniques that celebrate individuality and creativity. There is quite a bit of blush and eyeshadow to have and use on a daily basis. Whether you're drawn to a barely-there natural look, a dewy luminous style or a daring one, we've listed the best beauty looks for you.

1. Sunset Blush - The Season's Hottest Makeup Trend

Becoming a top contender as the most opted beauty trend for the summer, Sunset Blush or what we would like to call "Golden Hour Skin", draws inspiration from the warm hues of the evening sky. With the help of a rich pigmented blush and a subtle sparkle of highlighter, it creates a distinctive gradient effect which that accentuates your cheekbones.

It's as simple as adding two drops of a liquid or cream-based blush in the color fuchsia or rose pink just above the cheeks, followed by a drop or two of an orange-tinted blush. For a real sunset glow, add a dab of liquid highlighter on top of these droplets, making sure not to overlap the products. Then, with the help of a good medium-sized blush brush, gently blend the products on your cheeks and lift the pink color to your temples. This is exactly how content creator Alissa Holmes who introduced the look and made it viral does it! To finish the look, we recommend adding a very subtle winged eyeliner and a light pink gloss.

Our recommendations:

Blush: We endorse Kay Beauty's Creme Blush in the shade 'Rosy Romance' and Pixi's On The Glow Blush in the color 'Juicy' or Rare Beauty's Soft Pinch Liquid Blush in Lucky and Joy. If you prefer a powder-based blush, we would suggest going with Pat McGrath's Skin Fetish: Divine Blush in the shade 'Lovestruck' and Dior's Rosy Glow Blush in the shade 01 Poppy Coral.

Highlighter: For a subtle sparkle, we suggest Kay Beauty's Hyper Gloss Liquid Luminizing Highlighter in 'Champagne' or Rare Beauty's Positive Light Liquid Luminizer in the shade 'Outshine'.

2. Latte Makeup - The Timeless Trend Brewing Since Last Year

Latte makeup has been trending for a few months and makeup artists still recognize its popularity. Easy and simple to achieve, the latte makeup mainly focuses on shades of brown and nude. It became viral when Hailey Bieber sported the look late last year and fans could not stop talking about it.
The trend's accessibility is its key factor in popularity and to top it off, it looks good on any complexion as long as you go deeper with darker skin tones. The trend highlights more about the colors you're using on your cheeks, lips and eyes.
Since it's summer, we recommend opting for a lightweight skin tint or sticking with a simple layer of foundation as your base. To achieve the main look, we recommend going with glowy bronzers and applying them on your cheeks, bridge of the nose and forehead. Layer a brown or pinkish-brown blush on the top of your cheeks, while leaning more toward a nude shade with a brown, taupe or tan undertone. For your eyes, experiment with a mix of light brown and nude hues to create a smokey eye, then add a shimmery lighter color in the inner corners and under the brow for an extra pop. As for your lips, we recommend adding a nude gloss or dab a bit of creamy matte brown lipstick.

Our recommendations:

Bronzer and Blush: Our top picks for glowy bronzers would be the Too Faced Soleil Bronzer in the shade Sun Bunny and Pixi On The Glow Bronze Rich Glow. When it comes to blush, you can go for the light-toned brown shade of M.A.C's Matte Powder Blush in the shade Coppertone or if you're inclined into having a brownish pink finish, then go for Colorbar's Cheekillusion Blush in the shade Sweet Scarlet.

Eyeshadow and Lip Gloss/Lip Stick: To create an elegant smokey eye look, we would suggest going for the Huda Beauty Creamy Obsessions palette or another bestseller would be Kay Beauty's Pure Bloom eyeshadow palette. As for lip shade recommendations, we recommend elf's Lip Lacquer in the shade Moody or M.A.C's Powder Kiss Velvet lipstick in the color Spice World.

3. Shimmer and Shine: Embrace the Holographic Makeup Trend

Whether it's a rave party or a gala event, celebrities and makeup artists love the play with shimmery bold makeup. To create a multidimensional, iridescent effect for your eyes, first start with an eyeshadow primer as the base to ensure the colors last longer. After this, apply a light-pigmented shade to your crease with a blending brush using windshield wiper motions to blend the color. Select a slightly darker shade to add depth to the outer corner of your eye, blending it into the crease with circular motions to achieve a smooth transition of holographic shades. Use a small detail brush to apply another light, shimmery eyeshadow to the inner corner of your eyes to brighten the look. Finish the look, with a thin winged eyeliner style and volume-enhanced mascara. For your lips, it's totally up to you, you can go for a metallic lip gloss or stick to a pinkish nude matte lipstick. If you're someone who loves to douse themselves in glitter, then definitely add shimmer to your cheeks and chest region by using an iridescent highlighter to elevate the entire look.

