Johannesburg - This year, the cosmetic houses have gone all out on colour, but with less of the flashy neons and primary pops that dictated last year’s trends. Summer 2012 sees a more feminine and sensual approach to make-up, with colours inspired by nature.
Says Michelle-Lee Collins, senior artist at MAC: “Last season’s tough androgyny is a thing of the past. Summer 2012 sees make-up embracing a super femininity, plush with sensual prettiness. Beauty is back.”
Joanna Schlip, US celebrity make-up artist for the Physicians Formula brand (available at Dis-Chem) sums up the season’s trend as “polished”, so she recommends plenty of mascara and “jewel colours that complement and bring out your eye colour”.
“Shimmery shades such as espresso, navy, forest green and purple will make an amazing statement even if you only use it as bold coloured eye liner,” she says.
The season is also all about healthy looking skin, so take care of your complexion first and foremost. Contouring the face with bronzers remains a perennial trend, provided you stick to the cardinal rule of make-up – foundation must match your skin tone exactly.
Metallics – warm copper shadows, and soft, smoky eyes – continue to top make-up trends this year, though lips have moved from glossy to colour stained, as though you’ve been drinking red wine.
On the eye front, two looks jumped out on the catwalks of Europe during their summer just past – natural, unplucked brow shapes, and “statement liner”, meaning bold black lines to give the eyes a feline expression.
MAC has identified four looks for summer 2012:
* NOUV-EAU is about “tinting the skin with washes of colour” from delicate peach to espresso. The look is created with foundation powders and creams, with a mascara-less eye to create a pared down beauty. Lips are enlivened with peach, apricot or strawberry tones, and lids with single-toned pastels or flesh tones through to rubs of charcoal.
* ATH-ELITE taps into the athletic vibe of the recent Olympic Games in London, and is about creating a dewy, sporty plumped and pumped complexion, using foundation then wet highlights or gloss (cream colour bases) to achieve the super hydrated look. This is ideally paired with a straighter, squarer brow.
* ORE-INSPIRED uses metallics, coppers, rusts and terracotta to accentuate the lips, cheeks and eyes.
* NEO-N is about using neoprene colours in greens or blues on lips and eyes against plump workout-fresh skin, but without the stamped-on brights of last summer. The idea is to give the face detail rather than a shock of colour.
For this summer, Bobbi Brown looked to the desert at dusk for its inspiration, and in July launched its Desert Twilight collection, which features an eye shade compact with turquoise against a backdrop of rose, plum and bronze shades.
“Everyone looks beautiful in this light, and that’s the idea behind the Desert Twilight collection,” Brown is quoted as saying. “I added a shot of blue for an unexpected, yet pretty accent on eyes. Turquoise has long been one of my favourite colours and is the perfect complement to a bronzed complexion. From eye shadow to nail polish, blue is making a comeback this season.
The “smoky eye” is a Bobbi Brown favourite, and to show women how it’s done Bobbi Brown manager of artistry Eliano Bou Assi was in SA recently touring the Edgars outlets where the brand is sold.
“A smoky eye always looks beautiful, and it can be done in five minutes, blending the brown to lighter shades upwards to the eyebrow,” he says.
“You can also do it in blues. It’s a classical look, like red lipstick is a classical look, and it can be done in five minutes.”
Lancome, meanwhile, compares its Spring look to “a rose garden in full bloom”, so think translucent pink, orange or fuchsia, or almond green. Its new Roseraie des Delices collection, created by artistic director Aaron de Mey, includes a two-toned rose blush that he recommends using a broad brush to blend the shades together and apply to cheeks, chin and forehead.
“Apply the blush to the upper cheekbones or just below the eye to disguise dark circles,” he suggests.
So there’s a lot to work with in finding your own look, and as usual, the cutting edge make-up brands are full of ideas and new products to make it happen.
BEAUTY TIPS FROM AN EXPERT
Bobbi Brown international artist, the Lebanon-born Eliano Bou Assi, gives the following tips:
* Concealer is the secret to achieving a flawless complexion. Don’t forget to use it under the eyes to get rid of dark rings.
* Foundation should look like your skin. Try and try again until you find the right tone.
* Powder can make your skin look dry. Use crème foundation to make skin glow.
* Beware of bronzers that look too orangey or too brown. They make the skin look unclean.
* Don’t oversize the lips with lipstick. It makes them look unnatural. If you have thin lips, use light not dark shades.
* Lipstick and blush should work together, so stick with the same shade. Blush should be the shade you would be if you’ve just had a good workout.
* Upper eyeliner should be thicker than the lower line, otherwise it makes you look tired.
* Don’t forget eyebrows, they are the frame of the face. Use eyeshadow to accentuate them, not liner as that makes them look tattooed.
* Keep lip gloss on hand. It works day and night.
* If you’re using a colourful eyeliner, go with a nudes for the rest of the eye. Don’t use two colours together. - The Star