Paris Fashion Week 2012 Beauty Wrap

By Eleanor Reader

From easy and wearable to vibrant and dramatic, there was no shortage of amazing beauty trends coming off the Paris Fashion Week runways this year. Never a dull beauty moment, we are celebrating the most memorable make up and hair looks from the Paris collections.

Minimal Make Up and Red Lips at DIOR

Classic, red lips are slowly moving out of the ‘evening only’ box and making their way into our everyday beauty routine. The slightly shiny red lip at Dior was paired with a warm, taupe eye, minimal eyeliner and clean cheeks to create an easy to achieve, simple make up look that is perfect for your next day outing or for the office. This red lip is such an easy way to spice up your beauty routine for spring.

Pretty In Pearls at CHANEL

Proving that Chanel still does class like no other, tiny pearls emblazoned with brands iconic double C were applied to the model’s noses, eyebrows and lips to create the illusion of the most luxurious piercings we’ve ever seen. The runway was decked out like an all white underwater playground, and along with the pearls the make up followed the theme with fresh, dewy skin highlighted with a pearly sheen and hardened with a slick of black eyeliner on the upper lashline. Coupled with wet-look chignons, also adorned with pearls, the models gave an ethereal, mermaid vibe that was truly mesmerising.

Rescu. Loves: The models skin shone at Chanel and you can easily achieve this at home by purchasing an illuminator. Adding a touch of highlighter to your cheek bones can make you look young, fresh and radiant. Benefit’s new Watt’s Up! illuminator is a champagne-toned sheer highlighter that will give your skin a luminous sheen all over. RRP $53.

Golden Glamour at Yves Saint Laurent

Hair accessories were again on display at the YSL show, where low chignons were given an edge of glamour with gold-plated barettes wrapped around their base.

Redken’s Creative Consultant, Guido, says about this elegant hair look: “YSL has such a heritage that it’s always its own reference. This is a very glamorous, very womanly woman. It’s a wet look hairstyle, with all of the hair is kept away from the face, like an actress. Raking the fingers through the hair adds a richness to it.”

With the hair off the model’s face, the make up had room to shine, with ruby red lips with a hint of gold shimmer in the middle and a smouldering, brown smokey eye really bringing out the collection’s palette of navy, mint and purple.

Rescu. Loves: Brown, earthy tones have been showcased over and over again on the runways this year, proving they are a huge trend for spring and summer. For the sexy, brown smokey eye at the YSL show, we recommend YSL Pure Chromatics eyeshadow in No. 3 followed by brown eyeliner to frame the eyes. RRP $90.

Soft Braids at Valentino

This French braid, wrapped around the head of the model’s, portrayed the beauty and romance of the Valentino woman. So feminine and chic, this soft and flowy updo’ is a must to try for a casual night out in spring.

This look can be a little complicated, but remember, practice makes perfect! Redken’s Creative Consultant, Guido, tells us how we can achieve this look at home:

-Shampoo and condition hair.

-Apply All Soft Argan-6 Multi-care oil and blow dry to create a soft shine to the hair.

-Take a circular section of the hair at the crown, divide into 3 sections and begin to French braid the hair starting in the middle. Continue the braid just under the right ear going all the way counter clockwise around the hairline, pinning hair along the way to keep in place.

-Pull out a few wisps of hair to keep the final look easy and soft.

Rescu. Loves: Soft, healthy hair makes you feel feminine, chic and beautiful. To get those flowing spring locks you dream of, use Redken’s All Soft Argan-6 Multi-care Oil, it protects you when blow drying, nourishes hair and gives you an extra boost of shine. RRP $29.

Outrageous Eyelashes at Viktor & Rolf

It wouldn’t be Paris Fashion Week without some dramatic and outrageous beauty looks to lust over. We are loving the fluttery pink lashes and matching shadow the model’s, including our own Aussie Miranda Kerr, sported down the runway. If you are game, we say jump on this out-there trend and have some fun with your make up.

Rescu. Loves: It’s a well known fact that young Japanese women aren’t afraid to be colourful, vibrant and a little crazy with their beauty looks. Take a leaf out of their book by heading to Shu Uemura’s Tokyo Lash Bar and picking out some beautifully detailed, fun and fantastic fake lashes. Available at David Jones.

1940’s Rock Chic at Jean Paul Gaultier

It was all tattoo’s, piercings and 1940’s glamour at Gaultier’s show. Taking inspiration from this, Redken’s Creative Consultant, Guido, created a stylized version of a 1940’s do which made a huge statement on the runway.

Guido tells us how to get this look at home:

– Apply guts 10 root targeted volume spray foam to damp hair and blow-dry away from the roots.

– Create a clean 4″ center part from the hairline back.

– Where that part ends, create a horizontal part on either side ending just behind the ears. You will have 3 sections- 2 at the front and 1 at the back.

– Back section: come hair up away from the nape of the neck and secure into a clean knot at the crown of the head.

– 2 side sections: using a hair pad (see image, 6″ cylinder shape pad), starting at the ends of the hair, roll the hair into the hair pad until you reach the crown, about 2 inches from the center part. This creates a very distinct almost animal-like final shape.

– Finish with forceful 23 super strength spray.

Strong Brows at Kenzo

Adding a touch of 80’s to the runway, Peter Philips of Chanel make up fame brought bold, bushy brows and brown tonal lips to the Kenzo show. This look is so easy to attain, which is why we love it. Get out your brow pencils and start drawing ladies, this boyish brow trend is here to stay.