Catwalk Trend: Spring Make-up Round-Up

Blusher is still our make-up bag essential for giving life to lacklustre skin (and making us look like we’ve had 8 hours sleep when we haven’t) and thankfully it seemed to be the same for most make-up artists too. Subtle pops of cherry colour appeared on the apples of the cheeks at Carolina Herrera, Hermes and Stella McCartney while at Viktor & Rolf bubblegum pink clashed with pastels tones around the eyes to whimsical effect. At Sonia Rykiel rosy blush was blended with fingers high on the cheekbones to balance out bright coral lips while at Charles Anastase make-up artist Sally Branka added a ‘naïve’ quality to models’ faces with a rounded application of orange-toned cream blush, ‘because the texture is so sheer it gives life to the face and looks fresh rather than heavy’ she explained.

SS10 was officially the season where designers sat up and took notice of our most favourite accessory – nails. The big news in opaque colour were ‘mannequin nails’, shades of beige and nude that perfectly matched models’ skin tones so that nails appeared to simply melt into hands. At Louis Vuitton nail artist extraordinaire Sophy Robson had to round up as many shades of beige as she could find in order to match all 55 models, while at Chanel models skipped around the catwalk sporting the new It shade of the season ‘Particulaire’, a deliciously murky shade of mink. If you want to be more experimental and try our favourite nail look, get yourself to your nearest haberdashery and stock up on coloured lace which Robson used as an overlay on nude nails at House of Holland.

If you prefer to keep colour to a minimum then worry not, SS10 wasn’t all about rainbow shades. On the flipside the other look for eyes was a much more muted affair with mink, putty and taupe the shades of choice. At Matthew Williamson make-up artist James Kaliardos used brow powders instead of eye shadows in the socket line to give eyes ‘presence and subtle depth’ while at Roksanda Ilincic Lucia Pica took Masai Warriors as her muse and shaded lids in an earthy palette of pale terracotta and ochre. Gloss was used to add an interesting dimension to sludgy browns at Jean Paul Gaultier; there make-up artist Diane Kendal layered grease over smoky black-brown shadows until lids looked slick, shiny and melted into the face.

Glossy, polished skin was the foundation of almost every make-up look this season, with make-up artists prepping skin meticulously before applying colour. At Alberta Ferretti make-up artist Lucia Pieroni gave every model a mini facial to ensure skin was ‘sheeny, gorgeous and interesting’. At Jaeger skin was sculpted in a caramel and honey palette while at Pringle make-up artist Charlotte Tilbury used bronze and champagne highlights to add contours to the face, ‘it’s a full-on no make-up make-up look’ she laughed, ‘using nude colours and sheer textures to create a seamless luminescent complexion’. For colourless, subtle highlights follow the lead at Max Mara where gloss was dabbed on to the high plains of the face to reflect light and give skin a dewy quality (try a slick of Vaseline if gloss is a little daunting).

The big news of the season was the return to bold lip colour. Gone are the glosses that we flirted with for so long – lipstick is back and this time every colour got a look in. Standout favourites included matte tomato at Prada, chalky neon pink at Unique and creamy raspberry at Bottega Veneta. We also loved the (not so wearable) primary shades of apple green and ice blue at Paul Smith. Sultry wine colours were the most wearable (try a stain instead of full on colour if you are a little wary) and seemed to be the most popular shade amongst designers, cropping up at Dolce & Gabbana, Marc Jacobs and John Galliano; but it was texture that caught our eyes at Danielle Scutt. There, make-up artist Hannah Murray layered fuchsia glitter on top of beetroot lipstick to create a 3D lip, ‘when worn alone with a bare, but polished, face the effect is fresh and modern and looks like crushed coloured glass’ she said.

Spring’s new palette for eyes is bold and bright. From deep violet at Versace to jewelled plum at Jeremy Scott and iridescent ivy at Issa, warm jewel shades were unapologetically daubed on lids to provide strength to otherwise nude faces. Elsewhere cooler tones also made an appearance; at Viktor & Rolf make-up artist Pat McGrath washed icy pastels all around eyes from brow to lower lash line creating a halo of soft, sheer colour while at Preen in New York, steely shades of silver were pressed inside the inner corners of the eyes to add luminescence. At Marios Schwab frosted lilac was blended all round the eyes to make them pop but if you try this at home make sure it’s as soft as possible, ‘when wearing so much colour ensure you buff well with a fat brush so there are no hard edges’ said Petros Petrohilos who created the look.