Mesmerizing metallic eye makeup

“This fall there seems to be a return to
matte faces and metallics on the eyes,” says Toronto-based makeup artist Diana Carreiro for Page One Management. “The
smoky eye is less of a standard black smokey eye, but with colours like greens and blues.” We fell in love with the glamourous look on the Diane von Furstenberg runway, and chatted with Diana on how to recreate this look.

How to do these eyes: “It’s important to keep the look modern, so stick to two, maybe three, colours and blend them super well,” she says. Take a deep blue and apply it to the inner corners and one-third of the way on the bottom and top lids. Fill in the rest with an army green shadow. “Apply it most intensely on the lid and fake it up to to the brow,” says Diana. Using the same green shadow, apply a bit to the lower lash line. Diana’s shadow palette favourite for this look: Quo Minerals Matter Eye Duo in Blue Lagoon. To make it a daytime look? “Just don’t carry the colour up to the brow,” says Diana.

Complete the look with Quo 10th Anniversary pencil in Silver Bullet along the water line, and a sweep of mascara. Some matte peachy blush (“Benefit Georgia Peach blush is great”) applied in a light veil to the cheekbones (on the cheekbones make it more sophisticated for this look, says Diana), and an orangey nude shade on the lips such as Anna Sui Lip Rouge Glossy #700 completes the look.

Fierce cat’s eyes

“This look of course was originated in the 1960s but has been updated for today’s woman,” says Jackie Gideon, a Toronto-based makeup artist with Judy Inc., of the cat’s eyes seen on the Philosophy runway. “In the 60s the look was heavier with more emphasis on lips and eye shadows to go along with the liner. Today’s version is done on a ‘sheerer,’ more luminous skin, and a lighter mouth to balance the retro eye,” she says.

How to do these eyes: Use
liquid liner. “It will give a crisper, cleaner line,” says Jackie. Keep in mind that this look will work best on a non-hooded eyelid. “Start out thin. You can always build the eyeliner if you feel you want the line thicker.” Above all, take your time! Accentuate the lashes on the outer corners of the eye to continue the cat’s eye effect, and apply sparingly to the bottom lids.  

As for the rest of your face, Jackie suggests sticking to a luminous, sheer foundation. “A light dusting of translucent, loose powder will ensure longevity, but will not be too heavy on skin.” Her favourite powders are from Laura Mercier. On your cheeks, use a natural, sheer pink or coral blush in a powder format for longevity, and complete the look with lips in a nude gloss.

Create soft, ethereal eyes on the next page …

Ethereal eyes that sparkle

“This look from the Jason Wu runway is probably to the extreme of being simple,” says Diana. “You’ve got metallic on the eyes, almost nothing on the cheeks or eyes, and a nude mouth.”

How to do these eyes: Use a shimmer in one colour from the lid to the brow. A word of warning, though: “This much metallic on the eyes is very unforgiving; it provides no camouflage—it you have any
redness, acne or fine lines, they will be highlighted,” says Diana. Using your finger, sponge brush or Q-tip (anything more solid—you don’t want to be using a fluffy brush) apply a metallic pigment such as Gosh Effect Powder in Steel or Gold Glamour from the lid to the brow. “Silvers will work on fair skin and deeper skin tones, gold will work better.”

Finish your face with a matte, very pale pink blush (Diana suggests Lise Watier Rose Cachemire blush for fair skin, and go darker if your skin is darker—“but you just want a blush that has a hint of colour) and on the lips you want “something that is your lips, just better,” says Diana. Her pick to achieve this lip: Smashbox Photofinish in Flawless, a sheer pinky beige.

This very
barely there look is great on the runway but might be too bare for most of us, so to make it more wearable for real life, Diana suggests using the
metallic shadow only on the eyelids, adding a bit of cream eye liner (she swears by Quo liner in Pewter) and sweeping on some mascara.

Get bold purple lips on the next page …

Deep purple lips

Is the vampire craze influencing runway makeup? These deep purple lips seen on the Peter Som runway certainly seem Twilight-inspired. For New York-based makeup artist Jenny Kanavaros, she’s loving how this look is clean with a gothic twist. “It’s Upper East Side chic meets Fairuza Balk from the film
The Craft,” she says.  

And while she admits it’s a tough look to pull off, she believes if you keep the rest of the face clean, the resulting look is amazing.

How to do these lips: “It’s best to use a
lip liner when applying a coloor this dark to perfect the shape of the lip. A matte or semi-matte would look best,” says Jenny. As for choosing the right purple for you, she recommends trying three colours at the makeup counter to see what goes best on your skin tone. “Avoid shimmer–shimmer will make this look seem outdated.”  

If you’re loving this look, but finding it too severe for you, you can make it more wearable, says Jenny, by apply it less heavily. “Instead of lining the lip with a pencil and filling the entire lip in with the lip colour, use your finger to gently apply the
lip colour to the centre of the top and bottom lips and work it outwards. This way it’s more like a purple stain,” she says. Her top purple lipstick pick: Le Metier de Beaute lipstick in Cona.

Since the
lip is so bold, keep the rest of your makeup sheer and clean, and the eye makeup very minimal. Jenny even suggest keeping the lashes mascara-free.

Create the perfect red pout on the next page …

Ravishing red lips 

“Every fall there is some version of the red lip. Here on the Vena Cava runway, the face is kept matte and the eyes and cheeks are in the same neutral colour and the brows are important,” says Diana.

How to do these lips: Diana tends to steer clear of lining with a pencil when doing a
red lip. “It starts to look very drawn on and you want it to be more natural looking and organic,” she says. To get it a slightly less structured looking lip, she suggests using a lip brush to line the lips with the
lip colour. A shade close to the one from the Vena Cava show is Revlon Matte Lipstick in Really Red, but you’ll want to hunt for the right shade for your skin tone and lips, says Diana. To find the right red for you, she suggests drawing several stripes of the
lip colour options on your inner wrist, and picking the one that looks best to you in natural light. If you’ve got thin lips, Diana recommends using a gloss instead, as “anything too dark or too matte will just end up looking like an angry red slash.” A gloss, however, will give the illusion of fullness.

Do the rest of your face by focusing on your brows (Quo Must Have Brows palette is a must), eyes (the ideal shadow for this is actually a blush Diana recently discovered and has fallen in love with: an orangey saddle brown shade, Bourjois Paris Blush No. 03 Brun Cuivre) and cheeks (a tawny bronzer such as Pur Minerals Mineral Glow will work best).

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