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These Ethereal Fairy Makeup Looks Will Turn Heads

From simple swirls to intricate jeweled masks.

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For most of us, our everyday makeup looks are pretty minimal, but every now and then we find a good reason to liven things up a bit with some extra color, sparkles, and even fun accents. If you find yourself in this situation, then consider trying out a gorgeous fairy makeup look. You can add a lot of whimsy (and magic) to any outfit with this fantastic trend.

Fairy makeup looks have continued to grow in popularity, both as costume makeup or just for fun events (or everyday life, really). In fact, in 2021, searches for fairy makeup on Pinterest increased by 31 times compared to the previous year. It’s no wonder why, either, because the style is absolutely stunning with lots of shimmery touches and jeweled accents. It’s also incredibly versatile because you can opt to create a fairy makeup look with pastel colors, bold primary hues, or stick to greys and blacks to match your style or costume.

As beautiful as this trend is, it might also seem a bit intimidating to someone who doesn’t have a ton of makeup experience, but there are plenty of looks that are pretty simple to recreate, not to mention there are countless makeup tutorials online that will give you step-by-step instructions to get that perfect fairy look. First, though, you need to decide what kind of look you’re going for, so here are some incredible fairy makeup looks to help inspire you.

1

Rainbow Fairy Makeup

Wycliff Alabi / EyeEm, Getty Images

For something colorful, but not too over the top, try a rainbow makeup look like this. There are plenty of colors, with the pink cheeks and blue and green shadow, but it's the gold shadow, gold highlighter, and gold-toned lipstick that draw the most attention. While this YouTube tutorial isn’t a perfect match with this look, it will teach you the blending techniques you need, and you can just use whatever colors you’d like.

2

Butterfly Accents

Wanting more of a butterfly fairy look? Ereka Jane’s tutorial will walk you through every step to recreate this gorgeous look. What really stands out about this fairy makeup look is that she puts most of the focus on her cheeks and nose by keeping her eye makeup pretty low-key. The end result is absolutely beautiful too.

3

Simple Swirls

Imgorthand, Getty Images

For anyone who doesn’t consider themselves a makeup artist, this fairy look is super easy to do even without a tutorial. First, get either matching eye shadow and liner or an eye makeup marker (like this one) in your fairy makeup color of choice. Then, add some blue shadow to the lids and along the lash line below the eye. Finally, draw swirls coming off the corners of each eye to create a mask look. You can leave it as is, or top it off with some extra shimmer, glitter, or a few stick-on jewels.

4

Pretty Neutrals

Looking for something that’s gorgeous but not quite so colorful? Tina Halada has a tutorial video to help you recreate this look which uses various shades of neutral colors. She also includes all of the products she uses in her video notes, so you can be sure to have exactly what you need for this understated style.

5

Bright Blue Fairy Makeup

Masego Morulane, Getty Images

There is so much to love about this look, especially if you’re wanting something in cooler shades. To recreate it, you’ll need some blue shadow, bright pink eye liner, a white liner to use as an accent over the lid, and a couple of stick-on jewels for under the eyes. This video tutorial has instructions for creating a similar look to help you get the hang of the technique. Also, if you want to add a little extra whimsy to the look, apply some shimmery highlighter to the cheekbones and tip of the nose.

6

Woodland Fairy Makeup

Not every fairy sprinkles pink pixie dust everywhere, some of them live in the forest among the wild animals. If this is the kind of fairy you’re trying to be, check out this video tutorial for a woodland fairy makeup look by Ashley Quiroz. Be sure to top it off with a crown full of leaves and twigs for just the right amount of extra.

7

Glitter Fairy Makeup

Olga Arendt / EyeEm, Getty Images

Remember back in middle school when you thought doing makeup meant smearing glitter gel all over your face? Well, in this case that’s actually true. This fairy look consists of some pretty, minimal blue eye makeup and blue lipstick, and tons of glitter. She has it over her cheekbones, eyebrows, and even into her hairline. And, honestly, middle-school-you should be in awe.

8

Gold Liner

Pollyana Ventura, Getty Images

To recreate this fairy makeup look, you need to be skilled at applying face jewels and crystals (here’s a tutorial). Her eye makeup is definitely beautiful with the gold sparkly hues, and she has shimmery highlighter across her cheekbones and the tip of her nose, but obviously, all of the attention is on the jewels that go from her cheeks up to the corners of her eyes. For as show-stopping as it is, it’s actually a pretty easy look to recreate.

9

Jewel-Tone Metallics

fmbackx, Getty Images

For something absolutely incredible (and artistic), consider a jewel-tone look with lots of metallic colors. Achieving the perfect metallic pop requires mixing mattes and metallic shadows, and once you’ve mastered that technique (tutorial here) and blending, then you can mix up all kinds of colors like in this photo.

10

Dusty Pastels

101dalmatians, Getty Images

If you already have a statement piece (like this colorful wig and flower crown), a more subtle fairy makeup look will have a better effect because you won’t have too many things competing for attention. This model applied the most makeup under her eye to give her more of a mask look, but a single color along the top lid would be just as pretty, too.

11

Pinks & Pearls

This tutorial video from JUDY will walk you through every step for recreating this beautiful pink fairy makeup look. The various shades of pink are obviously pretty, but it’s the mixture of pearls and jewels that make this look stand out so much. It’s perfect if you’re going for a more delicate style.

12

Gem Details

Elizaveta Ioda / EyeEm, Getty Images

It’s obvious that in order to recreate this fairy look, you’re going to need to be really, really good at applying jewels and crystals to your face. That being said, if you’re not interested in applying them each individually, there are plenty of kits you can purchase online that you just need to peel and stick (like these). Just remember not to go overboard with your eye makeup, since you’ll want the attention on your jewel mask.

13

Dramatic Lashes

ValaGrenier, Getty Images

In addition to colorful eyeshadows and face jewels, another way to really make your fairy makeup stand out is with some dramatic false lashes. Something colorful, like in this photo is a great way to add another pop of color to your look, or you could go with a set that is super long or one that comes with jewels already applied to them.

14

Pink & Green Makeup

CoffeeAndMilk, Getty Images

Here’s another beautiful example of mixing metallic and matte shadows with some white liner to create a super dramatic look. The pink and green combo is especially great because the colors look good together but both also manage to make the other pop. To take this further for even more of a fairy look, extend the winged liner out, add some dramatic highlighter, and maybe apply a few dabs of glitter.

15

Shades Of Purple

Pink is pretty and all, but how about this stunning purple and silver fairy makeup look? It’s downright incredible. The strategically placed jewels are really what bring it to life, but you’re going to need to do a bit of blending to get that gorgeous hazy purple eye makeup. Thankfully, this makeup artist shared a tutorial online so you can easily recreate the look.

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