Trend #1: Polished Skin

The fresh-faced ‘no makeup makeup’ look is still with us, but this season it gets a plush makeover with a glow. First choose a a liquid/cream foundation that has a soft, dewy finish. We love Rimmel Fresher Skin SPF 15 Foundation, Catrice HD Liquid Coverage Foundation and Revlon PhotoReady Air Brush Effect Makeup.
 
The X-Factor:
To give your skin an otherworldly glow, use a highlighter to add soft gloss on your face highpoints – cheekbones and browbones.

Works for us:
Essence Strobing Highlighter in Let It Glow 10, LA Girl Velvet HiLite Contour Stick in Cashmere and Palladio I'm Glowing Creamy Stick Luminizer VIP.

Read More. No-Makeup Makeup. How to Look Naturally Beautiful

Trend #2: One-Tone Wonder

Skin sorted. Now for colour…
 
One of the prettiest looks for any season, no matter your skin tone, is soft monochromatic eyes and lips. Here you use the same tone of peach, soft coral, caramel, butterscotch, petal pink, chocolate… whatever works with your skin tone, in a sheer halo on lids and lips.
 
It’s easy to achieve using a cream blush and chubby stick or lipstick if you don’t have matching shadow and lip colour in your palette. Or use a contouring kit for a flesh-coloured take on the look.
 
For the pared-down look, finish with soft mascara application and brush up your brows.
 
The X factor:
Take your shade on to your cheeks as well in a sheer flush of colour.

Works for us:
Cream blush: We just love Rimmel’s Royal Blush range.
Contouring kits: Maybelline Master Bronze Contour & Highlighting Kit, LA Girl Beauty Brick Blush Collection and Rimmel Kate Sculpting Palettes.
Chubby sticks: LA Girl Velvet Blush Stick in Crushed Berry and Dreamy, Essence Butter Stick Matte Love Lipstick in Rose Whip and Catrice Matt Lip Artist 6 Hr in Chocolate Frosting.
Eye Shadow Palette: Catrice The Nude Blossom Collection Eyeshadow Palette in Blossom 'n Roses.

Trend #3: Draw the Line

Well now. Liner takes wing in a big way, in any colour and design you can possibly imagine.

The classic take: A fine liquid line to a winged tip in sophisticated black takes the monochrome look from day to night. Add some underliner to the mix for an early-Noughties schoolgirl crush.

The X factor:

• Who’s up for a little colouring outside the lines? Draw your black eyeliner as floating line above the eye crease (Liquid liner is a must for this - try LA Girl Mark My Eyes Fineline Liquid Liner). Or do some messy colouring in on your eyelids or try smudging it with your fingers.

 

• Swap black for a beautiful teal wing, or go all-out and use reds, fuchsias and burgundies as liner and underliner - often all together. Palladio Immortal Kajals in Purity (Ice white), Dynasty (turquoise) and Royalty (burgundy), or Beauty Treats Disco Eye and Lip Pencil, which has great shades to try.

 

• Do a two-tone lid, as seen as Oscar de la Renta, using, for example, a soft lilac eye shadow with a bright fuchsia liner. Play with colours you like and which work for you:

 
Works for us:
Essence Long Lasting Eye Pencil in Life in Pink, LA Girl Eye Lux Mesmerizing Eyeshadow Palette in Tropicalize, Sinful Colors Stop And Stare Gel Eyeliner in Provocative, and Sinful Colors Shady Babe Cream Eyeshadow in Tempting/Alluring.

Read More. Expert Tips on What to Do If You Suck at Eyeliner

Trend #4: Smoky Lids

There are multiple eye-catching looks this season, and the smoky eye is, of course, the heavy hitter, but it also plays a bit fast-and-loose with the concept.

The basics:  

• Option A: For a wearable/day look, do your smoked eye with muted metals – taupey-bronzes, steel-greys, blackened plums, and use a touch of cream shimmer haze in the inner corner of the eye to lift the look.

 

• Option B: Do a classic smoky eye in matte charcoal. Then play.

 
The X factor:

• Add some glimmer with some metallic shadow or liner.

 

• Add a pop of colour on the ‘bulb’ of the eye – the centre of the lid that bulges outward. We’ve seen a pop of cherry red, bronze, gold, blue… you name it. This look is great for clubbing nights.

 
Works for us:
Maybelline Master Smoky Shadow Pencil, Catrice Art Couleurs Eyeshadow in Ashton Copper and Secrets of The Chrome, Essence Metal Shock Eyeshadow in Second to Mars and Galaxy Rocks, Palladio Crushed Metallic Eyeshadow in Meteor, or you can try a metallic lipstick like Essence Metal Shock Lip Paint in Belladonna or any of the other shades in this collection.

Trend #5: Liquid Gold

Shades of gold from champagne pale to deep old gold are a major look this season. It comes in all textures, from soft shimmer to liquid ore (Essence Metal Shock Eyeshadow in Solar Explosion) to all-out glitter, as long as it’s gold.

