BY DESIGN : Fall’s About-Face : Toss out the old and bring in the new-makeup colors, that is. Consider losing the neutral look. It won’t go with the season’s vibrancy and textures.
To keep the models from paling in comparison to the bright clothes they wore down the fall runways, makeup artists saturated their palettes. Eyes were raccooned in charcoal, cheeks flushed fuchsia, lips glowed red-hot. And sometimes the cheeks and eyes became one, thanks to a sideways-V application of blush.
If all this triggers flashbacks of David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust period, relax. The opaque blushers of the ‘70s have been replaced with finely ground powders that let the skin show through. New tinted lip glosses make for a sheer-but-intense mouth. And eye makeup doesn’t seek to contour with highlights and shadows--instead, lids are washed in a single color or are just plain smokin’. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
First, out with the old: That nude, matte look of the early ‘90s is all dried up. A “naked” face doesn’t jibe with the tropical colors (mandarin orange, passion fruit pink) and interesting textures (mohair, chenille) of fall fashion. The change makes Dick Page--who did the colorful makeup for the fall collections at Helmut Lang, Calvin Klein and Liza Bruce--very happy.
“That old tone-on-tone face--you know, varying degrees of buff, sand, camel, fawn, tan, taupe--just makes me insane because it’s so flat and dull and artificial.”
The new look is predicated on the glow of healthy skin. And it’s all about balance: If youput color on your cheeks and mouth, keep eye makeup neutral. Counter a smoky eye with a strong lip, but use a natural blush.
“The makeup we’re seeing in magazines right now,” Page says, “is purposefully overstated to get the point across. So don’t be slavish about it, otherwise you’re going to look dated and very Studio 54.”
His insider tips: For the best blush, Page prefers the cream variety. (Clinique, Trucco, Chanel, Monteil Paris and Kryolan, a German line available at Columbia Stage and Screen Cosmetics in Hollywood, make them.) Otherwise, he uses lipstick as blush (Navy Rose by Prescriptives, Aubergine by Il Makiage, or Bois de Rose by Lancome for fair skin, and transparent reds such as Lingonberry by OPI or Blood Red by Trucco for darker skin).
“Over bare skin or foundation, dot cream blush or lipstick on the apple of the cheek,” Page says. (It helps to smile.) “Fade it out to just below the cheekbone and blend. Don’t bring it up to the hairline. You’re not shaping your face, you just want to flush. It’s like pinching your cheeks before entering a room.” Dust lightly with loose powder, enough to set but not eliminate the glow.
Page brushes that same lipstick onto the mouth, then tops it off with gloss, balm or petroleum jelly. But just a dot: “I don’t like a jammy look either. It’s healthier-looking just to gleam.” (Bonus for those of us who are tonally challenged: Using lipstick as blush eliminates the clash factor.)
Although the magazines are heralding the return of fuchsia lipstick, it’s difficult to carry off, Page says, because “it has so much blue in it. But if you love fuchsia, by all means wear it.” He prefers deep berry tones--plummy reds and browny reds--”used in a fresh way with gloss. I stay away from orange.”
Red lipstick looks great worn with very little other makeup, he says: “Or keep the face bare but wear a red nail polish on beautifully manicured hands. It’s quite modern to leave ‘spaces,’ so to speak, and not just Xerox a look from a magazine.”
One way to wear strong shades is to buy the “watered-down” version, says Matthew Sky, makeup artist for the Pierre Michel Salon at the Plaza in New York. Instead of bright pink lipstick, use a gloss in the same shade (“Il Makiage in NYC makes some good tints”). Or apply a transparent red lipstick (“one of the best sheers is a true crayon-box red, T08, by Make Up For Ever at Barneys,” he says).
Although it may take some getting used to, “wearing color on the eyes may be the real news,” Page says. One way to reintroduce it is to apply a transparent film of cream eye shadow (hard to find, but Shu Uemura and Kryolan make them). For the fall collections, Page used a mix of violet, gunmetal gray and indigo.
“Stroke some on with a brush close to your lashes, and blend it up and outward a little bit with your finger,” he says. “It stays on the lid and doesn’t wing out to the side. So you see a glow of color rather than this obvious statement. It makes the eyes look quite vivid without actually shading the structure of the eye.”
The color-shy can always opt for a smoky eye--outlined in black pencil, smudged, and shaded with charcoal eye shadow. Use lighter shades of gray brown and dark brown as you blend outward; in other words, keep the darkest color closest to the eye and graduate to subtler shades.
If the essence of fashion is change, then makeup is almost risk-free. It’s temporary, not as radical as hair color, and costs less than clothes. Sometimes it’s as courageous as we get: A glamorous color on the lips can breathe some life into last year’s navy pantsuit.
Just remember to play around to see which shades suit you. Says Page: “I never buy any makeup I can’t test first.”
