Fall Make-up Trends: Dark make-up

Make-up is a creative art. That fact cannot be stressed enough. For women who are adventurous, there are no rules except the rule of aesthetic excess. While colors come and go, what never fails to stake its claim in make-up repeatedly is the deep and dark look. A look that deliberately keeps colour, as we often see it, off the palette. The result is a portrait of pure mystery powered by the enigma of black and shades that approximate it without being it.
Black is an absolute and it wields absolute power. When used well (in make-up), it is a mark of genius artistry that combines intrigue, temptation and even rebellion. It is a perfect way to highlight the beauty of a woman while cloaking her in a deep mystery and allure. But black is not a place where no light or color can reach. It's a place where the two attributes appear in a completely new context.
This season, trendsetters have been drawn to this bold ‘color' with pure passion. "Fall-Winter 2009 is all about the black eye and the black lip," says Vimi Joshi, M.A.C senior make-up artist for Middle East and India. "I celebrate any woman who dares to go all out and wears black make-up."
Years ago, Chanel was among the pioneers who ushered in a dark make-up palette with rich, dark lipsticks and pure black nail lacquer. This season, reprising its original theme, Peter Philips, global creative director of Chanel make-up, offers the Noirs Obscurs collection.
"Classic black make-up is a popular look that was inspired by a few women rebelling against society," says Joshi. "In contemporary times, films like Twilight have contributed strongly to promoting this look."
Sarah Baldry, chief make-up artist for L'Oréal Paris at the Dubai Fashion Week, has another view of the allure of dark make-up. "Your eyes," she says, "reveal a lot about your personality. But when you use dark make-up on them, you are creating intrigue as your true self is camouflaged. Black is a very mysterious look, an attention getter like no other."
But before you get tempted to use this glamorous camouflage on yourself, a word of advice: such make-up oscillates between a softer, romantic look (aimed to create a dark seductive quality) or a daring, rebellious look (that does well to raise images of the gothic era). While the softer version goes very well on women in their thirties, the classic goth look is more for youngsters burning up the club floor. Dark make-up is also endlessly creative and amenable to clever tricks and streaks. If you don't wish to be full-on daring by wearing black lips, veer off a bit and mix in deep plums or intense violets. For eyes, the smoky look is a timeless classic and the darker it gets, the more interesting it becomes. The slept-in look that works so well on waifish, sultry, pouty faces can be adopted by others even if their pouts are not a mile long or their designer sulks anything close to traffic-stoppers.

How to wear Black

L'oreal

According to Sarah Baldry, chief make-up artist for L'Oréal Paris at the Dubai Fashion Week, the focus in this look is on the eyes. The best way to achieve intense eyes is to keep the skin as light as you can without looking deathly white. As powder tends to dehydrate certain skin types, use a good moisturizing cream to nourish your skin. Use a foundation that creates a matte flawless effect and set it with loose powder. Take into consideration your skin tone (lighter or darker) in order to choose the correct shade of foundation and powder.
For the eyes, use a beige eyeshadow as a base over the lids and as a highlight under the brows. Then apply two shades of black eyeshadow over the lids. Use black kohl to define the upper and lower lash lines and draw a fine line with a silvery white kohl pencil inside the lower lash line. This works like a light bulb! Use a peach blush to contour cheek bones. For lips, use a coral lipgloss after lining them with a nude lipliner. A sultry, flawless overall effect is guaranteed.

Chanel

The key is to experiment and explore all dimensions of black, according to Peter Philips. He recommends deep and intense tones to compose a bold and graphic palette. Regardless of age or skin tone, the collection can be adapted to any occasion as long as you calibrate the intensity accordingly. For daytime, it's either dark lips or dark eyes. Not both at the same time. For the evening look, creating the perfect complexion is a must to show off the black. Choose a luminous foundation that will electrify the effect of black. Shade the eyes subtly by applying a light layer of eyeshadow.
For very intense and dramatic eyes, intensify the eyeshadow by using more layers. Use other eye shadows to complement, structure and intensify eye make-up. Apply black pencil in the inner waterline of the eyes and an eyeliner too for more intensity. Finish by dressing eyes with Exceptionnel de Chanel Mascara or Inimitable Mascara. Perfect the lips with your choice of dark color.
And yes, most importantly, don't forget to color coordinate your nails. It's black down to the fingertips.

M.A.C Cosmetics

"Dark make-up is meant to be worn either way: a classic black smoky eye with a nude lip which is very trendy or the bold smoky black eye with a black lip," says Vimi Joshi. To get more comfortable with it for real-life wear, pale down the skin tone and go for smoky eyes with nude lip!
Apply M.A.C Studio Tech Foundation, making sure it matches your skin tone exactly. The foundation starts off as a cream and sets to a powder. To create a beautifully contoured face, add Mineralize Skinfinish in Dark under the cheekbones, on the temples and around the jawline. Create a black smoky eye: black eye pencil lined in inner and upper corners of the waterline (inside eyes), smudged with a pencil brush and blended to a smoky effect. Add black eyeshadow on the lids and blend into the socket line using a blending brush. Coat the lashes with black mascara. If you want extra drama, add on a dark lip: M.A.C Burgundy Lip Pencil and M.A.C Diva Lipstick are perfect for this glamorous Twilight-inspired look.
Women in their thirties; create a smoky black eye, but go for classical red lips. Teenagers Be as daring as you want. Age is on your side.

Make Up For Ever

This look is all about dark eyes, lips and nails. To prepare your skin to offset this darkness beautifully, lighten your complexion using a light shade primer (blue shade). Go for a lighter shade of foundation (one to two shades lighter). Fix your foundation with a loose powder.
Sculpt your face to show contouring. Focus on the cheeks. Use a light shade of waterproof eyebrow gel as the eyebrows should appear colored. Apply a matte concentrated and long-lasting black eyeshadow around the eyes. Pay special attention to the outer corner of the eyes to perfect the smoky look. Add a hint of dark shadow under the eyes. An intensely black kohl pencil to line under the eyes works as a masterstroke. Stick on false eyelashes and dress them in pure black waterproof mascara. Outline your lips with a waterproof lip pencil - matte dark plum. Fill in with dark maroon lippy. As a final touch, spray a light film of make-up fixer to give your make-up longer after-hours.