Shades of Spring: How to Wear Neon Makeup

My fabulous sister Laura was in town last week visiting us from Florida! We had a blast bashing around town and getting caught up on all things big and small. Plus, it’s always fun having her in town to give us tons of makeup and skin care tips! Laura is a make-up artist and esthetician who has worked for the likes of Bobbi Brown, Estee Lauder and Aveda.

Jenny and I asked her if she’d be willing to guest blog about spring's neon makeup trends and lucky for all of us, she agreed!

(Mark Jacob's spring collection)

Laura's Neon Make-Up Tips:
Neon colors are popping up everywhere this spring, from hot pink and orange pants to color blocking whole neon outfits (which could be a bit overboard in my opinion, one or two neon pieces is enough, we're not all runway models).


A fun way to wear spring's hottest trend is to add a pop of neon color to your makeup routine. Red lipstick with coral hues and bright neon eye shadow colors are showing up in many of the larger makeup companies spring lines. It's always best to choose lips or eyes as both can look a little clownish...no one wants to look like Bobo.


The easiest way to wear neon eye shadow is to focus on one basic shadow color and apply it through the basic steps outlined below. For Jenny, I wanted a shadow that would compliment her blue eyes so we chose a MAC hot pink matte shadow. 

1. Chose a flat and matte shadow as the neon is enough of a statement without extra sparkles for a daytime look.
2. Prep the eye area with a neutral base shadow color to neutralize any skin pigmentation.

3. Sweep the neon shadow across the lash line getting as much pigment as you can and angle the brush to get a slight wing tip on outer corner of the lash line. Continue to blend the neon up and almost to the crease so that it fades into the neutral shade. This will give the illusion of wearing a neon liner but is slightly softer because of the blending.
4. Sweep a tiny bit of neon shadow on the bottom lash line just on the outer corner.

5. Apply mascara (curl lashes first if you prefer, we did not in this case).

Along with the eye makeup we did a nude lip Bobbi Brown Rich Lip Color in Beige Gold with Rich Color Gloss in Angel Pink and glowing lightly bronzed skin (Bobbi Brown Brightening Finishing powder). If you wanted to dress up this look for nighttime you could add a thin black liner.

Fun trends like this are great to try out to see if it's something that suits your personality. The first day I wore my hot pink pants the only person that complimented me was an 11 year old girl. I was starting to think I should be in grade school until I met up with some girlfriends for Happy Hour and they boosted my confidence. Whenever you take a fashion risk just own it and have fun, fashion isn't supposed to be super serious. If it doesn't work for you then you can always try something different. 

PS. Cute Michael Kors neon pants

Michelle Monaghan in a great neon outfit
Other celebs in neon from InStyle