Our recommendations:

Eyeshadow: Here are our top picks to experiment with different holographic looks for your eyes. Whether you want to use a single eyeshadow color or a mix of three or more colors, we got you covered!

4. Dark Feminine Energy - The Trend that Singers Seem to be Loving!

Last year, the trends were all about the strawberry makeup look which includes pink blush and glowy skin as well as clean-girl makeup. This year, we can see iconic singers embracing "Dark Feminine Energy" makeup which opts for a darker shade of lipstick that enhances the outline and accentuates the fullness of the lips. The rest of the makeup includes applying a darker scarlet blush to the cheeks and enhancing the lower lids of the eyes with a deeper tone of eyeshadow as compared to the upper lid. While Halsey prefers the lips to have a matte finish, Sabrina Carpenter and Lana Del Ray add gloss as the finishing touch.

MAC Cosmetics senior makeup artist Michelle Clark says "It seems now that there is a need to showcase the duality of feminine—that there is a light and a darkness to everything." Elyse Reneau, the executive director of global beauty at Too Faced also describes the trend in the magazine Glamour, as a makeup look that is meant to feel powerful, exude confidence and redefine societal perceptions of femininity.

To achieve the bold lips of the dark feminine energy trend, we recommend selecting a lip liner that is darker than your chosen lipstick shade. Carefully outline your lips with the lip liner, you can make the outline a bit thicker than usual. Start from the center of your upper lip and work your way to the corners. Repeat the same for the lower lip, starting from the center and moving outwards. Slightly thicken the outline by drawing just inside the natural lip line. This helps in creating a more defined gradient effect. Use the lip liner to shade the inner corners of your lips, blending the color inward slightly. After this, apply the main shade of dark lipstick (lighter than the lip liner) directly onto the lips or with a lip brush. Use a lip brush or your finger to gently blend the lipstick into the lip liner, creating a gradient transition from the darker outline to the lighter center. The last part is up to you, you can leave it as it is or if you're a gloss girl, then definitely add a layer on top.

Our recommendations:

Lipstick and Lip Liner Combos: Our top picks are M.A.C MACximal Matte Lipsticks in the shades Whirl and Go Retro with M.A.C Lip Pencil in the shades Plum and Mahogany respectively. Kay Beauty also has some fantastic shades, we recommend Kay Beauty Matte Drama Long Stay Lipstick in the shade Wrap Up with Kay Beauty Matte Action Lip Liner in the color Applause. For gloss lovers, it's better to go with a transparent lip gloss like Anastasia Beverly Hills - Diamond Gloss to elevate the lips without losing the actual color of the lipstick.

5. Blue Hues : The Must-Try Eyeshadow Trend of the Season

The trend majorly involves using different shades of blue to create eye-catching and vibrant looks. It's honestly very interesting how many celebrities and our favorite makeup artists have gone on to experiment with blue eyeshadow. Whether it's a pastel blue or maybe even a mix of an electric blue liner with a light shade of blue, the looks are diverse making it a fun and expressive makeup choice. Different techniques we can see being popularly used would be the classic smokey eye look, the under-eye smudge technique focusing mainly on the bottom region of the eye and the all-over lid look which implies adding the blue eyeshadow of your choice over the entire eyelid to create a dramatic effect. We also love the way how digital creator Steph Hui has matched her blueberry nails with her eye makeup, she goes on to use three different shades of blue which includes two eyeliners to achieve the liner look and the base is a light shade of blue. After that, she applies a shimmer blue liquid eyeshadow on the top region of her lid and also uses a complementing metallic silver shade to accentuate the inner corners of her eyes, giving that beautiful pop effect. Lastly, she finishes her eye makeup with the popular YSL Lash Clash Extreme Volume Mascara.

Our recommendations:

Our top picks when it comes to an eyeshadow palette are the Lancome Hypnôse 5-Color Eyeshadow Palette and Pierre Cardin Paris Iconic Eyeshadow Palette. If you just want a single color shade, we would suggest Dior's Mono Couleur Couture High-Color eyeshadow and Color Pop Super Shock Shadow in the shade Moon Daisy. As for liners and mascaras, we recommend the bestseller YSL Lash Clash Extreme Volume Mascara and Urban Decay's 24/7 Inks in the shade Hi-Energy.

Now that you know all about the latest trends, happy highlighting and looking your best all day, every day!