Trying out 4 makeup trends first spotted on recent Fashion Week runway shows by Style Wylde. They are perfect for day to night makeup transitions! Images: Cynthia Anderson for Fafafoom (unless otherwise stated).
There are days when I need to come to fashion events after work. It is fairly expected, since I am a product manager at a tech company by day and a fashion / style blogger by night (and some weekends).
Take California College of the Arts (CCA) 2016 Annual Fashion Show, for example. It was held on a Friday, so after I finished work, I took a bus to CCA campus. It was in the campus that I touched up my makeup and dressed up in black gown with white lace corset outfit.
Now, I’m a loyalist to the basic smoky eyes or bright red lipstick for evening looks, but at some point it’s getting old. While years of trials and errors led to the point where I can whipped it up pretty quickly, it can become too predictable. I want to experiment with some evening makeup upgrades, but nothing over the top. Hopefully, they look great and I won’t get stuck in front of a restroom mirror for an hour.
Thank goodness for our friends at Style Wylde. Cynthia and Simon have been regularly present at various Fashion Weeks – New York, Tokyo, and recently, Copenhagen. Covering both runway and behind-the-scenes backstage preparations, their website showcases results of their hard work covering fashion shows, one season at a time. We are big fans of Cynthia and Simon, and Style Wylde is an AWESOME resource to browse new fashion collections and runway makeup trends.
So when Cynthia floated an idea to try out runway makeup trends just for fun, of course I pounced on it immediately. What a perfect timing for my day to night makeup dilemma. Browsing Style Wylde’s fashion week backstage coverages was exciting but dizzying; there are so many runway makeup trends to choose from! It’s interesting to note that more recent fashion weeks tend to be great for daytime looks due to their minimalism, and the ones from roughly two seasons ago were overall more daring and great for evening time.
Eventually, I settled with four runway makeup trends, and I “packaged” them into two pairs of day to night makeup looks. So one Saturday morning, I went to Cynthia and Simon’s place in Berkeley with my DIY makeup case filled with selected makeup products. One warm greeting and several stories later, I tried on replicating the looks and Cynthia documented the process!
Being totally honest here – I am no makeup guru; my makeup skills are pretty basic. No contouring or strobing, just the basic makeup cushion / tint for overall face, cream blush for my cheeks, and eyebrow pencil for fuller eyebrows. My essentials for ANY makeup look consist of Sulwhasoo Perfecting Cushion, Excel Pencil Powder for eyebrows, Clinique Cream Stick in Rosy Blush, Balm Cosmetics Mary-Lou Manizer, and lip balm. This was my first time attempting to replicate runway makeup trends (I did not practice beforehand…eek!) AND having the process documented at the same time! I was really excited, but definitely a little nervous.
But I had nothing to fear. Cynthia was not only gracious and patient, she also was a reliable moral support whenever I started doubting myself. Very encouraging and kind, she took great photos of the process and results of my day to night makeup looks. The results were surprisingly good; I can hardly believe these runway makeup trends are actually very doable AND relatable.
I’m now personally convinced they’re not made to live only on the catwalk. The minimalist looks are indeed perfectly fine for daytime office, and the more dramatic looks are fun for evening events. Transitioning from day to night was relatively easy to do, and the results have focused impact and out-of-the-box feel. I’m so thrilled! Let’s see if you feel the same.
Images: Cynthia Anderson for Fafafoom (unless otherwise stated).
Day to Night Makeup #1: Peachy Pink for Summer
Inspirations: Anne Sofie Madsen Fall 2016 (left) + Bibhu Mohapatra Fall 2015 (right)
Backstage at Anne Sofie Madsen Fall 2016. Image: Cynthia Anderson for Style Wylde Magazine.
Backstage at Bibhu Mohapatra Fall 2015. Image: Cynthia Anderson for Style Wylde Magazine.
Daytime look – inspired by Anne Sofie Madsen Fall 2016
I love the subtlety of tangerine eye shadow used on Anne Sofie Madsen Fall 2016 runway show. (Yes, I LOVE the designer’s works, too!) However, that shade would blend too well with my Asian skin tone, so I chose to replicate this look with peachy pink eyeshadow instead. For this, I used the ColourPop Cheeky eyeshadow and swipe the color close to my eye lead and crease area only. Everything else was basic: rosy cheeks, a little highlighter, and pink lips.
The result: peachy, rosy, fresh! The pink eyeshadow is a nice subtle accent, and it’s a definite “I’m awake” look for morning meetings. I highly recommend this look with eyeshadow shade of your choice; it’s very pretty and hassle-free!
Products used: ColourPop eyeshadow in Cheeky, L’Oreal Color Riche in Sandalwood.
Evening look – inspired by Bibhu Mohapatra Fall 2015
This makeup is curious to me; I’m not a fan of eyeliner on the bottom lid, let alone the “panda eyes” look. However, this Bibhu Mohapatra Fall 2015 makeup looks so tasteful and light that made me really curious to just be open-minded about it and try it out!
