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MAC Spring/Summer 2012 Makeup Trend Report

Phyllis — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 03:23:42 +0000

After last season’s toughness and androgyny, Spring/Summer 2012 heralds the revival of an altogether more feminine and sensual approach to makeup.

#1 Ath-elite

It’s athletic yet chic…plumped and pumped…wet-effect and maxed with moisture. Skin this season is all about a dewy, sporty, spa-fresh feel.

It’s near to naked but certainly not raw – the new complexion is about perfection that’s elite in its amplification of health and hydration: a focus on skincare and plenty of ‘pre and post production’ on base is essential.

“This is a beautiful, glowing, no-makeup look with a more sporty and real feel to it than we’ve seen in the past. There’s definitely nothing relevant about a full-coverage base this season,” confirms Diane Kendal, doyenne of an ‘apparently effortless’ nude look. “Take a heavy foundation and add all these wet highlights and it goes into ‘alien’ territory,” agrees Sam Bryant. “You want base to look perfect, but still very sheer and youthful.”

How to achieve it? “It’s all about what you put underneath or on top of a foundation now,” explains Terry Barber. “Priming it, spritzing it, buffing it, moisturizing it and massaging it to give it a super hydrated feel.”

Highlights and gloss are back in a big way, too. “We’re quasi not powdering at all this season…or, if we are, there are so many wet highlights added that the effect is still utterly about sporty, plump skin,” says Lyne Desnoyers. Cue a rise in highlighting with imperceptible flesh – akin Metal X tones and skin-twin shades of Cream Colour Base, which retain a real skin quality superior to the more synthetic effect of Gloss Texture. “Think of it as hyper-highlighting,” says Terry Barber.

While a sportive skin is the canvas, a streamlined detail matters too. Add an energetic strength and sophistication to the look with a full (but not heavy or masculine) straighter, squarer brow that’s deepened without being drawn-in. Or think linear on the eye, adding structure and dimension to the face with a gesture of liner.

Stripped back to its main message, this is a trend for simply great, super desirable skin. Prep + Prime yourself!

Create The Look
* Prep + Prime Skin Compact
* Chromographic Pencil in NC15 – NW25
* Mixing Medium Shine
* Mineralize Charged Gel Emulsion
* Care Blends Essential Oils
* Studio Sculpt SPF15 Foundation
* Mineralize Skinfinish Natural
* Fusion Gold Metal-X Cream Eye Shadow
* Palladium Metal-X Cream Eye Shadow
* Boldly Bare Lip Pencil
* Fling Eye Brows
* Mink Eye Brows
* Beguile Brow Set
* Clear Brow Set
* Mid-tone Sepia Cream Colour Base
* MAC PRO Bone Beige Sculpting Powder
* Luna Cream Colour Base
* Pearl Cream Colour Base
* MAC PRO Gloss Texture Story
* Boot Black Liquid Liner
* Blacktrack Fluidline
* Smolder Eye Kohl
* Fix+ Spray
* Lip Conditioner SPF 15
* Clear Lipglass
* Dim Lip Erase
* Hush, Hush Tendertone Lip Balm SPF 12T

#2 Ore-inspired

Every summer begs the inevitable beauty question: tan-chic, or not? Or, more precisely: what treatment of warmth feels appropriate for the warm season now?

For Spring/Summer 2012, it’s certainly not about a desert tan, even though the looks reference a worldly, well-travelled woman. In fact, it’s less about warming up the complexion itself and more about using tan-relevant and tan-related shades to accentuate the lips, cheeks and eyes.

Palette-wise, think metallic, creamy copper, rust, terracotta and peach, and sideline anything that’s traditionally flat, matte and brown-based. An element of reflection and heat is the key update to make on tan tones for S/S2012. “Tan shades with a metallic edge have a preciousness and sophistication,” confirms Lyne Desnoyers. “Their inherent light-reflective nature ensures they never draw lines on the face in the same way as flat colour, making them appear immediately chic and flattering.”

The focus is on the features, yet the skin is still the ultimate canvas for these looks. Go easy on base and build in an athletic bone structure with metallic highlights that create what Terry Barber is calling ‘Olympian cheekbones.’ “Now cheekbones are very beautiful and not so masculine as we’ve seen in the past. We’re using a lot of Metal-X in Fusion Gold or Cream Colour Base in Shell on top of them – an extreme highlight takes away the need to contour,” he explains.

