The New Season Make-up Trends

Colour was undoubtedly the standout star of SS12 with punchy pop colours stealing focus all over the fashion globe. No rainbow shade was exempt from the kaleidoscope, with colours from bright cerise to chartreuse and violet all used to eye-blinding effect on eyes, lips and even hair. Riding high on this crest of colour, orange stood out as the shade to copy this season, with peach, apricot and mango being among the most favoured thanks to their ability to flatter almost every skin tone. When it came to skin, the tropical mind-set continued apace with make-up artists opting for complexions that glowed with iridescence.

This season skin was slicked in gloss and sheen to add a 3D edge to faces. Val Garland summed it up best at Preen where she described complexions as ‘hot and Mediterranean’ and ‘pulsing with life’ - to create this she relied a cocktail of finely milled powder, concealer and lightly tinted gloss, which was all expertly buffed into skin. Elsewhere models at Dolce & Gabbana, Nina Ricci and Antonio Berardi all displayed similarly flawless, glowing skin.

The ocean was one of the biggest inspirations when it came to texture this season, with make-up artists exploring every outlet from the shimmering surface of mermaids’ tails to the all-encompassing depths of the water. At Rodarte midnight blue shadow was washed over inky black to imitate the complex colours of the deep blue, while at Prada and Chanel pearlescent oyster tones provided the focus.

Now is the time to experiment with bold, saturated colour and no one did it better than Val Garland at Mary Katrantzou, who opted for high octane bolts of lip colour on otherwise stark faces. Anna Sui showcased retro beauty at its colourful best with lips, cheeks and eyes all glowing in a scarlet haze, while Issey Miyake, Narciso Rodriguez and Thakoon went for dramatic bursts of colour painted on to hair.

Smoky eyes are never off the radar in Milan and for spring we saw a plethora of sultry, inked eyes that proved this. At Gucci black shadow was ringed around eyes for a sexy, sooty look while at Moschino waxy liner was simply smudged with fingers until it melted into sockets. At Emilio Pucci classic black was tinged with gold and over at Etro smoke was given an update with a cool slate grey the shade of choice.

Liner had a strong season, particularly in London where make-up artists found new ways of updating the classic wing. At Richard Nicoll and Pringle, short staccato lines punctuated eyelids in chunky black and fine turquoise respectively, while at House of Holland and Mary Katrantzou lids were embellished with two tone colour which made eyes pop.

Terracotta tones added warmth to faces for spring, from all over colour to simple hints. At Marni a sliver of earthy brown liner framed eyes, at Michael Kors it was all over dusky tan and at Preen juicy fruity shades came into their own as they were washed in sheer layers over cheeks and lips. It was Hannah Murray at Jaeger who worked it best though, buffing neon peach pops onto lids, cheeks and lips - a lesson in new season tonality if ever we saw one.