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Fall into JUST as in fashion, nearly anything goes when it comes to making up your face for the holidays. Where last year's pre-millennial frenzy and gala expectations had women running for glitter and shimmery makeup for face, body and hair, a sense of calm has returned with looks leaning toward sleek, sophisticated glamour or continuing the soft spring look with baby blues and pinks with just a touch of sparkle.
temptation
The look is sleek and sophisticated for
the holidays, with makeup tones taking
cues from 'Pure Temptation,' the reds of
the apple and earth tones of the sultry snake
By Nadine Kam
Star-BulletinAt the Laura Mercier counter at Neiman Marcus, makeup artist Stephen Kalama shows the face of "Pure Temptation." For fall, Mercier -- who will be visiting the store in March -- is offering holiday colors of red and gold, plus a mix of colors based on the snake and the apple.
This means lips are colored in luscious plums and reds with such names as "Lust," "Sultry" and "Vixen."
"When the lips are dramatic, the eyes are softer to create balance," Kalama said. Eye shadows come in sheer grays, olive and khaki."The reception has been good, I think, because women in Hawaii like color. And so do men.
"When men are shopping for gifts for their wives or girlfriends and I show them the natural colors like brown and beige, there's no reaction, but when I show them a red, the reaction is immediate. They always pick red. They see the mouth as being very sexy."
Glamour is also behind Yves Saint Laurent's Snapshot Fall Look 2000 collection. The look combines photographic intensity with a natural finish, which should work well when Uncle Les or Auntie Carol busts out the camera.
You've seen those party photos in which women with mask-like layers of makeup end up looking more like stone banshees than babes. According to YSL National Makeup Artist Joseph Costa, who recently visited Liberty House Ala Moana, you'll get a more natural look with YSL products."What you see with the 'ghost' look is light bouncing back to the camera lens. Our products adapt to the skin and allow light to pass through so you don't get the washed-out look," he said.
YSL also focuses on lips, with strong colors of pink, red and burnt orange represented by "Filtered Rose," "Copyright Red" and "Sepia."
Eyes are smoky, colored in soft browns and grays that don't detract from the all-important eyebrows, which are smoothed and arched to convey femme fatale confidence.Shopper Caron Wilberts was happy with the look Costa gave her during an in-store makeover session. "I'm a fall person. I like the nice, deep colors," she said.
"It's important for people come to these type of events and learn from the experts. A lot of people expect to go to the drug store, grab something off the shelf and expect it to be perfect, but it's one thing to look at a color and another to try it on."
Adding radiance and softness to YSL's evening look is a semi-loose powder in a container with a dial blade that allows the wearer to shave off just the right amount of silk-protein powder.The look is light and pretty at the Awake counter, also at Neiman Marcus. The line, out of Japan, is best known for its skin-care products using the latest technology, according to Awake specialist Linda Doi. This includes "Vital Express," a powder of Vitamin C micro-crystals that turns into a moisturizing emulsion on contact with skin.
"It's not mixed with lotion so it doesn't degenerate," Doi said.
Awake's color palette is simple. Multi-dimensional eye compacts, $36, start with an eyeshadow base for colors such as peach, navy and lavender. Compacts come with light and dark shades of the same color to bring depth to the eyes.
For those in search of a Christmas gift, Awake has a thin, credit-card size lipstick compact featuring six matte and sheer colors for $12. This would also be the perfect fit for tiny evening bags that come with the season's partying.
Forget all the rules at Anna Sui, where the fashion rebel offers non-traditional fall colors such as deep blue eye shadow, pink lipstick and lime-green nail polish in her "Expressionism" collection."Anna loves wearing lots of vibrant color," said makeup artist Andrea Ramirez, working at the Anna Sui counter at Neiman Marcus. "She makes up her own rules and doesn't think you should be limited by season or that anyone should say you can't wear glitter at a certain age."
Her eyeshadows and glosses sell for $17, lipsticks are $19, and one of the most popular items is her 001 eye pencil, $16, recently recommended by makeup artist Kevyn Aucoin. The pencil is soft and smudgy and smoky colored to define the eyes at night, without looking too vampy.
A holdover from past seasons is Anna Sui's 301 cheek color, $22, which appears hot pink in its case, but goes on sheer to give its wearer a healthy, natural-looking blush.
And all that glitters is not gone. The snake theme is repeated in M.A.C's fall line, "Snake Eyes," with shimmery, iridescent colors such as "Green Garter" and "Purple Python ($15)." Just for Christmas and New Year, M.A.C has also introduced silvery baby blues, soft pinks and violets in the "merry M.A.Cmus" line. For extra drama, add M.A.C's lavender eye lashes ($8).
"You can never go overboard with M.A.C," said retail manager Debra Tan. "We're always about having fun."
At Sephora, Urban Decay offers an array of $9.50 nail polishes that echo the metallic theme. Choose silver "Strip," gold "Twisted Sister" or pewter "Iron Maiden."
And don't let a lack of money stop you from having fun. Similar nail polish colors are offered by Caboodles for $2.99 at Longs Drugs. Try silver "Hip-hop", gold "Flirt" or metallic purple "Bomb".
Tony & Tina offer little jars of Universal Color Dust ($15) that can be worn over or mixed with matte colors you already own to update the color with a soft sparkle. Choose from pink fuschia "Nebula," purple "Extraterrestrial" or bronze "Supernova" and you'll be set for celebrating.
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