These were the global makeup trends that dominated the fashion runways for Spring 2014 in New York, London, Milan and Paris. Many of the looks were minimal, some graphic, some just plain puzzling. No worries, I’m breaking it down and showing you ways to wear these looks in the real world next Spring.
The Trend: Nude Complexion
On The Runway: A clean faced, “no makeup” look that dared to go bare with just a dab of concealer, minimal bronzing and a tiny touch of blush (if any at all). This bare face featured an overall look that was soft, dewy and translucent – a sharp contrast to the more obvious artificial ‘glow’ created with highly reflective highlight creams and powders in past seasons.
In The Real World: The best way to prep skin for this look is with a good cleansing, followed by a non-manual exfoliation (an enzyme or acid mask is perfect). Next, mist with a hydrating toner/tonic (alcohol free) and finish with a super hydrating moisturizer. Use a sheer foundation or thin out a medium/full coverage one with moisturizer and apply to face (to even skin-tone). Mix a little illuminating cream with your moisturizer and pat it on to the tops of your cheekbones. Dust the tiniest amount of loose powder across your nose and your forehead to avoid an oily looking shine.
The Trend: Orange Lips
On The Runway: When it came to lips, last season designers saw RED. This season the trend shifted, but only slightly – to ORANGE. Intense and rich variations of papaya, carrot, tangerine and pumpkin in satin and matte finishes dominated the global runways.
In The Real World: Pure orange looks amazing on warm skin-tones (golden or olive). But it can be a tricky color to wear if your skin leans towards a cooler undertone (peach or pink). orange-coral-lipsticksThe easiest way to “cheat” the color to suit even a cool skin-tone is to shift it slightly to a warm CORAL. The slight adjustment of adding the tiniest touch of pink will make your orange lip color flattering on all skin-tones!
The Trend: Slick Hair
On The Runway: Slicked hair is an expected look during Resort and Swimwear shows. It was surprisingly one of the most prominent hairstyles for Spring 2014 RTW.
In The Real World: While it’s not the easiest to pull off for the average, everyday look, it’s perfect for an evening or event look when you want to shake things up. Slicking back only the sides of your hair (like at Viktor & Rolf) is a cool, sophisticated way to reference a faux-hawk look (and we know how popular the punk trend has become again). Of course it’s the perfect apres-beach look for that winter vacation.
The Trend: Colorful Eye Makeup
On The Runway: Bright colors and Spring are a natural pairing, and for next season, expect eye makeup to come in a full spectrum of rich and bright shades.
In The Real World: You might not be brave enough to wear Chartreuse eyeshadow, but there are ways to embrace this trend. Use a strong color eyeshadow as the first step when doing your eye makeup. Apply it to your eyelid only, so as you continue to add contour, eyeliner and mascara – the strong color diffuses and becomes an accent. If that’s still too much, try using an intensely colored eye liner (pencil, cream or gel) along the upper or lower lash line as a simple color accent. EXTRA CREDIT: For a fresh twist on the “smoky” eye, use that colored eye liner generously all around your eye and smudge it softly.
From Kevin James Bennett at KJBennett.com