Just as clothing has seasonal trends, so too does make-up, and this summer there are a variety of gorgeous looks you can adapt and make your own, AMY PARSONS-KING writes.
There are no hard-and-fast rules, looks are open to interpretation, encouraging experimentation and play.
From dark to light, or an amalgamation of the two, this summer wear your make-up your way.
As one of the leading brands behind the looks seen on the international runways, M.A.C is an authoritative voice on what's at the forefront of make-up trends.
I spoke to M.A.C New Zealand senior artist Kiekie Stanners about some of the key looks for summer.
BEAUTIFUL AND DAMNED
Kiekie Stanners: This season we're reinventing the ultimate constant shade of black, but using it in a way that tells the story of utmost elegance rather than a dark and heavy connotation.
As the trend title states, pairing the ''beautiful and damned'' together, the hard and the soft, the punk and the beautiful, there is a softness and sensitivity to this punk-rock/goth attitude.
Whether a razor-sharp dark lip, or a graphic black eye, when teamed with perfected porcelain skin and creamy highlighting, the hardest of statements can look incredibly romantic.
How-tos: Apply a lightweight foundation, using your favourite foundation brush or sponge to perfect the skin. Fill in the lips with a dark plum lip-liner, creating a strong sharp lip edge before adding a similar lipstick shade for a super-chic blackened-red lip focus. Finish by pressing a cream highlighter gently on to the tops of the cheekbones to offset your dark lips in the most feminine way.
STRENGTH OF BEAUTY
Kiekie Stanners: Modern skin is all about subtle touches to the face, that define and strengthen rather than change it and the first impression needs to be natural freshness.
Strength of Beauty is modern-day bronzing to define the features of the face, but done in a way that is tailored to suit each individual and not obvious in application.
By anchoring the face with a definite brow, and applying warmth to the cheeks, you create a powerful feminine strength that reads incredibly naturally.
How-tos: Sweep a lightweight bronzing powder or face powder (a few shades darker than your skin tone) over the cheeks and softly over the forehead to define, with a silky smooth finish.Create strength to the brows by filling them in with a brow pencil. Start in the centre, and softly follow your natural brow shape, gently creating a fullness by filling in the brow under the arch. Finish with a clear brow set to groom brows into place, and ensure they stay looking full and fluffy.
LOVEWORN
Kiekie Stanners: This season's smoky eye is all about creating a real, lived-in effect to the eyes.
The precise application and then smudging so the perfect unravelling is created, leaving an effect that could almost be achieved unintentionally by keeping your eye make-up on all day.
Wrapping the eyes with charcoals, slate greys or concrete tones and using a variety of textures to provide an eye make-up that is designed to move, gives us this super-chic grunge trend.
How-tos: Apply a mid-tone taupe eye-shadow base with a soft blending brush, to wrap all the way around the eyes. Using a charcoal kohl pencil, gently smudge the pencil into the top and bottom lash line, blending it out with a pencil brush. Press a glossy black eye-shadow over the top of your smudged eyeliner, creating a creamy texture around the eyes that has a rawness to its finish.
Kiekie Stanners: The '70s are making a comeback, and colour tones in make-up are following suit.
This trend embraces the shades of the '70s; rusty brick reds, terracotta hues or mustard ochres that sit beautifully when applied on the face.
This red-lip trend focuses on more of a retro brick colour tone to the lips, rather than a classic Hollywood red, in either a patent-glossy texture or velvet matte.
And by using earthy ochre shades swept over the eyes, the effect is modern-monochromatic, and incredibly flattering.
How-tos: Using a peachy brown eye-shadow and a tapered blending brush, sweep this caramel tone across the eyelids and gently under the eyes, ensuring the colour is blended out around the edges for a veil of colour. Apply a soft coat of your favourite mascara to the lashes to offset this colour around the eyes. Using a red/orange-toned lipstick, press the colour into the lips with a lip brush for a lip stain rather than an opaque application. Press the colour in using fingertips to create a terracotta wash on the lips.
