KEY POINTS:
Runway fashions turn over faster than Naomi Campbell goes through personal assistants, but to most people a makeup style is a constant companion. We're not presuming you're still stuck with your favourite 80s winged eyeshadow - though the Viva reader knows that irony and individualism transcend trend - but we are assuming you have a favourite look that subtly shifts, rather than radically alters, with the season. Which is why cosmetic companies are in the business of bringing out new ranges that so often seem to simply reinterpret hardy annual looks, rather than re-invent the facial landscape.
In couture terms makeup is more Armani than Ghesquerie, more Donna Karan than Alexander McQueen. Everyday wearable will almost always win out over fantastical when it comes to living with the face in the mirror. Maybe that's why so many Fashion Week shows, here and abroad, have great makeup; it's the industry experts' chance to show what they're made of.
Like fashion, makeup looks seen on the international runways do influence what's in store, but not in the same shape-shifting way as in the clothing industry, where every few years there's a seismic shake-up in proportions of the sort that saw men abandon double-breasted suits and women swap trousers for dresses, only to start heading back the other way a few years later.
This season we're featuring some tried-and-true makeup looks: nudes, glamour and warm shades for summer, but there's a twist, something is afoot, and it's not as scary as stepping out in platforms and maxis. Two big trends are at work in the makeup world: technological research and development leading to cleverer cosmetics, and an unmistakeable shift back to colour. The two combine to bring about sheer but saturated shades. Nudes turn rosy; glamour looks take on a softer edge; and colour washes across, rather than coats, skin - bringing a new luminescence into play.
Of all the looks, gold is the one that will carry you most strongly from spring to summer. It can take on a rosy hue for day or refresh a dated evening look. By high summer when skin bronzers come into play, expect burnished gold with peachy toned lips.
Three top local makeup artists share their views on where makeup is at now. Skincare and sun damage prevention is their best advice to get a great result with your makeup, but they've happily shared a few tricks of the trade. Amber D from M.A.C is just back from a stint working with Cirque de Soleil in Macau, where she spent hours turning acrobats into artistic aerial angels. Next week she is leading the M.A.C teams, styling some of the biggest shows at Air New Zealand Fashion Week. Also offering advice on her transformative craft is Lancome's national makeup artist, Petra Rijnbeek and freelancer Carolyn Haslett, a Viva favourite who regularly does our cover shoot makeup, including today's cover.
Haslett styled the four key looks on these pages and says the key to all of them is to keep things clean and simple and to concentrate colour in one area. The French have the right idea in spending their money on skincare, she says. Definitely maintenance before slathering it on, says the down-to-earth Haslett, who wears little makeup herself, but reckons at this time of year a little fake tan or bronzer goes a long way in perking up anyone's look after a long winter. She recommends experimenting, using concealer to disguise redness and, of course, recites the makeup artist's mantra of blend, blend, blend, but also advises using fingers to apply lipstick in a "barely there" modern way.
One of her personal favourite products is M.A.C lip conditioner, a tinted lip balm, especially for those unmade up days.
Haslett's how-to tips accompany our photographs. We've also included a selection of some of the best new makeup around to pull together our key looks, but we're not suggesting you rush out and refill the cupboard. If you morph the looks a little, you'll find you can use the same makeup to achieve a number of results, particularly by taking a touch of gold into both your day and evening looks and experimenting with colours you already have.
To face up to a more beautiful future, just rethink your old approach, get the basics of a cared-for complexion right and identify a couple of items you really need. Don't overlook the benefits of getting a makeover at a cosmetic counter for some fresh thinking, but before you go on a spending spree, check what you already have and shop around the ranges for versions of this season's must-haves in prices that suit your budget.
High-Wire Act
M.A.C's Amber Dreadon this week will be juggling one of the toughest assignments around, but after her five weeks as an invited makeup artist at Cirque de Soleil, she says: "I've definitely got a few tricks up my sleeve." She'll need them, coming up with new looks for scores of models at Fashion Week shows including Zambesi, Nom*D, Trelise Cooper, Huffer, Jaeha, Cybele and Stolen Girlfriends Club.
