Golden hour is the most flattering light there is: low, warm and forgiving. This look recreates it on skin, so you glow whether you’re in the sun at four or under candlelight at ten.

1. Prep for glow, not shine

Start with a hydrating serum and let it sink in for a full minute. Press a pea-sized amount of SHEGLAM Complexion Pro Foundation into the centre of the face with fingertips, then blend outwards with a damp sponge. Keep the edges sheer.

Open nude eyeshadow palette in taupe and rose shimmer — The Huda Beauty Nude Obsessions Palette: we used Taupe Silk, Rose Ember and Gilded.

2. Warm the eyes

Sweep a matte taupe through the crease with a fluffy brush, then press a bronze shimmer onto the lid with a fingertip for the most reflective finish. Smudge the same bronze along the lower lash line.

“Put shimmer only where light naturally hits: the lid, the high cheekbone and the cupid’s bow.”
Sana Qureshi

3. Finish with a satin lip

Line with a liner one shade deeper than your lips, then press Pillow Talk in Pillow Talk Medium on with a fingertip for a softer, satin finish. Mist with setting spray and you’re done.

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A red lip that lasts all night

October 10, 2026

Liner, blot, repeat — the three-step method that keeps a red lip where you put it.

A red lip fails in two ways: it wears off the centre, or it bleeds at the edges. Both are fixable and neither needs a different lipstick.

Start with the edges

Line the lip first, following your natural border rather than drawing outside it. A liner in roughly the same depth as the lipstick gives the colour a wall to stop at, which is what prevents feathering.

Filling the whole lip with liner before the lipstick gives the colour something to hold on to, and means that when the top layer wears the colour underneath is still there.

Apply in thin layers

One thick layer transfers. Two thin ones do not. Apply, press the lips together, then blot once with a tissue and apply again. The blot removes the oils that would otherwise let the colour slide.

Clean the edge

Run a cotton bud around the outside of the lip to sharpen the line. If you have gone over, a little concealer on a flat brush resets the border.

Through the evening

Red shows wear in the centre first, so that is the only part worth topping up. A single press of colour on the inner lip is quicker than reapplying the whole thing and looks less built-up.

Avoid balm over a matte red: it loosens the formula and the colour starts travelling.

Choosing the red

Cool undertones tend to suit blue-based reds and warm undertones tend to suit orange-based ones, but the honest answer is that most people can wear most reds once the edges are clean and the finish is right.