6 ways to wear gold makeup for Chinese New Year
Every Chinese New Year arrives with a familiar visual language: red envelopes passed hand to hand, fresh blooms arranged with care, tables filled for long, lingering meals. Beauty follows the same rhythm, turning to luminosity rather than excess.
Gold makeup returns season after season—not because it is trending but because it carries meaning. Long associated with prosperity, abundance, and optimism, gold reflects the values at the heart of the New Year.
That luminosity is what makes gold feel especially right for this moment. Chinese New Year exists between reflection and anticipation, a pause before moving forward. Gold mirrors that in-between state, warm and intentional, alive with possibilit
Here are ways to incorporate gold into your makeup this New Year.
A wash of gold on the eyes
The most effortless way to incorporate gold makeup is through eyeshadow. A soft wash of color across the lids instantly brings warmth and light to the face, making it the most natural starting point for a festive look.
The limited-edition YSL Couture Mini Clutch Luxury Eyeshadow Palette offers a considered range of satin, matte, metallic, and shimmer finishes that can be layered with ease. Light champagne tones create a luminous veil for daytime, while the metallic shades add depth for evening without overwhelming the eyes
A touch of sparkle at the inner corners
If a full wash of shimmer feels too much, a pinpoint of gold at the inner corners offers a more restrained way to introduce light. This placement subtly brightens the eyes, creating the impression of openness with minimal effort.
The K-Palette Glimmer Liquid works particularly well here, thanks to its versatile formula that can be worn as either an eyeliner or an eyeshadow.
Gold along the waterline
Gold, when worn along the waterline, softens the look without the stark contrast of white or nude—adding warmth while keeping everything cohesive.
The Pixi Endless Silky Eye Pen in Pure24K is especially effective for this technique. Its creamy, glide-on texture applies smoothly without tugging, delivering a luminous gold finish that feels subtle rather than theatrical. The shade is particularly flattering on warm and medium skin tones.
A soft halo of light on the skin
Gold highlighter is what brings the entire look together, echoing the warmth introduced at the eyes and diffusing it across the skin. If you haven’t tried the Rare Beauty Positive Light Silky Touch Highlighter in Exhilarate, it’s one worth knowing.
The formula is finely milled and silky smooth, with a texture that feels almost creamy as it melts into the skin. Rather than sitting on top, it blends seamlessly, creating luminosity without chunkiness or visible glitter.
Applied lightly, it delivers a soft, diffused glow that looks naturally radiant. And when built up, it can easily reach a more blinding intensity for those who prefer a stronger highlight, without ever losing its refined finish.
A subtle shine on the lips
For lips, gold doesn’t have to mean shimmer-heavy or sticky. A luminous gloss with light-reflecting particles offers a softer way to carry the glow through the look. The Fenty Gloss Bomb Oil Luminizing Lip Oil ’N Gloss does exactly that, delivering shine with a noticeably thinner texture than the original Gloss Bomb.
The formula feels lightweight and comfortable on the lips. Despite the fluid texture, the pigment payoff remains impressive, allowing it to be worn on its own for even coverage and polish.
The shade $uperfine Suga leans more topper than standalone color. With its clear, slightly milky base threaded with fine gold crystalline glitter, it layers beautifully over bare lips or lipstick, adding dimension rather than color.
Barely-there luminosity
For those who prefer their glow understated, or are simply not into wearing too much makeup, illuminating drops offer the most effortless way to tap into gold’s light-reflecting effect. Drunk Elephant’s B-Goldi™ Bright Illuminating Drops with 5 percent Niacinamide is designed to enhance skin rather than sit on top of it.
The lightweight formula delivers a soft, golden luminosity that looks like naturally radiant skin, not shimmer. Mixed into moisturizer, foundation, or worn alone on bare skin, it subtly evens tone while adding a healthy-looking glow.