Dreadon works closely with the designers to interpret their vision and also ensure the models are ready to hit the runway on time. In New Zealand, the same models may appear in multiple shows on one day, so there's no hope of spending hours fashioning their looks. Instead the makeup needs to be meticulously planned but speedily applied by the team she leads.
It was a different story at Cirque, where she'd sometimes spend up to five hours creating a look. Her job was to help teach the company's own artists how to achieve the most dramatic possible stage makeup and how to use specially developed M.A.C products such as intensely coloured pigment powders, some of which will filter into M.A.Cs commercial ranges.
For a company known for its edgy and colourful collections, it's no wonder Amber D is excited by this season's shades. She loves how red can morph into a darker stain on the lips and how the new neon brights take on a painterly quality when applied in a wash around the eye.
Glamour red is one of the best looks that carries from runway to daywear, she says, though cautioning that some of the catwalk creations we see are more about the photograph than the reality.
Top Tips
* To achieve the perfect red mouth or try the newer black red, apply concealer around the lip line to avoid bleed. Use a lip liner and fill in the colour, feathering it away into the centre of the lips.
* To give skin a refined, even glow, apply concealer to any problem areas, then dust with M.A.C Mineralize powder to set and illuminate skin.
* To make eye colour look fresh, but stay intense, use a neutral shade underneath, then paint one colour delicately around the whole eye, highlighted with eyeliner and mascara.
Show Secrets
* To give a sheen to the models' skin, Amber D will use M.A.C's new Strobe liquid.
* To disguise tiredness and dark circles and even out texture around the eyes, she'll rely on the caffeine-fix in Fast Response Eye Cream.
* To pep up skin, shell use Six-plus spray (with caffeine, green tea and cucumber) under moisturiser and again as a reviving final spray.
Trend Tracker
Lancome's Petra Rijnbeek says women will always feel comfortable with the softer, rosy nude shades which suit spring's floral fashions, but the biggest trend on the horizon is strong lips. Be it burnt red or leading into maroons with a gothic or vampish edge, she says the secret in pulling off stronger looks is in the application.
Like Amber D, she uses concealer, in her case, Lancome's Flash Retouche, to help achieve the perfect lip line, combined with lip liner, filled in from the outside in and with just a little of the inner fleshy portion of the lip left uncoloured for freshness. To get darker lipstick perfect a lip brush is essential.
Gold is a colour trend Rijnbeek says comes from the metallic meshes and armorial looks of the runway. She likes the newer antique golds, ahead of heavier bronzes, but says the trick to making them wearable is warmth. Depending on the wearer's skin tones, she advises twinning with red, orange, brown or rosy nude lips - not too intense, there needs to be a romanticism in it. To give a gold eye depth, use a lighter bronze gold eyeliner on the top lash line, but cocoa brown smudged on the lower lashes.
She advises solid neon colours be left to the young, but says the new Lancome L.U.C.I. range, used subtly, can impart colour without too much weight. Neon colours hold up better when applied with an eyeliner on the lower lash line, but diffuse it at the outer edge to avoid ringing the whole eye. Strong, groomed brows are a defining, dramatic European look, which is elegant and frames the eye beautifully.
Top Tips
* Concealer is something that is underrated, but over-used. The trick is in the application, so lightly does it.
* Try brown mascara for everyday, it works well with the new golds. Black looks a lot more evening and dressed.
* Soften kohl pencils' impact by rubbing them on the back of your hand, then brushing the residue along your lash edge.
* With red lipstick, put it on, blot if off and then gloss.
* For an everyday berry stain on the lips, use fingertips to push pigment into the lips.
Rosy nudes
* Face facts: you need good to skin pull off a nearly nude makeup look. The new rosy nudes are more forgiving, being softer than beige tones.
