Three ways to achieve your perfect festive-season face: The anti-ageing tricks A-list make-up artists swear by - and the mistakes to avoid

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This is a classic party look but one that many of us find difficult to achieve. To ensure a red lip feels modern, keep the rest of your look pared back. Mascara is fine, but a smoky eye is de trop. Ed Mellor, Global Pro Make-up Artist at Charlotte Tilbury, says it’s key to prep lips with a balm for 20 minutes (blot it off before applying make-up) and conceal any skin redness. A hydrating satin or matt texture lipstick is most flattering.

Julianne Moore

Embrace using concealer around the mouth. Mellor advises adding a little to a fine brush, then subtly applying around the lips. Opt for a creamy lip liner – I like Max Factor Lip Shader Twist-Up Lip Liner – then a light layer of lipstick. Blot and add another layer.

Avoid drawing a sharp lip line. Mellor says a blurred effect is more flattering and modern on mature mouths. Soften with your fingers.

Smoky eye + nude lip + satin skin 

This sexy look serves fabulous every time and has been worn by everyone from Brigitte Bardot to Kate Moss and Jennifer Lopez. How to wear it in 2026? Nude lips should look natural rather than chalky, give your skin sheen but not shine and opt for eyeshadow shot through with shimmer. Ed Mellor rates eyeshadow sticks as an easy way to achieve the latter. He uses a matt colour to make a V shape, elongating out from the corner of the eye and zigzagging back into the crease. He adds a stick infused with shimmer in a tonal colour to make lids glisten, then smudges it along the lower lash line to define.

Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu

Embrace creating your smoky-eye look with a chocolate brown or minky grey – both are ‘much more flattering than harsh black’. Mellor reserves black for creating definition right at the lash line.

Avoid teaming your smoky eye with a bright lipstick. It’s too much.

Golden glow + pretty flush + bronzed lids

Don’t think ‘golden’ only looks good in summer. A radiant, lit-from-within look is perfect for the party season, too. Mellor suggests prepping the skin with a gradual glow product to give it warmth, then opting for a bronzer in a lighter tone than you used back in August. For more mature skin, he likes bronzers in gel and cream textures, with sheen not sparkle, as that highlights lines.

Halle Berry

Embrace using your bronzer as eyeshadow. Mellor suggests ‘blending it across lids’ to create an all-over glow. And opt for a blush that’s nude and neutral – nothing too pink. Take it from the top of the cheekbones and across bridge of the nose.

Avoid applying bronzer to the hollow of your cheek. Dot it higher, in line with the top of your ear.