28 May, 2012
Beauty

Summer Trend: Summer Brights

28 May, 2012

This season, I am all about summer brights โ€“ from head to toe!

Nailing It
It may seem odd to start with the fingertipsโ€ฆ but you should all know by now how obsessed I am with nail polish! Itโ€™s amazing how it can either totally finish a look or make you feel a thousand times more glam even if everything else about you is anything but!

My must-have nail polish for this season is Deborah Lippmannโ€™s Mermaidโ€™s Dream. Gleaming gold glitter mixed with shimmering seafoam aqua and oceanic blue glitterโ€ฆ it is exactly the magical mermaid colour youโ€™d expect from the name! It is also utterly unique and lasts like iron, justifying the somewhat hefty price tag.

If thatโ€™s a bit too spangles o clock for you, try Deborah Lippmann On The Beach, a creamy dreamy ocean blue. Perfect for summer and perfect for pedis, it applies like a dream too! Even if you get nowhere near a beach this season, you can at least wear the ocean on your nails!

My other top tips for nails this season is NEON. Sunglasses at the ready, the brighter the better girls! These look amazing as accents to your outfit or as cool colour clashes. This electrifying coral is from American Apparel, which isnโ€™t available here, but both China Glaze and Essie have a bunch of fabulous fluorescents hitting the shelves this summer โ€“ just check out Sassy fave Cher2!

Deborah Lippmann, $170, from JOYCE Beauty (counters in Lane Crawfords); China Glaze & Essie, $60, from Cher2

Hot Lips
Youโ€™re colour-blocking your clothesโ€ฆ so why not your make-up too? At the moment, nothing is hotter in the beauty scene than a slash of vivid vibrant colour on the lips. My advice for carrying these off is to keep the rest of your make-up simple and ensure your complexion is as flawless as possible, as bold colours tend to accentuate any other imperfections you have.

For me, hot pinks and corals are more summery than the traditional Hollywood red. For a wearable but still vibrant cerise, check out MACโ€™s Impassioned Lipstick (shown above), part of their Fashion Sets Collection; in fact, you should probably just check out MAC in general because they have a great range of lippies in all different colours and finishes, so youโ€™re bound to find the right shade for me.

However, as seen from the nails, I am all about bright corals this season. My absolute fave is MACโ€™s Watch Me Simmer from their Shop Cook and Reel Sexy Collections (above), which gets that pink-orange-red balance just right! As ever with MACโ€™s vibrant shades, you are guaranteed intense pigment that will stay put for hours; Iโ€™d advise using their Prep & Prime first, to ensure your lips stay moisturised and that the colour lasts for even longer.

TOO bright for you? A more wearable coral is Lanolips Lip Ointment with Colour in the aptly-named Sunshine. This is a great bet because it contains SPF 15 and is more of a gloss (but extremely pigmented!) so it has a luscious shine and is super-moisturising too… and it’s nowhere near as radioactive as it looks in the tube. This doesnโ€™t last as long as a lipstick but a little goes a long way!

MAC Lipsticks, $140, see all locations in Hong Kong here; Lanolips Lip Ointments with Colour, $160, JOYCE Beauty (counters in Lane Crawfords)

The Eyes Have It!
My absolute favourite all-time summer look, though, is mermaid eyes โ€“ as youโ€™re already seen with Giorgio Armani and Dior! Given the trend is summer brights though, itโ€™s time to get even more amplified with that aqua!

The ultimate product for this? Urban Decayโ€™s 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Electric (above). This is the brightest, most pigmented, most long-lasting turquoise I have found yet โ€“ it stays put through wind, rain, storms, tears (and most make-up removers to be honest!) meaning you can simply swipe this on at the start of any hot and humid day, even if youโ€™re swimming pool or boat trip bound, and not have to worry about a thing. I may be biased but I think turquoises look really beautiful with brown eyes and every time I wear this, I receive a tonne of complimentsโ€ฆ and I hope you do too!

Iโ€™ve also been experimenting with bright pink eyesโ€ฆ I know I know, pink eye shadow is meant to make your eyes look swollen and bruised, right? But with Urban Decayโ€™s 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Woodstock (above), a vivid shimmering fuchsia, it worked surprisingly well! Itโ€™s a more unusual look but thatโ€™s kind of why I like it and it looks really cool with a tropical prints.

I prefer to wear these with pared-back lips and Sara Happ’s Lip Slip Gloss is my current favourite nude – it’s a pastel pink with a hint of sparkle and it is the lushest, shiniest, most luscious gloss ever! I’m wearing it above with another variant of my much-loved mermaid eyes – MAC’s Steamy eyeshadow paired with their sparkly teal Pearlglide Liner in Junkie (from the Vera Collection).

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils, ยฃ13 from www.lookfantastic.com (free shipping to Hong Kong); Sara Happ Lip Slip Gloss $170, JOYCE Beauty (counters in Lane Crawfords); MAC eye shadow, $130, and Pearlglide Liner, $135, see all locations in Hong Kong here

Get Up & Glow
Letโ€™s not forget the basics for summer beauty โ€“ make sure youโ€™re armed with a great SPF all over; my pick for the face is Clinique Derma White City Block SPF40, a tinted moisturiser/primer/foundation hybrid. For me, tinted moisturisers are a lot lighter and fresher for sweaty summers โ€“ check out Becca, Laura Mercier and even Benefitโ€™s Hello Flawless Foundation (which feels more like a tinted moisturiser), all of which have SPF. In hot and humid HK, itโ€™s even more important to look out for oil-free products that will stay put all day without irritating your skin.

If you want to fake your Greek goddess glow, Sassy recommends Santorini Sun and Eco-Tan, whilst a good bronzer should take care of your face (Laura Mercierโ€™s is very natural, whilst I like Benefitโ€™s Hoola and both MAC and Guerlain have cool ones coming out this summer). Finally, a pretty highlighter will totally cement your sun-kissed look โ€“ and my new make-up bag staple is Benefitโ€™s Sun Beam for a subtle but stunning shimmer! You can see all the items I used to create the look above, including Sun Beam and Hoola, here.

Just take a tour around your nearest Lane Crawford, SOGO or the new LAB CONCEPT and see what brands and shades work best for you.

So even if youโ€™re not ready to step into fluorescent jumpsuits just yet, make-up means you can tap into the summer brights trend in an instant โ€“ sounds like a bright idea to us!

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