The easiest way is to wear it as a soft halo framing your eye, and stop it making your eye look washed out by loading up with lots of mascara.

The X factor:

• Wear it as a Cleopatra liner, as a bold stripe on the eye crease or marry it with coppers and bronzes and even silver.

 
Works for us:
Essence Metal Shock Eyeshadow in Solar Explosion, Catrice The Ultimate Chrome Collection Eyeshadow Palette in Heights and Lights, Catrice Liquid Metal Longlasting Cream Eyeshadow in Champagne Shower, Essence Extreme Lasting Eye Pencil in Heart of Gold and Essence Metal Art Lip & Eye Liner in Coppy Right. Or buy an all in one - Rimmel’s Magnif’eyes Eye-Contouring Palette Nude edition gives you all the metallics you need.

Trend #6: Gloss Up Your Lids

No matter what eye trend you’re doing, one of the strongest threads on the runways was glossy lids – smoky eye, gold lids, bright rainbow lids all can get a healthy dose of liquid shine.

The X factor:

• Bedazzle your eye area with pearls and crystals or glitter.

 
Works for us:
Use a clear lip or eye gloss, like Essence Shine Shine Shine Lipgloss in Behind The Scenes.

Trend #7: Lash Out

Lashes were all over the place. Of course, we have the standard black lash as our basic principle, then the rest is up to you…

The X factor:

• Spider lashes abound. This 60s look is achieved by coating your lashes several times, waiting for them to try, then applying another coat.

 

• Bottom lashes are back. Don’t be shy, make them as glorious as your top lashes. And if you want a bit extra, use Eylure Individual Lashes.

 

• Embrance colour – plum, purple, red, green, yellow, blue.

 
Works for us:
Essence Vibrant Shock Lash & Brow Gel Mascara in No More Blues and Be Fun & Lila, Sinful Colors Diva Lash Mascara in Scanda-lash and Michelle Ori Mascara Curling in Purple.

Read More. Secrets on How to Create Blockbuster Lashes - Without Going Fake

Trend #8: The Statement Lip

While reds and oranges were a strong feature on the runways, the hands-down hottest lip colour of the season is anything in the berry, plum and burgundy zone.

The X factor:

• Switch things up with intensity and texture by playing with matte, vampy mouths to just-drank-a-glass-of-merlot stains.

 

• Try a two-tone take, with contrasting orange and red. The most wearable way is with the contrasting shade in the centre of the mouth as an ombré touch. We love Palladio’s Ombré lipstick which is tailormade for this look.

 
Works for us:
Berries/Plums: Essence Butter Stick Glossy Love Lipstick in Blueberry Macaroon, Revlon Superlustrous Lipstick in Black Cherry, Maybelline Color Sensational Loaded Lipstick in Midnight Merlot and LA Girl Glazed Lip Paint in Temptation.
Reds/Oranges: Maybelline Color Sensational The Loaded Bolds Lipstick in Orange Danger, Revlon Colorburst Matt Lip Balm in Striking and Rimmel Provocalips Liquid Lip Color in Play with Fire.

Trend #9: Snogged Lips

Many of the make-up designers took the lipstain one step further, smearing it well over the lip line onto skin, so the models looked like they’d stopped mid heavy snogging session to sashay down the catwalk.

This is probably a bit OTT, but you can make your lip stain look freshly snogged by dabbing on your colour, then kissing your mouth onto your hand so the line is blurred and a bit smudged.

Works for us:
Use any of the red/orange or berry/plum shades above.

Trend #10: Ultra Violet

We can’t end our trend line-up without giving a nod to Pantone’s Colour of the year 2018, Ultra Violet. It flashed up on the runways for Autumn/Winter, but it’s going to be a real focus next Spring/Summer. Might as well get ahead of the curve…

The wearable way to add this to your look is to choose a violet liner, lashes, or eye shadow.

The X factor:
Violet lips. It may feel a bit ‘electric dreams’, but you could do this as a two-tone lip, combined with a pink.
Pro tip: When using lip make-up on eyes, wipe the lipstick or pot surface clean, and sharpen any liners so that you have clean product on your eyes. Also use a clean applicator or earbud, in order to avoid any risk of eye infection.

Works for us:
Violet eyes: Revlon Colorstay Creme Eye Shadow in Black Currant, LA Girl Glide Eye Pencil in Paradise Purple, Palladio Liquid Eyeliner in Amethyst and Michelle Ori Dipping Eyeshadow in Purple Rain.
Violet lips: Maybelline Color Sensational Vivid Hot Lacquer in Royal, LA Girl Matte Lip Color in Love Triangle, Essence Matt Matt Vibrant Shock Lipstick in Rave It Up and Revlon Ultra HD Matte Lipcolor in Dazzle.

Read More. These Beauty and Makeup Trends Are Going to Be Big In 2018