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Lets face it, Christmas celebrations will be different this year due to the pandemic, meaning less gatherings, less food, less gifts, and more time spent in front of your computer or mobile phone to communicate with your family and friends.

But for mom-to-be Nicole Donesa, the pandemic will not stop her from dressing up and being fab for the holidays.

This led her to do a fresh and simple makeup tutorial, perfect for virtual Christmas parties, on her Facebook livestream for Descendants of the Sun PH's online show, DOTS How To Do It. Here's a step-by-step guide for your convenience.

Step 1: Prep skin for makeup

If you really want to have good makeup, Nicole's tip is to invest in making your skin healthy-looking, glowing, and free of blemishes.

"Even if you're young pa, start doing a skin routine [para] in the future, gaganda lalo 'yung skin mo," she said. "That will really give the best result, no matter what makeup you use or what kind of makeup look you're going for."

Even if events and parties will go online, Nicole's advice is to never skip sunscreen as a health and beauty regimen to protect skin from the blue light damage coming from electronic devices.

Step 2: Massage primer onto face

Makeup primer is Nicole's best friend in keeping her makeup longer.

While the makeup holy grail is known for it, its main job is to make the skin's surface smooth and even for seamless makeup application.

Step 3: Apply foundation or tinted moisturizer

Since Nicole is expecting, she opted to use a water-based foundation that has a light to medium coverage to make her skin "extra kinis."

Instead of using a beauty blender or stippling brush, she simply blended the foundation on her face and neck using her hands for a more natural look.

"Do not forget your neck. Kailangan balance 'yung kulay sa neck saka sa face kasi 'yun 'yung pinaka-hate ko, 'yung iba kulay ng face sa neck," she shared.

Step 4: Prep lips

Before beginning to apply the rest of the makeup products, Nicole put on a thin coat of ointment that can double as a lip balm--the beauty cult classic Lucas' Papaw.

This helps in retaining lip moisture and prevents lips from chapping.

Step 5: Conceal blemishes

A vital part of Nicole's makeup routine is applying concealer on her blemishes and eyebags--a product of her nightly binge-watching.

"Siyempre, you want to look good for your meetings, kailangan matago ang mga madidilim," she said.

Nicole also used the concealer to highlight the bridge of her nose to make it pointy to hide her 'pregnancy nose' from swelling.

Step 6: Set foundation and concealer with powder

Cakey makeup is one of Nicole's pet peeves. She hates it when her makeup starts to wear down so she learned to never skip setting her foundation and concealer with powder. It helps her makeup stay intact, too.

"Madalas 'yan sa camera. Kitang-kita kapag cakey 'yung makeup. Importante ang powder lalo na dito sa Philippines, it's so hot, it's so humid. You need to set your face," the Descendants of the Sun actress advised.

Step 7: Retouch blemishes

Nicole's goal is to have smooth makeup while maintaining its natural glow by touching up uncovered blemishes, or 'chismis' as Nicole would describe.

"Hindi naman powdered makeup face talaga 'yung gusto ko. You just want to enhance our face, 'yung mga chismis lang ang kailangan i-cover," she said.

Step 8: Define brows

Since Nicole is blessed with thick brows already, she just filled the bald spots in her brows with color and topped it off with a brow gel to secure her brows in place.

Step 9: Apply eyeshadow

Holiday makeup may be usually glittery but for this look, Nicole opted for a soft eye makeup, using the ever versatile shade--brown--as base.

"I really don't like going for super tapang. I don't like using heavy eyeshadows or black eyeliners, tumatapang 'yung mukha ko," she explained.

For the glam part, Nicole added a little shimmer on her lids to luminize her eyes.

Step 10: Enhance eye shape

A fan of 'no-makeup' makeup, Nicole used brown eyeliner for the extra oomph without looking too made up.

Just like the black shade, it makes eyes open and bigger but natural-looking.

Step 11: Add volume to the lashes

Nicole achieved her desired lift, volume, and winged effect on her eyelashes even without applying falsies.

Her lifted, winged lashes compliment her soft brown eyeshadow adding drama to her whole makeup look, thanks to her heavy-duty mascara.

Step 12: Add color to the cheeks

Nicole saved herself from putting on highlighter as she applied a Heart Evangelista-favorite blush from French cosmetics and skin care company, Nars, while adding color on her cheeks. "Maganda 'to kasi may konting glitter na gold. It's like a highlighter and a blush all in one," she said.

From the apples of her cheeks, she slid her brush across the bridge of her nose for a drunk-blush look.

Step 13: Set makeup with facial spray

Keeping your makeup looking fresh throughout the day is not easy to begin with, but makeup sprays can lessen the need for touch-ups to a minimum.

It does not only serve as a top coat for your makeup, but it can also serve as a cooling and hydrating mist.

Step 14: Finish the look by applying lipstick

A red lipstick is a staple of holiday glam. Nevertheless, the mom-to-be finished her look with a rosy lip color, matching her fresh makeup.

Getting glam for the holidays is not all about for show. It can help us be in a more festive mood, even if we're away from our families and friends during these difficult times.

If you want to learn more about this fresh look, watch the full video below: