15 fresh spring updates
Beauty’s got a brand new mood – clean, easy and often playful. From how to lose a too-perfect lip line to easy up-dos, here’s how to tap right in
Clean, easy, playful – think messy updos and rosy, radiant skin this season
START WITH THE SKIN
“Beautiful skin was the starting point for so many catwalk looks this spring and for some – Isabel Marant (pictured), Proenza Schouler – it was the end point, too. Instead of make-up, it was just super-clean and radiant skin on show. Good cleansing is where it all begins, so here are three new star buys. THE BRIGHTENING POWDER Clinique Fresh Pressed Renewing Powder Cleanser (£24 for 28 sachets; 1) with pure vitamin C gives luminosity. THE NOURISHING FOAM Darphin Intral Air Mousse Cleanser (£28; 2) delivers a creamy and comfortable cleanse.
THE PURIFYING OIL Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery Botanical Cleansing Oil (£29; 3) removes every last trace of make-up without drying your skin. »
REPURPOSE YOUR BLUSH
Supporting act no more, blush is holding its own as the new make-up musthave. Here are three new ways to wear it.
DRAPING Swirling blush from cheekbone to temple creates bone structure and a bold new look, as seen at Chanel and JW Anderson.
BOY BLUSH Nars’ Andrew Gallimore drops colour to the hollows below the cheekbones (think wash, not contour). “You won’t look like you’re wearing blush – you’ll just look healthy,” he says.
CO-ORD COLOUR Makeup artist Florrie White blends cream blush over Rosie Huntingtonwhiteley’s eyelids too, for “extra depth and warmth”.
GET BACK TO YOUR ROOTS
The new approach to roots is a forgiving one, whether you’re covering greys or maintaining a head of highlights. “An inch of shadow gives the face a youthful boost, and if greys are the issue, having clusters lightly blended out looks softer than an all-over tint and doesn’t need as much upkeep,” says Nicola Clarke, creative colour director at Color Wow. John Frieda’s new service The Fade Out (from £125) darkens at the root to give highlights a deliberately lived-in look and subtly blur away greys.
REINVENT THE HEEL
Sling-backs, sliders and mules: summer’s most covetable footwear gives heels nowhere to hide. Keep yours reliably bare-able with our latest foot-softening finds: The Chemistry Brand Heel Chemistry (£15; and Alpha-h Liquid Gold Luxe Resurfacing
Body Cloths (£27).
GET INTO GLITTER
Fashion’s magpie moment (hello shimmer, shine and serious embellishment) prompts a decorative feel for the face: glitter, and lots of it. We’ve seen it stenciled onto skin and layered over lips, but love it most washed across eyelids in flattering tones of old gold, rose gold, or clean, fresh silver.
DROP A FEW INCHES
… to the nape of the neck, that is, where the chicest up-dos (low-dos?) will be worn. From ponies to twists, they get their modern edge from a boyish minimalism, says Luke Hersheshon, UK creative director for John Frieda. “Play with the balance between masculine and feminine – a sleek side parting, or a hint of root lift for subtle sexiness.”
STEP INTO A NEW SCENT
Inspired by the herbal steam of the Hammam, Monet’s riverside scene and the point where sea and sky meet, there’s a watery note coursing through the freshest scents of the year so far. What they mean for the wearer? An airy and optimistic feel that’s perfect for now.
TRY A NAKED EYE
Inspired by make-up artist Peter Philips’ eye-brightening look for Dior (left), we’ve discovered two nude kohls that actually work (most are too chalky or stark). Diorshow Kohl in Beige (£19.50; 5) and Lancôme’s new Le Crayon Miracle (£16.50; 6) are off-white enough to deliver the creamy finish we crave.
FEEL GOOD, LOOK SO MUCH BETTER
At Marni, MAC’S uplifting Prep + Prime Essential Oils (£21 each) were used to rescue models’ skin and moods, while girls at Barbara Casasola received tension-taming massages before they walked. Inspired, we’re taking treatments at home this year. New wellness delivery service Soothe (huge in the US and just landed in London) offers massages with just 60 minutes’ notice (from £60; Soothe.com), while our favourite walk-in salon Blow Ltd has just added massage, Pilates and yoga to its at-home menu – and covers the home counties (Blowltd.com).
OMBRE YOUR LIP
Two-tone lips are leaping from runway to real life – a contrasting shade tapped onto the pillowy middle makes a mouth look much plumper, and these pretty new duos are a joy to play with.
DUST ON A SUNSET
Orange is set to be summer’s new pink, but we’ll take our tones somewhere in-between. Sunset-inspired shades range from peach to terracotta and, according to Terry Barber, director of make-up artistry for MAC, have a real affinity with the skin: “They mimic a complexion that’s in beautiful condition.” Bring them on.
MAKE LESS OF YOUR LASHES
With a new minimalism in mind, mascara was make-up non grata at many spring shows. “I advocate mascara at all times, but try a one-coat application to enhance the eye in a subtle way,” says make-up artist Caroline Barnes. Brushes with dense bristles deposit their pigment in a more feathery way than rubber ones – try Max Factor 2000 Calorie Curve Mascara (£7.99).
UNFINISH YOUR FACE
Because the new mood is nothing if not relaxed.
BLUR Do as Val Garland did at Giambattista Valli and soften the outline of a perfect red lip with a fluffy make-up brush.
SMUDGE The new smoky eye is a smudgy one. Line with sooty black and scuff with a brush or cotton bud for a cool-girl effect.
TEASE Update up-dos with a flyway here and there. “Flyaways play with the idea of ‘I woke up like this’,” says global ambassador for Oribe, James Pecis. “They say you’re low-maintenance, confident and carefree.” And aren’t we all?
LET NAILS SHOW THROUGH
See-through nails are spring’s easiest update, says nail technician Marian Newman. “The key finish is lots of gloss – apply three layers of gel-effect top coat to a naked nail, or over simple opaque shapes for a ‘negative space’ look.” We love the gilded rim at Rodarte, but with looks this pared back, conditioned cuticles are key – RMS Raw Coconut Cream (£12.50) is truly transformative.
LET CHEEKBONES SHINE
Models were misted, spritzed and patted with moisturiser as they stepped onto the catwalk for skin that went beyond dewy to wet.
Give cheekbones and eyelids a pop of gloss with Givenchy Highlighter
Mémoire De Forme (£32).