This year, spring ushers in a fresh palette of colours from vivids to pastels, nudes to brights.
You know spring is around the corner when crocuses start blooming and makeup displays begin overflowing with new launches. This year, spring ushers in a fresh palette of colours from vivids to pastels, nudes to brights. No matter your age or aesthetic, embrace these new products as an opportunity to freshen up your look and even try some fun new looks. Formulas are better than ever and there are price points from drugstore to high end.
PALETTES
Palettes can be tricky business: Eliciting the same reaction you’d get receiving a box of chocolates, the initial joy is quickly replaced with disappointment as you pick out a few favourites and discard the rest. These three palettes – depending on your comfort level with colour – provide true value as nearly all the colours in the collection are keepers.
From Rimmel comes three new eyeshadow palettes in their Magnif’Eye collection. 12 colours in each, you’ll get a mix of mattes and shimmers, with enough range to do a complete look that can be smoked out. All are neutral, with London Nudes the warmest with pink and coppery shades (and the most shimmer/glittery shades); Grunge Glamour has cooler shades with blue-greys and purple; and Keep Calm and Wear Gold being the most neutral with golds, browns and greys (this one also has the most mattes). At $14.99, this is an excellent value because not only are all the shades wearable, they easily mix to form different looks and, most importantly, they perform brilliantly. Available at drugstores.
For more colour, Kat Von D’s Pastel Goth palette is an excellent companion palette that will transition you easily into spring. En masse, the colours might overwhelm you at first. But individually, the colours are surprisingly wearable: Clementine (peach) and Meow (lilac) are brightening, universally flattering shades; Dagger (dark grey) and Skull (light grey) are great contouring and transition shades, respectively; add a sprinkle of Star (citron yellow) to the inner corners for a whimsical flash of colour. The rest can easily be incorporated with more neutral looks to add oomph. And to embrace the new trend of blue eyeliner, swipe a layer of Doom (electric blue) over black eyeliner for an easy, contemporary look. $51, available at Sephora.
Feeling nostalgic? The iconic 4-colour pens we all had in elementary school has been re-imagined by Clarins. Instead of ink, these barrels consist of two eyeliners, one lipliner and one brow pen, completely redefining the “all-in-one” makeup pen. The 4- Colour Pen is a limited edition release for spring and given its collect-ability, is bound to sell out before school’s out. $44, available at Clarins counters.
CHEEKS
No one does cheek colour like NARS and this spring there are two new six-pan palettes: Unfiltered and Unfiltered II. The first is warm-toned, the latter cool-toned. Both provide buttery colours that will sculpt, brighten, highlight and shade for every occasion. Pigmentation is a medium level, so these colours are easily buildable and blendable. $76, available at Sephora.
LIPS
Lips get a treat this spring with a new lip balm-lipstick hybrid from Hourglass. The Lip Stylo comes in 20 modern shades and are beautifully feather-light while being richly pigmented. Their jumbo-stick format with precision tip make it as easy to apply as lip balm, with the accuracy of a lip pencil. It also wears off easily and evenly, leaving lips with a moderate stain, so reapplication is a cinch. $40 at Sephora and selection Nordstrom.
This wouldn’t be complete without mentioning one of spring’s biggest trends: liquid lipsticks. Burberry’s Lip Velvet Vibrant is one of the best launches in this category. Creamy, non-drying and richly pigmented, this liquid lipstick will never crack, dry or fade on you. Burberry’s also stepped up their colours with the boldest palette so far with colours such as Military Red, Bright Plum and Oxblood. $38, available at Hudson’s Bay, Sephora and Nordstrom.
NAILS
Nails also get some fun new colours from CND Shellac and Vinylux. With names like Pink Leggings, Banana Clips, and Jelly Bracelets, the ‘80s are revisited with a futurist bent. Thoroughly modern, these will carry you all the way through summer. And, as always, Shellac will probably last as long as you can stand your grow-out and Vinylux will be going strong for 14 days. Prices vary and are available at authorized CND salons such as Onyx Aesthetics Studio, onyxaestheticsstudio.ca.
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