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"  Annie Ford Danielson (left) and Maggie Ford Danielson (right); Photo: Benefit Cosmetics Benefit Cosmetics global beauty authorities Annie and Maggie Ford Danielson are veritable beauty legacies. Their mother, Jean Ford, and their aunt, Jane Ford, founded the quirky retro-chic makeup brand, and in 2008, Annie and Maggie joined the team to make it even more of a family affair. The sisters work loosely with the product development team and are heavily involved with customers, opening new markets, and sharing their insider perspective on HSN as Benefit Cosmetics&amp;#039;s brand spokespeople. ELLE.com caught up with the makeup mavens to score their best tips for creating smoldering stares and pretty pouts for holiday.  ELLE: What are your favorite hues for smoky eyes that a makeup novice can pull off easily at home?  Annie and Maggie Ford Danielson: Silver and gray are great for smoky eyes, but a more subtle look is pretty for the holidays. For lighter eyes, try varying shades of plum to make blue and green eyes sparkle. For darker irises, browns and bronzes really bring out the gold flecks in the eyes and yield a softer effect than traditional charcoal. ELLE: What&amp;#039;s your foolproof way to achieve THE nude lip to pair with a smoky stare?  AFD &amp;amp;amp; MFD: Start with putting a little concealer over your lips to really nude them out. Then, use a nice sheer nude lipstick (try a naturally-nude shade like Full Finish Lipstick in Lady&amp;#039;s Choice) and a shimmering golden nude gloss. If you&amp;#039;re going nude, make it sparkle for optimum kissability. Sometimes a matte iteration can read as dull, especially during winter.  ELLE: Festive holiday f\u00EAtes are fabulous, but they make for an extra-long day. Any tricks to creating a long-lasting makeup effect that&amp;#039;ll take you from your desk to a dance-off? AFD &amp;amp;amp; MFD: Eye primer is a must for oily lids; it locks shadow on while also brightening the lid. It&amp;#039;s also important to use brushes when you apply makeup in the morning on a day when you know you&amp;#039;ll be wearing it long into the night. Using your fingers is great for quick application, but a brush will guarantee a better surface and longer staying power. A few extra minutes in the morning will save you a lot of time reapplying after work. ELLE: Do you have a party-worthy mascara technique? AFD &amp;amp;amp; MFD: Apply the mascara in the &amp;quot;traditional&amp;quot; way, with the wand held horizontally. Then, wiggle the wand into the lashes at the base before combing the lashes through. Next, take the ball-tip of the wand of They&amp;#039;re Real! mascara (hold it vertically) and push every lash up and out at the outer corners of the lashes. Prepare to be on the receiving end of questions about your falsies.  ELLE: Glitter: Over it or still into it for the holidays? AFD &amp;amp;amp; MFD: Glitter is good under only one circumstance: on the eyes. For holiday, rock a glittery shadow with loads of mascara paired with a soft lip and cheek. Be careful regarding fall-out from your shadow onto your cheeks. A quick and easy way to avoid a sparkly mess is to leave your complexion makeup for last. That way, if you do get fall-out, and most of us do while applying loose pigment, you can just wipe it off with makeup remover and then you have a fresh canvas for your concealer and foundation. For eye shadow smudges during the day, keep a sponge in your purse so you can dab at it with a little concealer. A sponge is a great tool for blending any errant flecks away. ELLE: Let&amp;#039;s talk the right liner to pair with a bold berry or oxblood pout.  AFD &amp;amp;amp; MFD: A great way to enhance the eyes is to use a technique called tight-lining to instantly create the appearance of fuller lashes. Use Benefit BadGal waterproof liner at the base of your upper lash line (the water line of your top lid) to fill in the gaps in between your lashes. This method is easy even for someone who shies away from liner. You don&amp;#039;t have to worry about creating symmetrical lines on each eye because the liner is hiding underneath, not drawn on the eyelid itself.  ELLE: For a frosty-weather flush, how can we get a great glow without skewing too Alexis Carrington circa Dynasty?  AFD &amp;amp;amp; MFD: Sweeping a pink blush onto the apples of the cheeks flatters most face shapes. If you have a hard time locating the &amp;quot;apple,&amp;quot; smile big in the mirror and wherever the roundest part of your cheek is (the part someone would want to pinch) is the apple. To make it modern, focus the blush there and then blend up in a sort of upward curve shape along the cheekbone. ELLE: How can we ensure we arrive Instagram-ready, i.e., with a healthy glow?  AFD &amp;amp;amp; MFD: Regarding shimmer, keep it subtle. Use it just on the upper portion of your cheekbone and a little above and below your brow bone for a night out. It helps to reflect light away from some of the fine lines we all get around our eyes, especially when we smile. Gel or cream-to-powder formulas are best, as you can most easily control the amount of shimmer. Watts Up! is a pearlescent highlighter that works on a range of skin tones. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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