Building on the daytime makeup, first I added gold eyeshadow on the eyes’ inner corners. I used ColourPop Get Lucky eyeshadow, and I built on it to make it pop as much as I wanted to.
Next, I used the ColourPop Swerve liner, as well as some eye shadow applicator and Q-tips to create that half-inch outward smudge. I also made sure to apply it to the outer corner of my eyes so the line ‘disappeared’ into my top lashes. Cynthia was really helpful to spot-check my progress during this step. She gave her honest opinion so I steered clear from making my eye makeup look tragic. Thanks to her feedback, I was able to not rush myself to build up the smudge. It did turn out really nicely, surprisingly. Phew!
Yay! After the hard part was done, I did some quick swipes of mascara and applied a fresh coat of lipstick. That’s it! The result: still peachy, and very flattering! The contrast of peach/gold on the top with black smudge at the bottom really made the look so fashionable. Bonus points: it’s totally alright if I looked slightly tired; nobody would see my undereye bags :) Transitioning from day to night took me about 10 minutes, 90% of it spent on applying and smudging the eyeliner.
Products used: ColourPop eyeshadows in Cheeky and Get Lucky, eyeliner in Swerve, Kingdom two-step mascara, L’Oreal Color Riche in Sandalwood.
Interlude
Before we started again with the next Day to Night Makeup combo, I wiped my eye and lips makeup clean with Bifesta Eye Makeup Remover. Holy crap, that water-based cleanser worked like a charm. I picked it up at one of Matsumoto Kiyoshi stores in Tokyo, Japan last year, but you can easily buy it online. I LOVE it; it wiped away everything without making it dry. A quick touch-up of Sulwhasoo Perfecting Cushion and a bit of Clé de Peau Beauté Concealer were enough to restore a clean slate.
Day to Night Makeup #2: Classic to Bold
Inspirations: Max Mara Fall 2015 (left) + Katie Gallagher Spring 2016 (right).
Backstage at Max Mara Fall 2015. Image: Courtesy of Style Wylde Magazine / Max Mara.
Backstage at Katie Gallagher Spring 2016. Image: Cynthia Anderson for Style Wylde Magazine.
Daytime look – inspired by Max Mara Fall 2015
The second set of this day to night looks was all about contrast. The Max Mara Fall 2015 was minimalist and classic – the eyeliner only grazed the outer half of the top eyelids. I tried to have the tips pointed to the end of my eyebrows. However, next time, I would point them more upwards and make them a little thicker.
After the eyeliner was done, it’s only a matter of some red lipstick! Pretty straight-forward, right? My gosh, I was so serious when I was applying my lipstick :)
The result: classic, understated, modern. Quick and easy. This was definitely the opportunity to wear that favorite lip shade! Mine happened to be Revlon in Kiss Me Coral.
Products used: Stila waterproof liquid eye liner in intense black, Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Kiss Me Coral.
Evening look – inspired by Katie Gallagher Spring 2016
Now, the hard part. The final boss. My goodness, doing these lips was hard. I even did it twice, and still not quite nailed it. I think using Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics lip tar was partly the culprit, the other being my unsure hands. But I’m getting ahead of myself. The first step of this look was extending the eyeliner application to the whole eye lids.
The next step was the point of no return. Slowly, patiently applying the Black Dahlia lip tar over my lipstick, leaving the middle part untouched. Oh my God, it was hard to control the feathering. The lip tar was unforgiving, but the color was so striking!
The result: a very respectable result (I think), but it was difficult to maintain the vibrancy of the red lipstick in the middle. The whole thing took me about 30 minutes. IT WAS HARD!!!
I was not too pleased with the final result, so…I decided to wipe my lips clean and start over! This time, I tried to apply a bronze lipstick only on the middle of my lips, applied some lip liner to minimize feathering, and then applied the lip tar. Crazy, I know.
Of course, it took intense concentration not to mess up the lip tar as I worked around my lips…
It ended up looking…respectable, once again. The lip tar really was not playing nice at all when it’s wet, so it started to feather again as we took the final result photo. On the bright side, the bronze color in the middle turned out nice. What an unexpectedly pleasant color combo! I was really happy I tried again, but next time, I’d opt for black / very deep purple lipstick from NYX or MAC.
Products used: Stila waterproof liquid eye liner in intense black, Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tar in Black Dahlia, Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Kiss Me Coral, Maybelline Lip Express in Heather Hustle (discontinued), and Giordani Gold lipstick in Bronze (discontinued).
So there you have it! What do you think? Would you try out runway makeup trends to create your own day to night makeup looks? The possibilities are endless and I’m so happy that we got to do this. And you all need to check out Style Wylde, alright?
Thank you SO MUCH to Cynthia for making me look so good in her photos. My skin look so dewy and nice, and my less-than-perfect nails looked presentable. And of course, I LOVE your sakura pink hair!
Thanks for reading; until next time,
Musank
Images: Cynthia Anderson for Fafafoom (unless otherwise stated).
Style note: Mara Hoffman maxi dress via Rent The Runway.