How To Make Neon Makeup the New Neutral - InStyle

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If you’ve been paying even a little bit of attention to the beauty scene lately, you know that neons are having a moment. The bright hues are popping up everywhere (like your Instagram feed and on basically every celebrity) and keep you looking chic no matter where you’re headed. But take it one step too far and you can end up looking like an ‘80s princess on Halloween. So, in order to prevent that from happening, we chatted with celebrity makeup artist, Jamie Greenberg, on how to master the "everyday" neon look.

“There is a way for everyone to be part of this trend even if you are not into crazy colors,” she explains. “But, I definitely recommend taking one part of your face to focus on, rather than doing neon everything.” Makes sense, right?

Here’s how she breaks it down, look by look.

Eyes

Greenberg is a huge fan of neon blue mascara. “It’s quiet but still gives you that cool look in nonchalant way,” she says. “To achieve, first curl your lashes, then layer a few swipes of blue mascara on top." We like Benefit’s They’re Real! Lengthening & Volumizing Mascara in Beyond Blue ($24, sephora.com)

If you want to make the neon look a bit more noticeable (and why wouldn’t you?), swap out the blue mascara for an electric-colored eyeliner. Greenberg swears by Colour Pop’s Crème Gel Liners ($5, colourpop.com), which come in amaaaazing neon oranges, yellows, and pinks. “The shock value of the eyeliner is fun to play around with,” she says. “I love splitting the eye space to do a hot pink and hot yellow.”

When rocking both of these looks, Greenberg recommends keeping the rest of your makeup neutral. To keep things balanced, she suggests finding a lipstick that enhances your natural lip color and dabbing it on with you finger to create a stain finish.

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Lips

“For this look to really be pulled off correctly, its really all about creating a dewy, healthy look for the rest of your face, and then having a flush of color in your cheek to compliment your lips,” she recommends. To make your lips pop against your summer glow, Greenberg swears by a florescent pink lip. We live for Anastasia Beverly Hills Liquid Lipstick in Party Pink ($20; sephora.com).

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Cheeks

We gotta say, this look seems like it would be the hardest to pull off. “Sometimes the stark flush can be too much,” explains Greenberg. “It’s really about blending a highlight and neon blush together so that you getting a flush that looks like you just sprinted.”​

Interesting! Well, if you're asking us, we'd probably lean towards a neon pink or orange blush that can be blended out. Blue is cute, but we'll save that for the eyes. Thx. 

Now that you've got these pro tips by your side, you can go ahead and replace your nude lipstick (at least temporarily) with a neon. Oh, what hue? That's totally up to you. 

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