There's good news for fans of natural, easy-to-wear make up. The Spring/Summer 2015 shows embraced simple, achievable beauty like never before.
"There's an honesty to the looks this spring," Mac's director of artistry Terry Barber told us at the brand's S/S 15 trends presentation. "This minimalist approach is about attainable, beautiful enhancement like massaging the skin to get the cheeks rosy or using a primer on the skin. It's a return to radiance."
This doesn't throwing away half the make up in our bags, though. In fact if there's one product worth investing in, it's a new mascara. "Lashes are clumpy and thick to frame the eye," Barber added.
So, what else is new for spring? Here are four key make up trends to note:
1. Dressing the eye
"This is an escape from the bog-standard smoky eye," Barber explained. "Mascara is the statement of eye make up this season, while eyeliner is there to add personality." This clumpy max lash effect was seen on the Costume National catwalk (above) in Milan, where make up artist Lucia Pica referenced "a 70s young Jane Birkin." If eyeliner is more your thing, then look to Jean-Pierre Braganza's S/S 15 show. Barber used Mac's Pro Creme Liner and Pro Platinum Pigment to create "jumbo 60s liner with a dirtier edge."
2. Luminous skin
This "very authentic" skin was a common theme at the shows at each fashion week city. In London, Pica created "effortless raw beauty with a matte porcelain veil," at Peter Pilotto's show (above), while in New York, Charlotte Tilbury used a monochromatic flesh tone on the eyes and lips to create "healthy, glowing, masculine mannequins," at Donna Karan New York. Yet there's more to this look than a radiant complexion. "Lip gloss is back," announced Barber. "It makes things look perfect."
3. Beauty goes to the festival
Washed out brights and tie-dye colours added a feeling of nonchalance and imperfection to the spring beauty looks. "This is colour with more try-hard attitude," said Barber - but there's a secret to keeping this look fresh. "Anything involving colour only looks modern when you take away the skin coverage." (In other words, go easy on the foundation.) For inspiration, see the copper eyelids at Alexis Mabille's show, the violet lips at Derek Lam and the "sunbleached pastels" added under the eyes at Marques Almeida (above) on the catwalk in London.
4. 'No make up' make up
"This doesn't mean wearing no makeup," explained Barber. "These are enhancements to skin colour, texture, glow - it has to be right." Or as make up artist extraordinaire Tom Pecheux puts it, "With natural make up, every detail has to be right." For example at Chloé, a radiant sheer coverage gave a freshness to the skin and at Houghton's show, Mac's Soft & Gentle and Gold Deposit Mineralize Skin Finish Powders were swept over the cheekbones to imitate sun light hitting wet-skin. At Preen (above), make up artist Val Garland used lip pencils to give models "a fashion freckle tan." In a nutshell? It's all about embracing the natural version of oneself, but making it better.
See more beauty trends from London Fashion Week S/S 15 below: