Beauty trends on the New York runways complemented the simple, minimalistic appeal of the clothing. Make-up was kept fresh and natural with dewy skin, and a few designers choosing to leave their models totally bare faced bar a little concealer. But if you only choose to invest in one beauty product for spring, make it a quality bronzer. At Vivienne Tam and Charlotte Ronson matte bronzer
was used to create an almost dirty, lived-in look (Tams make-up artists applied it with an old argyle sock!), but for a cleaner approach look to Ruffians bronze-faced babes where gold eye shadow complimented a sparklier shade. Just remember that the overall look should be natural: Snooki might have attended a few of the shows but she definitely wasnt an inspiration for any of them.
As far as lips go, one of the most prominent trends (literally) on the catwalk was bright orange lipstick. The great thing about this trend is that it works best with natural looking skin and minimal eye make-up, making it perfect for those of us who like to make an impression without spending 20 minutes in front of the mirror each morning. Coral shades also suit any skin tone (yes, really), unlike red which requires a certain undertone that were not all lucky enough to possess.
Though eye make-up was generally kept to a minimum, small swipes of dense colour in vibrant shades were used at Derek Lam, Jason Wu and Preen in combination with a nude lip. The hot pink eye shadow seen at Derek Lam probably looked a little intimidating in the palette, but applied in a thin line as one might apply black liquid eyeliner it looked like a very fresh and pretty alternative. Jason Wu used a slightly lighter shade of pink along with purple, blue and green (on different models, of course) while the Preen girls wore a small swipe of pale, pearly blue in the corner of each eye.
To complement a fresh face, hair consisted mainly of loose waves, messy buns and small summery braids. Braids were used by hairdressers at both Charlotte Ronson and Jason Wu, but to different effect. While Ronsons delicate braids fell against bed-hair to create a grungy, music festival look, Wu twisted larger, neater braids into low buns and intertwined them with pieces of ribbon. The hair
at Ronson would be the perfect complement to any summery wardrobe, but for a glamorous evening look Wu is the winner.
Its been a while since it was trendy to forcefully attack your hair with straightening irons, but it seems that this season bigger really is better. Of course there is some limit to this theory; with Marc Jacobs 70s inspired afros arguably pushing the boundaries, but softer looks in a similar vein were huge in a different way. Hair at Ports 1961 looked to the same decade for inspiration but the loose waves seen here were softer and more romantic to complement the feminine yet unstructured dresses.
Article by Hannah Ongley