Pastels, pop art or paint?
Make-up trends for spring/summer 2008
Make-up trends this spring and summer have seen a slight shift from the brights, pretty pastels and ice cream colours around for the last couple of spring seasons.
Several of our favourite commercial brands have adopted a similar theme this year though, creating new shades and textures that are a cross between the brights and pastel shades, with some frosting thrown into the mix!
Brights are still around. Lipsticks and glosses in fresh, if not quite so vivid, shades of pink, coral, orange, red orange and lilac look great worn without other visible colours on the face, but with a clean, fresh looking, matt complexion and mascara, with a hardly there wash of pale or white eye shadow and just a whisper of blusher in palest pink or apricot on the apples of the cheek.
As well as eye and lip colours in frosted, paler versions of the brights, very muted shades are in evidence at the cosmetics counters, colours one might associate more with a seventies feel but are worn differently for today’s bolder trends. Yves Saint Laurent’s new eye colour pens from the spring Pop collection are a perfect example, while their ever so cute Collector Powder For Face & Cheeks, inspired by original sketches drawn by Yves Saint Laurent on cards that were sent to valued friends, is a perfect example of the flower shaped pop art designs that are being embossed into cheek colour compacts, also seen at Dior and Body Shop. Estee Lauder too has adopted soft muted shades of blue and green, as well as very wearable off white and palest white beige eye shadows for its new Pure White Linen collection. Lipsticks too come in soft, muted colours with frosting added, enhancing the paler, almost seventies, retro feel, evident in Dior’s Bloom In Dior, Givenchy’s Denim Fetiche and Estee Lauder’s spring make-up.
Lancome’s L.U.C.I. collection takes a different direction, which with the collaboration of make-up artist Gucci Westman, has a more futuristic feel. Eyeliner liquid and creamy skin highlighters in Mother of Pearl tones, as well as little discs of white mother of pearl eyeshadow paired with either vivid turquoise, blue or decadent gold-bronze eye shadow in shell shaped compacts reflect the futuristic overtones of the collection.
Over the top make-up designs seen on fashion runways are steadily affecting the commercial market. The visuals used to promote this spring’s make-up collections show a bolder use of colours around the eyes in a more artistic fashion. Clean, true tones of lilac, soft warm pinks or oranges and yellows are used two or three at a time, achieving splashes of clean colour. Clarins’ new Colour Fizz visual exhibits this trend perfectly, with yellow and orange mixed together on the top lid to achieve a warm turmeric shade and lilac applied softly but generously like the stroke of a thick paintbrush, below the eye. M.A.C. is no stranger to upbeat trends, with their Fafi range another good example of the generous use of fresh bright colours for attention grabbing effect. The range is, after all, inspired by and dedicated to the French illustrator and graffiti artist who it is named after.
When it comes to setting innovative trends Shiseido is always bang on. This brand seems to come up new collections that were borne with ‘insider knowledge’. Not surprising when you consider their collaborations with world class make-up artists who set and predict trends rather than follow them. Their current make-up god is Dick Page, who for years now, has been creating make-up designs for haute couture runway shows, high fashion magazines, celebrities and major ad campaigns. Look out for the yummy new shades of Shiseido Hydro Powder shadows, and if you didn’t already know, their cake eyeliner in pots is the most smudge and waterproof ever, great for summer weather or steamy nights!
How do we adopt or adapt these new trends for use in the real world? All the above trends and shades will look great on fair and medium coloured individuals, or if you have dark hair but pale skin. If however you have dark skin avoid paler toned lipsticks with white frosting, as the effect will be pasty sixties rather than pretty sexpot. Darker goddesses will suit the new dark coffee lip colours and gold bronze or fresh shimmering beige and off white eye colours, teamed with a gleaming tan complexion enhanced with bronzing cheek colour.
