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March 18, 2009

STYLE: Dip, don't drown in makeup's ocean-inspired shades

By SAMANTHA CRITCHELL

AP Fashion Writer



NEW YORK (AP) — So you've dipped your toe into the ocean-colors trend that is emerging for the spring with, perhaps, a new marine-blue dress or a sand-colored sweater. Now what? Is there a ripple effect with your lipstick or eye shadow?

Matching makeup to your clothes isn't necessary, with many beauty experts advising against it. Of course, some rules were meant to be bent, if not broken.

"Treat your makeup like you would jewelry," says Kristin Perrotta, editorial projects director at Allure magazine. "If you're wearing a busy dress, you wear not a lot of makeup. It's the same if you're wearing bright blue — I generally believe you should tone down your makeup."

She adds: "If it's neutral clothes, you have two choices, either pump it up or you can go for the whole neutral shebang."

If you go the sandy route, she suggests neutrals with shimmer "to avoid looking like cardboard."

Makeup artist Pat McGrath, an adviser for the new Dolce & Gabbana cosmetics collection, will often pick one feature of the face to add bright pink or peach if a woman is wearing otherwise all earthy shades of sand, stone or khaki.

She generally doesn't go for a matchy-matchy look, but she is becoming a fan of blue eye shadow in this season of blue fashion, singling out the DG sky shade, especially for women with hazel, green or brown eyes. It's a stellar nighttime look with the blue shadow layered over smudged black liner near the lash line, McGrath says.

She'll finish off the look with a lot of black mascara and nude-colored glossy lips.

Meanwhile, Perrotta likes sheer teal on the eyelid, but, she says, stop at the crease without extending the blue up to the brow bone. That would be too 1970s.

Beauty trends, whether it's blue, sand or other "it" colors, often fall in line with fashion because those creating both palettes are getting their inspiration from the same places, including museum exhibits and fabric shows, explains Perrotta. "It's like they've all been to the same meeting."

McGrath says she uses clothes to guide her choices, with the ultimate goal of creating a face that complements whatever is on the body. Blue clothes, as well as green and violet garments, tend to be most flattering with a warm, bright lip, she notes.

Contrast is what you're going for with hair color, says Tracey Cunningham, Redken's creative consultant for color.

A sand-colored top can be too similar to a sandy-blond hair color, blurring an important line, for example. However, Cunningham thinks redheads look great in neutrals.

"Redheads can make the sandy colors pop rather than blend into the color. A brunette can also wear sandy colors, but redheads are the ones that can really make it pop," Cunningham says. "Opposite colors on the color wheel can work together."

If you are a blonde, she recommends darker neutrals in your wardrobe, or, better yet, an aqua blue. The light hair and bright blue are flirty and fun, she says. Brunettes look sophisticated when they wear navy blue, Cunningham says.



Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

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