Hot girl summer is around the corner, and you’ve already started thinking about ways to update your look: a choppy fringe, a blunt bob, or even some chunky highlights à la Bella Hadid. But where do you start when it comes to make-up? What are the colours, textures and styles that will give you that fun, fresh, holiday look even if travelling remains uncertain? How do we want to present ourselves to the world when lockdown restrictions finally ease? To get some inspiration, we asked the industry’s leading global make-up artists for their go-to summer looks.
Raoúl Alejandre, Global make-up artist for Valentino Beauty
“Right now, I’m obsessed with pinks. I love seeing draping [contouring the face using blush] with variations of red and pink. I like mixing pink with blue—blue shadow, pink blush and a red lip. A full [fashion photographer] Guy Bourdin moment is my thing. I enjoy creating a beautiful grading effect with pink, blue and purple. I love seeing gradients, doing a matte and then using the iridescent topper that we have in the Valentino eye palette. I like putting a thin metallic layer over whatever strong hue I’m working with. I also love a glossy lid and a strong lip.”
Isamaya Ffrench, Global beauty director for Burberry
“Lips are going to be back in a big way. Bold colours, sparkly, metallic—anything that draws attention to what’s been covered up for the past year!”
Lauren Parsons, Global make-up consultant for Carolina Herrera Beauty
“Trends are definitely changing—the heavier, more obvious make-up is on the way out and everyone’s looking to experiment with make-up, but in a wearable way. I’m into what I’m calling the ‘reverse application’ at the moment; instead of starting with my base, I’m starting with my brows and eyes to create some definition first.
“You soon realise that you need to put on half the concealer you would have done if you had started in the more traditional way, and less really is more in this instance. I love it. It also means that because your base is lighter and super youthful, you can play with your eyes and your lips. I’m fully embracing emerging from my lockdown cocoon like a butterfly. My current go-to has been a groomed brow, curled mascaraed lashes and a vibrant but sophisticated red or pink lipstick, perfectly applied.”
Thomas de Kluyver, Global make-up consultant for Gucci Beauty
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“I tend not to focus too much on trends and I always encourage people to do what makes them feel great instead—that’s the most beautiful thing to me. I am, however, seeing people embrace a more natural skin finish. It’s a look I love and I feel that it never goes out of fashion—applying foundation just where needed instead of all over and allowing the skin to shine through. Maybe highlight it with a little natural gloss, such as Gucci Éclat De Beauté Effet Lumière. I love it when people dab a little over their eyelids instead of wearing eyeshadow—it’s so fresh and easy to wear. I’m loving glow and shine everywhere at the moment, especially shiny lips in soft colours. My favourite tones are natural peaches and light roses, but I’m also obsessed with burnt orange.”
Lynsey Alexander, Make-up artist for Erdem and MGSM
“Now more than ever, make-up should be used to express yourself: be daring and playful with it. We can always wipe it off and start again. I’m loving colour clashes on the face—for example, a bright-red matte lip with a balmy wash of lilac on the eye is a modern and cool way to wear colour. The trick is to keep your foundation light and natural because if you wear a heavy base, it will immediately date this type of make-up. Have one bold focus and let the other colours become soft, translucent accents. For example, a bold blue eyeliner with a peachy, creamy cheek and lip is gorgeous, and you can play with shiny textures as well.”
Erin Parsons, Global make-up artist for Maybelline
“I love it when people express themselves through beauty. Glowing skin is always big in the summer. I would contour with a liquid or cream bronzer to keep the sun’s glow and highlight the high points of the face. Lose the heavy powder for summer. I also love KVD Everlasting Blush mixed with bronzer for a highlighted effect. For lips, consider fun pops of colour—a stained effect, but also add a gloss on top for that popsicle look.
“Experimenting with colours on the eyes is also good—matte, glitter, shimmer or metallic—the possibilities are endless. This summer will be about having fun and not taking make-up too seriously.”
Val Garland, Global make-up director for L’Oréal Paris
“From apple to forest, the biggest colour trend right now is all shades of green. A single cat eyeliner look is no longer enough—work the latest social media trend of scaffold liner. What’s that? It’s a coloured graphic liner reinvented where it’s either a contrasting or complementary parallel line in two different colours. How to apply? Just wing it! Draw your first wing and then make sure your second liner is either right above it, or for contrast, leave a gap for a floating shape.”
Diane Kendal, Make-up artist for Tom Ford and Marc Jacobs Beauty
“I have been playing with a lot of colours recently, from pinks and oranges to blues and greens, lots of different textures from matte to metallic and, of course, lots of gorgeous dewy skin. This summer, the trend will be exploring the playfulness of make-up—a bold lip colour from fuchsia pink to orange stains, gorgeous bold eyes with metallic blues and emerald greens and rust, while cheeks have a healthy flush using bronzing creams or powders popped with bright pink and orangey-red.”
Lucia Pica, Beauty creative consultant and make-up artist
“It’s important to work on the skin as a canvas before you work on the make-up. For me, what works best is Vintner’s Daughter Active Botanical Serum for hydrating the skin and creating a natural glow. To create a fresh summer glow with a slightly tanned, sun-kissed look, I like to use Chanel Les Beiges Eau de Teint or a translucent tinted moisturiser in one shade darker to give you that ‘just been away’ complexion.
“I like to use a light bronzer across the bridge of the nose, high on the apple of the cheeks, a little bit on the forehead and on the sides of the cheek, so you’re not contouring but it looks like you’ve been in the sun for a bit. I also like to use balmy textures—what I really love are products you can use everywhere, so a tinted balm that you can use on your lips, your cheeks and your eyes. It’s hydrating, and it shines and reflects the light, so you have a monochromatic look. It’s more of a feeling than a make-up look.”
Mata Mariélle, Make-up artist and founder of Mata Labs
“The current beauty trend I’m into at the moment is using orange blush as a contour—it immediately warms up your face and makes your make-up look more natural. We’ll definitely be seeing a lip liner and gloss combination trend. This is a timeless look among our generation and it’s a statement in itself.” global make-up artists
Hannah Murray, Global artistic director for Bobbi Brown
“Everyone is desperate to be more playful with their make-up after this past year, but they’re still favouring a more simplified, minimalist beauty. I love using futuristic metallics on the eyelids to create a bold but beautiful effect; think 1990s Kate Moss with silver-cream eyeshadow on the eyes, black eyeliner in the waterline, teamed with spa-like fresh skin and a subtle tint on the lips (Bobbi Brown Extra Lip Tint is perfect for this). global make-up artists global make-up artists global make-up artists
“Bold, punk-like graphic eyeliner in unexpected bright colours is another trend I’m into. It feels joyful and optimistic, but it gives a cool attitude to your look. I’m also feeling a return to beautifully flushed cheeks. Tom Ford Cheek Colour in Ravish is a favourite of mine—a perfect mix of pure and naughty. Keep the rest of the look simple—the focus should be on the cheeks and a complementary flush on the lips to match.”
Miranda Joyce, Make-up artist for Miu Miu, Matty Bovan and Richard Quinn
“The biggest trend will be to not follow trends. Play, experiment, free yourself up from rules. Fill eyebrows in to be full and boyish or bleach them off to create more space for eye colour. Use softly blended reds and pinks on the eyes or take an eyeliner pen and get creative—lines, dots, dashes, whatever suits you. Look at bands from the 1970s and 1980s. Don’t copy the whole look, just take one idea and make it your own. Striving for symmetry and perfection has never been my thing. Change it up to suit your mood.”
