Are You Up For Experimenting With Shades Of Red This Festive Season?

In the past few years, natural make-up has meant make-up that is not visible — presenting a face that doesn’t look touched up, but actually is. Even Alicia Keys, whose comeback campaign last year heavily elaborated on the concept of being ‘make-up-free’, used a range of products apart from applying an ice stick on her face to get the fresh-faced naturalism, revealed her make-up artist in an interview.

But, as the Autumn/Winter 2017 runways exemplified, the need of the hour is about portraying the real you — not covering it up. “This time, make-up was used not just to look natural but also to express mood and personality,” says Sonic Sarwate, global senior artist for MAC Cosmetics India, who travels extensively to represent the brand at global fashion weeks. Then, the motive is altogether different this time; from appearing to be real, the move signals a new phase in beauty that plays with textures and tones to project your voice, making ‘statement make-up’ the single biggest beauty trend this fall. The look is powered by personality and freedom of expression — allowing you to take it wherever you want.

“The stronger the statement, the simpler the rest of the face has to be,” states international make-up artist Terry Barber. Bring out the bright colours, glitters and the neons. Reds, pinks, oranges, blues, greens and anything that appeals to your senses is what you should be wearing. And where eye make-up is concerned, this season also marks the return of the eyeshadow. Taking a backseat in the last few seasons, now the shadows are back with a bang. Deep satin textures in pastels evoke a subtle richness that has emerged as a ramp favourite. But essentially, it’s about one bold thought, like a flash of opaque colour against fresh, luminescent skin. From graphic eyes and floating liners to rainbow eyes, you’re free to do what you want, and you can do no wrong, just as long as you follow your heart, the ramps seem to cajole.

At Oscar de la Renta (NYFW, AW17), eyes were dressed in playful tones of lilac, coral and turquoise against gorgeous natural-looking skin and lips. An architectural liner in electric shades — cyan, orange, green and blue — was drawn through the contour of the eyes at Prabal Gurung (NYFW, AW17). The rest of the face was beautifully bare. If you don’t like too much make-up, you can simply define the lashes and let your lips speak in never-seen-before audacious colours such as blue, yellow and green.

Apart from using shadows in strokes and shapes, the trend also seemed to be a lot more inclusive this time. Faux bottom lashes, under-eye make-up and a whole assortment of smoky eyes — smudged, solid, accented and metallic — affirmed the free-spirited vibe that permeated all the best looks. At Alberta Ferretti (Milan Fashion Week, AW17), for example, diffused red eyeshadow with kohl liner and a hint of gold in the inner corners took on the traditional smoky eyes, and how. “It’s taking something as simple as a smoky eye but twisting it with unexpected colour,” says Barber.

And while imperfection holds the key to modern application, in this ruleless season, the only diktat is that you be true to yourself.