Add something of a burnished eye or an earth or sand-toned lip and you’re good to go. Wisely warm and not a hint of WAG…

Create The Look
* Venetian Tarnish Metal-X Cream Shadow
* Rusty Metal-X Cream Shadow
* Fusion Gold Metal-X Cream Shadow
* Reflects Gold Glitter
* Constructivist Paint Pot
* Teddy Eye Kohl
* Modern Mandarin Blush
* Groundwork Paint Pot
* MAC PRO Bronze Cream Colour Base
* Vintage Coin Metal-X Cream Shadow
* Coconutty Lipstick
* Cup of Joe Cream Eye Shadow
* Coppering Eye Shadow
* MAC PRO Dusk Cream Colour Base
* Cream Colour Base in Improper Copper
* MAC PRO Caramel and Terracotta
* Studio Finish Skin Corrector
* Coquette Eye Shadow
* Freckletone Lipstick
* Fresh Brew Lipstick

#3 Nouv-eau

From the romance, nature-inspired shades, sinuous shapes and sensitive colouring of Art Nouveau, to the delicate side of 1920’s glamour, the soft side of the season is all about tinting the skin with washes of colour.

Veering between the pretty and pure and something more glamorously edged, these looks are less about recreating a retro look from the past and more about reinterpreting femininity by capturing the spirit of an era.

While lips and cheeks get a look-in with stains of fondant-y peach, apricot and strawberry tones, it’s a trend that’s essentially eye driven. Lids and lower lashlines enlivened with diffuse, single-toned watercolour washes of pastels and flesh tones through to mink and rubs of charcoal. “What really feels contemporary is a colour that’s washed all the way up to the eyebrow, without any shading and highlighting in it,” adds Terry Barber, noting that structured shading and multi-tones would fast turn these colours in a bridesmaid-y direction. “The edges are still beautifully blurred so that the effect isn’t Pop Art” he adds.

The kit? “Second-skin texture powders and creams and bigger brushes,” explains Lyne Desnoyers. “A larger brush gives a looseness to the application, which is key.” You’ll likely want to forgo mascara too – there’s still an enduring appeal to a mascara-less lash this season, now a mainstay in the beauty lexicon of modernizing a look.

It’s sensual, ultra feminine, fluid and refined without being sugary or cute: pared back pretty at it’s best…

Create The Look
* Kid Eye Shadow
* Moleskin Eye Shadow
* Copperplate Eye Shadow
* Smolder Eye Kohl
* Air Force Blue Cream Colour Base
* Scene Eye Shadow
* Immortal Flower Powder Blush
* Lovecloud Powder Blush
* Fleur Power Powder Blush
* Silver Dusk Iridescent Powder/Loose
* Shell Cream Colour Base
* Constructivist Paint Pot
* Bamboo Cream Colour Base
* Scarlet Ibis Lipstick
* Burgundy Lip Pencil
* Mouth Off Lip Pencil
* Lady Danger Lipstick
* Flamingo Lipstick
* Hot N’Saucy Tendertone Lip Balm

#4 Neo-n

Graffiti inspired. Dynamic. Stripped back. Ultimately urban…this season goes faster with punchy, sportive colours setting the stopwatch on fashion and beauty alike…

Gorgeous, not grittily graffiti-esque, it’s about wearing neoprene colour against plump, workout-fresh skin and an aerodynamic brow in an effortlessly chic, considered way. A move on from the aggressively hard-hitting, stamped-on brights of last summer, the new sophisticated athleticism of this season’s fuelled-up shades is about giving the face a beautiful detail rather than a fierce shock of colour.

While they tap into the trend for energetically engineered, high-tech (and high colour, high print, high shine…) fabric that is so omnipresent this season, the new bright beauty statements of S/S2012 have a subtlety to their statements. Yes, these scuba shades are striking, but they’re never stamped on or harsh…

Think touchable and sensual…intelligent and singular…pure colour but not Pop Art…desirable not Disco…and don’t work too hard at it. If it looks like you’ve simply swiped on a strong lip on your way back from the gym, you’ve pretty much nailed it…

Create The Look
* MAC PRO Red Lipmix
* MAC PRO Orange Lipmix
* MAC PRO Process Magenta Chromagraphic Pencil
* MAC PRO Acid Orange Pigment
* MAC PRO Electric Coral Pigment
* MAC PRO Chartreuse Pigment
* MAC PRO Process Magenta Paint Stick
* MAC PRO Genuine Orange Paint Stick
* Marine Ultra Chromagraphic Pencil
* Rich Purple Chromagraphic Pencil
* Florida Cremeblend Blush
* Optimistic Orange Cremeblend Blush
* Pink Pigeon Lipstick
* Flamingo Lipstick

See more Spring/Summer 2012 runway looks!

