As a beauty fan, I love to keep up to date with the latest trends coming off the catwalk – there’s always something creative on show just wild and ripe enough for inspiration picking, but what I’ll always say when it comes to high fashion is take it with a pinch of salt, and consider adapting the looks to suit your own style. Here’s the latest feature I did for Cambridge Edition magazine, which can also be read for free online, here.
For many a season, the no-makeup-makeup look has dominated the beauty pages, showcasing a barely-there, but barely-possible-to-achieve, glossy finish which actually seemed to take longer and more skill to achieve than a bolder look. Mascara fans rejoice, at Lanvin and Longchamp, Diane Kendall and Pat McGrath went all out with the max makeup-makeup look. So, it’s time to channel your inner (drag) queen and sissy that walk (all the way to the beauty counter) and go wild. Think show stopping eyes and bright, bold lips to take you from the cold clutches of winter and into the warm, colourful blooms of summer.
There are so many exciting palettes out there at the moment to kick-start your look, many adopting the neon brights used by Helmut Lang, Versace, and Oscar de la Renta. Trust the mother of makeup, Pat McGrath with the Subversive eyeshadow palette (£30, Selfridges.com), five stunning pressed pigments with rich payoff and shimmer. Splurge on the Uoma Beauty Black Magic Carnival palette (£43, beautybay.com) for ten matte and shimmer shades with a super-spicy fuchsia and yellow combination straight from the catwalk. For the perfect vibey coral, grab the Juvia’s Place Warrior 3 palette (£24.95, beautybay.com) – made popular on Instagram, Juvia’s Place offer pigment rich, vegan and cruelty free colour. And for a total steal, head to Superdrug and seek out the Revolution Reloaded Monster Matte Neon eyeshadow palette, just £12 for 45 shades! Offering you the full rainbow (and everything in between) try using a bold yellow in your crease, and a deeper shade like pink or red over lids to really pack a punch. Founded four years ago by makeup artist Natasha Denona, this trendsetting yet user-friendly makeup line has become a worldwide (and Instagram) phenomenon. Natasha’s eyeshadows are known as some of the best in the industry, and while you’ll pay for that quality, the new, Limited Edition Love Palette (£60, cultbeauty.co.uk) is just so stunning. With metallic champagnes, rich reds, and pretty pinks and purples, there are 15 shades in this must-have palette.
If you like the idea of a statement eye, but are not quite ready to go all out, a subtle slick using coloured liners looks really striking, while also being work-friendly. Gosh metal Eyes in Turquoise (£5.94, Superdrug) looks stunning smudged under the lower lash line and finished with a generous brushing of mascara – I’d recommend It Cosmetics Superhero (£21, Boots) mascara to do the job here. Equally, the Kat Von D Ink Well matte eyeliner is available in six shades including Outlaw, a gorgeous summery coral, which looks scorching hot swept into a cat flick. (£17, Debenhams). The eyeliner trend continues, and whether it’s flicked up, down, or to the side, the key to adopting this look is by going big, bold and unapologetically black. Too shaky to master a subtle slice? No worries – this version of the flick is for you. Rather than hug the lash line, these wings hide a multitude of art-fail sins and instead fly across most of the eyelid, and even make their presence felt upon the brow bone, too. Halpern, 3.1 Phillip Lim and Prada jumped on the retro revival, with dark, angular flicks seen at Helmut Lang, too. Make sure you have a top notch liner in your kit bag. You can’t go wrong with Sleek Dip It, an absolute steal at £4.99 from Boots but with the thickest, blackest pay off around.