You might not be able to afford the haute couture, but you can steal the great new hair and makeup trends from the spring fashion shows. Emily Dougherty, beauty director at Elle magazine, visited “Weekend Today” to share the trends and her tips for recreating these runway looks at home.
At Elle, we reviewed over 200 fashion shows to find the best beauty looks for spring. One of my favorites is adding highlighter or a neutral shimmery shadow to the inner corner of your eyes. It instantly brightens the entire eye area. Try Shu Uemura Eye Jelly in Gold and Max Factor Eyeliner in Shining Armor.
Adding a touch of blush to the cheeks keeps the look fresh and balances the face. Stila makes a great blendable mousse blush that’s easy to use. A makeup artist taught me the easiest way to find the perfect shade of blush is to pinch your thumb against your pointer finger, hold for just a few seconds. The color that the tip of your thumb turns is your ideal blush color! Try Stila Rouge Pot Rouge in Sweet Pea and Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge in Pale Pink.
Pony up this spring
The no-makeup look sounds low maintenance but the key is really taking care of your skin so you can show it off.
We've all worked so hard lately to get our skin in tip-top shape. Celebs are wearing less makeup, and runway models are wearing less makeup — everyone wants to show off that great skin! At the Calvin Klein spring fashion shows, the makeup artist put hydrating cloth masks onto each model, just touched them up with a bit of concealer here and there, and then sent them out without another stitch of makeup. Try SK-II Facial Treatment Mask; Napoleon Pre Foundation Skin Primer; L'Oréal Revitalift Mask.
Ponytails are the quickest, easiest way to look pulled together! You can keep it simple, or tie it with a little satin ribbon. So cute. To keep the hair sleek and smooth, it helps to rub a smoothing product like John Frieda Frizz Ease lightly over the ponytail and ends to do away with any flyaways and help tame thick or course hair. Try Redken Workforce 09 Flexible Volumizing Spray and John Frieda Frizz Ease Secret Weapon Flawless Finishing Creme.
Red hot for evening
Lip gloss ruled the runway for so many seasons, but for spring we saw a return of real grown-up red lipstick. It’s so glamorous! The great thing about the new formulas is you can get intense color in much more moisturizing, easy-to-wear bases.
Red lips can look a little frosty and uptight. Elle recommends warming things up a bit — rather than pulling hair back into a severe updo, try loose, sexy ringlets. Brush bronzer on cheeks, the top of the nose, the tip of the chin and along the forehead. Bronzer plus red lips is one of my favorite looks from the runway. Try Anna Sui Rouge Lipsticks 570, 400, 450; Clinique Butter Shine Lipstick in Watermelon; Almay Ideal Lipstick in Red; Lancome Eyeshadow in Pose Metallic; Smashbox Body Lights Powder.
The soft curls are easy to achieve, especially if you use some easy tools. First prep your hair with a thickening lotion like this great one from Redken. Pull out your old curling iron — the bigger, the better for soft ringlets. One stylist I know pulls off the clip so you don’t get that crimp in the curl. This leaves your hair in soft, loose curls. Try Redken Thickening Lotion and Babyliss Pro Tourmaline 500 Curling Iron.
Smokey violet eyesViolets and purples work on all skin tones. The great thing about this look is that it’s not hard to do and it looks good on everyone. It makes green eyes look greener, blue eyes look bluer and even makes the whites of your eye appear brighter.
But if you’re going to try this look, don’t wear it with a dark lipstick. You don’t want anything to compete with these gorgeous eyes. To avoid looking clownish, choose a neutral, shimmery lipstick.
If you are going to try just one new thing this spring, fall back in love with lipstick. The reds are easy, modern and add instant glamour. Try L'Oréal High Intensity Pigments Eyeshadow Duo in Charisma; Christian Dior 2 Color Eyeshadow in Diormind; Nars Eyeshadow in Party Monster; Shiseido Makeup Shimmering Lipstick in SL1.