It’ll be all bright on the night

Picture / Carolyn Robertson

Sparkle at summer parties

Parties are good for wearing makeup you would never ordinarily dare to. Because if you can't wear sparkly lipgloss or full-colour eyelids to a party at night, unless you become a trapeze artist for a travelling circus, there's really nowhere else you'll be able to.

Thierry Mugler Angel Midnight Collection Pearly Body Powder
$150 for 50g

Here's something for Angel fans. Inside the fabulous limited edition metallic case with the Swarovski crystal-encrusted lid are perfumed balls. Use the powder puff to sweep this over the body and you're left with the distinctive Angel fragrance and a subtle sparkle.

* From selected department stores and pharmacies.

M.A.C Embellish Glitz Gloss
$38

This comes from M.A.C's stunning holiday collection Ornamentalism that takes its cue from the east. This decadent gloss is a black red with red glitter for maximum effect. Not usually a great fan of glittery bits in makeup but I'm coming round with this.

* From Smith & Caughey's Newmarket and M.A.C Chancery.

Becca Luella Jewel Dust
$44 for 1.3g

Apply this thinly and it's a sheer but shimmering emerald green powder for the eyes. Build it up and you get the most intense colour imaginable for when you're feeling very outgoing. When you're not there are other, more restrained Jewel Dusts that will suit.

* From Glamorpuss.

Chanel Holiday Collection Multi-use Palette: Eyes, Cheeks, Lips
$95 for the 8g palette

Make sure your evening bag is big enough for this mother. You get four lip colours and four eye colours so you could, if you wished, change your colours over the course of a single evening. The compact comes with a paint-by-numbers face chart to get four looks with this. So versatile.

* From selected department stores and pharmacies.

Yves Saint Laurent Gold Celebration Palette Expression of Love
$120 for the 12g palette

Compacts are a new art form. This one is one of the masters. This limited edition one is really far too beautiful to actually use but if you were pushed, there are four eye colours in the middle, four shiny lipsticks and two lip glosses to the side. All the colours work together so you really can't go wrong.