Runway Makeup: Chanel Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2012

Phyllis — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:15:02 +0000

Wearing blue from head to toe can be tricky to pull off but Karl Lagerfeld and Chanel Creative Director of Makeup Peter Philips proved it otherwise at the Chanel Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2012 show.

Face
After prepping the skin with Hydra Beauty Serum Hydration Protection Radiance (available April 2012), Philips created a flawless base with Perfection Lumiere Long Wear Flawless Fluid Makeup SPF 10, Eclat Lumiere Highlighting Face Pen and Correcteur Perfection Long Lasting Concealer. He set it with Poudre Universelle Libre Natural Finish Loose Powder and added the lightest flush on the cheeks using Joues Contraste Powder Blush in Rose Ecrin.

Eyes
For the strong, slightly rock n roll eyes, Philips colored in the lids with Le Crayon Yeux Precision Eye Pencil in Bleu Aérien before blending Illusion D’Ombre Long Wear Luminous Eyeshadow in Apparition through the crease towards the temple and adding Destination on the brow bone and inner corners. Herimmed the eyes with Stylo Yeux Waterproof Long Lasting Eyeliner in Marine and Le Crayon Khol Intense Eye Pencil in Marine and finished the look by curling lashes with Recourbe Cils De Chanel Precision Eyelash Curler and coating them with Inimitable Waterproof Mascara in Black.

Lips
To balance out the strong eyes, Philips created a muted pink lip. He started out with Rouge Coco Baume Hydrating Conditioning Lip Balm before Le Crayon Levre Precision Lip Pencil in Natural and painting the lips with Rouge Coco Hydrating Crème Lip Colour in Superstition.

Nails
To go with the blue theme, a new polish, Le Vernis Nail Colour in Sky Line was used.

The products used above will be available in an upcoming exclusive collection, Bleu Illusion, for sale in July 2012.

Images: Courtesy of Chanel.

Runway Makeup: Christian Dior Haute Couture Spring 2012

Phyllis — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 02:28:49 +0000

At Christian Dior Haute Couture Spring 2012 runway show, the bright colors and dramatic eyeliner we saw at previous seasons were swapped out for a softer look that consisted of shimmery eyelids (try Dior Garden Pastels 5-Couleurs Eyeshadow Palette for the look), a flick of black liquid eyeliner, wispy lashes, pink cheeks and barely-there lips. Love how wearable and simple it is!

Images: Vogue.it.

Runway Makeup: Bouchra Jarrar Haute Couture S/S 2012

Phyllis — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:29:08 +0000

NARS Cosmetics made its debut at Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week with flushed, luminous skin at Bouchra Jarrar S/S 2012 show.

“The look is elegant, luminous and detailed, with a focus on the bottom eyelid,” said lead artist Christophe Danchaud, for NARS Cosmetics. “The skin is transparent, with the cheek lending a touch of color. Woody, pink lips, and a dark, smudged liner give it a feeling that it’s a bit worn in, because Bouchra wanted to communicate a feeling of warmth through her collection and the makeup.”

Face
* Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer (launching Spring 2012)
* Douceur Blush
* Gina Blush

Eyes
* Thunderball Eyeshadow
* Goddess Soft Touch Shadow Pencil
* Misfit Duo Eyeshadow
* Paris Duo Eyeshadow
* Larger Than Life Lengthening Mascara

Lips
* Bilbao Lipstick from the Spring 2012 collection
* Tiber Larger Than Life Lip Gloss

NARS is available at narscosmetics.com.

Photos: Courtesy of NARS Cosmetics.

How To: Get Dewy Skin For Spring

Phyllis — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 22:28:15 +0000

The dewy look is always a big hit in spring and can take years off your age. See how you can master it in just a few steps!

* A little bit of shine can create a natural glow so the first thing you want to do is lay off the powder. If you are on the oily side and worry about your makeup sliding off through out the day, just set it with a good makeup spray like my favorite Skindinavia Original Makeup Finishing Spray.

* Loved by millions in Asia, BB Creams are perfect for creating the dewy look. Use it alone instead of a primer for the most natural-looking result.

* Don’t have access to BB creams? Just mix equal parts of foundation with a high-moisture content serum like my favorite Valmont Hydra3Regenetic Serum, NARS Aqua Gel Hydrator and Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Recovery Complex. Dewiness guaranteed!

* Brush a highlighter right on top of the cheekbone, down the bridge of nose and on the bow of lip. Those with lighter skin tones can pull off pink and silver hues (like MAC Silver Iridescent Powder/Loose as seen at Alberta Ferretti S/S 2012 above) while darker skin should stick to golden shades.

Are you a fan of the dewy look? Tell us your secrets to nailing it!