* The trick to this natural rosy look is careful blending, so each flush of colour looks as subtle as the graduated colour of, yes, a rose petal.
* The base is key to pulling off a naturally blooming look. Disguise any imperfections with a good concealer matched to your skin tone.
* Matt skin is more modern, but luminous foundations cover more faults and glide on easily. Remember less is more.
* Raspberry is the newest blush shade and suits most fairer complexions, being a cooler shade than some pinks.
* Eyes need only a hint of pinky-brown colour to help define their contours and any eyeliner should be a soft crayon rather than a harsh liquid. Mascara lightly.
* Lips need warmth, so avoid flat colours and keep the edges soft. Fill lips with a soft fat crayon close to your lip colour and then apply a little rosy gloss.
* Or try dabbing a bit of lipstick with your fingers into the middle of your lips only.
* Nail polish can be soft and floral pretty, or head into darker berry purple shades for drama.
Gold rush
* Try a subtle approach to golds - until the sun is shining and you've got a real gleam in your eye and a bit more colour on your skin.
* Your complexion, especially if pale, will need warmth to carry off golds, so use a subtle rosy or peachy cheek hue.
* An illuminator or light bronzer will lift skin tones, and later in the season you can get a little more daring in application.
* Look out for bronzers, which not only add colour, but also sheen or glitter for evening.
* Blondes can veer to cooler metallics on the eyes, even silver-gold or pewter; bronze shades also look good with blue and green eyes.
* Green-gold shadows and powder-style pencils add depth to most eye colours.
* Women with dark eyes and darker complexions can use pink-golds or burnished mahogany for eyes, cheeks and lips.
* Gold alone can look a little odd on the lighter eye, so add brow definition and smudge a chubby soft brownish crayon into the lash line.
* Lips can range from palest pink for the fair to peachier tones for those with a yellow-based complexion; berry tones work well on darker skin.
* For evening try red lips or even chocolaty shades.
* Nails can be bright or dark, or stick with the golds.
Sheer Glamour
* Moisturise, prime skin, use concealer to disguise under-eye circles and facial redness, and apply your favourite foundation blended across the whole face.
* Blush is optional as you don't want too many focal points on the face, but a light subtle shade is fine.
* Loose powder sets the look - and this look requires a finished polish. A heavier (but never cakey) compact powder is an option.
* Red lips are a signature style. Use lip liner blended inward for a defined but rounded lip shape.
* A drier textured lipstick, rather than anything too moist that can bleed, is best for darker colours. We used M.A.C Ruby Woo in our photograph.
* Skip the gloss, it tends to bleed or smudge. Blot lips carefully and retouch the lipstick with a brush.
* A smoky eye needs offsetting with a defined brow. Blend powder into the brow carefully to built up colour without a harsh pencilled effect.
* Taupes, grey, charcoal and even smoky navy are softer than black eyeshadows.
* Use a finger to apply cream shadow to the lid and crease, then blend a darker shade into the base using a round-edged brush in circular motions.
* Black mascara adds necessary drama to the look.
* Matching red nails are a no-no, try gold or a sophisticated barely there shade.
Colour Class
* Neon brights are best for the young, but colour can be worn by anyone.
* Clear, soft, but definite shades are worth a try. Think watercolour washes.
* Don't match your eye shadow to your eye, it's dated and dull; a toning shade reflects your eye colour better or use contrast to make your eyes stand out.
* Avoid looking like a clown by sticking with a single intense eye colour, on a fairly neutral eye base.
* Contain colour to the lid, crease and perhaps a little smudged round under your eye.
* Keep cheek and lip tones barely there if your eyes are bright.
* A softly coloured eye can carry a brighter or darker lip. Be bold with odd combinations (Pale green shadow and orange lipstick, teal and purple, lilac and shocking pink)
* Strong eye colour needs offsetting with eyeliner, but this is often best in a similar shade to the shadow.
* Use your shadow as eyeliner, by wetting it and blending on the back of your hand before smudging into the lash lines.
