The biggest makeup trend for lips this season is almost no trend at all: nude lips. Designers in New York, Paris and Milan shunned colour of the most part in favour of neutral makeup with subtle lips. Beige, flesh-tone and soft champagne lipsticks and gloss dressed models’ lips. For the most part, this came in matte textures. A hint of gloss on the temples and dewy complexions was balanced nicely with this matte lip.
Francois Nars led the trend this season with his news-making makeup at the Marc Jacobs show. Models wore no makeup at all except for moisturizer and a hint of lip balm. It was so shocking that newspapers across Europe reported on the story including the Daily Mail. Francois followed up the show with his spring makeup collection that is a celebration of nude shades modeled by Tilda Swinton. He’s created what he thinks is the most flattering nude lipstick and lip gloss that adds just the right amount of colour to the lips.
“I’d say 80% of the spring shows used nude makeup,” says MAC Senior Artist Melissa Gibson. “It really was about prepping the skin then choosing the right neutral shades.”
“We used a lot of lip balm and lip conditioners backstage in Paris and Milan this season,” adds MAC Senior Artist Jane McKay. “For certain models we used a little concealer and lip balm to take the colour of the lip down a bit.” She describes the look for lips as “hints of barely there colour.”
Top UK makeup artist Val Garland, known for her love of quirky colour, used almost no colour for spring. But she spent more time perfecting skin and lips to create a radiant, healthy look. Her challenge to her makeup artists was how to make each model look immaculate. Call it the ‘cult of purity’.
Michael Kors has always been a fan of the nude lip. “I love the look of lifeguards on Bondi Beach circa 1982,” he laughs. “I love that look of zinc oxide on the lips that gives a hint of frosted white. It looks so beautiful with a bronzed glow.” His After Sun Balm is a personal favourite as it nourishes and protects while creating that subtle lifeguard look her loves.
New York makeup artist Bobbi Brown revisits the neutral look often in her collections. “I recommend going one shade lighter or one shade darker than your natural lip colour,” she says. “The is a fool-proof way of getting the most flattering shade for your lipstick or gloss.”
Pro makeup artist Nina Westbury prefers to work with pink nudes as they make teeth look whiter. She also recommends her clients use a lip pencil when working with nude shades to create some definition.
10 Great Lip Shades
MAC lipstick in Fleshpot
NARS Lip Gloss in Guyane
Rouge Dior lipstick in Trompe l’Oeil
Anna Sui Lip Crayon in Natural Beige
Michael Kors Lip Lustre in Diva
MAC Lip Lustreglass in Oyster Girl
NARS lipstick in Liguria
Michael Kors After Sun Balm
Guerlain LipLift lip primer
7 Comments
kristi servin
February 6, 2015 at 10:51 pmReally love the Dior, Michael Kors,Anna Sui.They are really some beautiful colors.
kristi servin
February 6, 2015 at 10:49 pmI like these because they match my skin. I have fair skin.
Janet Moulton
February 6, 2015 at 7:10 pmI’m feeling colour when I spring into spring! I’will be finding my colour from somewhere this spring.
Ana Rivera
February 5, 2015 at 9:00 pmNude lips are a strong trend that I like a lot because they look great in everypeople, something I don’t think about with like red or purple!
The Guerlain LipLift lip primer is in my dreams everynight, along with very other lipstick shown in this article!
Σταυρούλα
February 4, 2015 at 6:04 pmSuper!
Karen Ali
February 4, 2015 at 2:36 pmReally really liked this article! So excited that nudes & more natural looking makeup is finally on the scene! Really loving the Mac in oyster girl color! Fabulous read Dave!
maria seiti
February 4, 2015 at 1:46 pmperfect