THE ALLURE OF NEUTRAL MAKEUP

March 27, 2008

Take a look at this model and her makeup, from Sephora’s Classic Glam look.

Sephora’s Classic Glam look.

It’s pretty to look at, but which of the women you know could create this look, let alone look good in it? The cosmetics industry has taught us that all this color is somehow beautiful and that we’re not properly expressing ourselves if we don’t look like this. We didn’t teach each other that, did we? Was it ok on our younger selves, but now we’re unsure what to replace it with?

Make up your own mind

You can’t pull off these colors without this face. Nevermind that this girl took 6hrs to get ready for this shot, followed by $1000 of retouching. You can’t sustain the look for more than an hour and you’d better be sitting still in a chair with your mouth closed.

Once again, society taught women a lesson about how we’re expected to look and behave to get what we want, or what they want to give us, and we bought into it. The lesson weakened us because we modified our beliefs to concur with society’s.

Very high shoes look good if you sit still, but if you try to move, you are forced to alter how you walk. That sends a very real message that, in these shoes, you are on uncertain footing. It transcends the way you walk to include your control of other situations too. Fashion dictates that if we dress up, then we must wear heels. It causes us to walk like we can’t hold our ground.

Makeup artists

Have you ever seen a photo of a makeup artist? Look at Bobbi Brown and Sonia Kashuk below. They never look like the models they paint. They never make themselves up to look that way because they know that it doesn’t work on real women. They’re trying to sell something so it has to be continually reinvented and look larger than life to catch our eye and sell product.

Bobbi Brown.

Sonia Kashuk.

Does anyone want to look like the women at the cosmetics counter? You might see the odd good eyeshadow or lip color, but often they’re overdone to the point that we doubt their advice. They’re in a tricky spot because if they look too plain, we doubt them a little as well. As women, we paint ourselves into a corner where no solution will work. This is why you have to be strong and decided in your own mind.

Do neutral collections sell the most?

I would like a cosmetics industry expert to tell me if neutral collections outsell all the others. I believe that these are the colors women really want.

When Ultima II did The Nakeds, they outsold their projections by 300%, or more back in the 80s. Now that MAC just brought out their N collection, it’s being reviewed in many places and the lead-in sentence is always to the effect that the wait for a good neutral collection has been a long one.

Neutral makeup at Sephora.

Where Do you find your neutral colors?

Your neutrals and mine are not the same. My warm browns and tans would look like mud on a Summer, with her pinker skin and softer coloring, and make her skin look pea-green.

In the article Makeup Colors That Work, I talked about Carole Jackson’s book Color Me Beautiful. There are beautiful full page layouts of evergreen colors ready made to look great on you. I want to make this point strongly here because color choice is a tough one. You can learn to make this choice. We all end up with little plastic cases we’ll never use. All the work is done for you in this one book.

Color Me Beautiful by Carole Jackson

Your makeup colors are right here. Anything pink/rose/peach/tan, whatever looks like it could belong on a lip are your lip colors. Whatever looks like you’d put it on an eye (grey, brown, black) is here as well. If you need purple eyelids, at least wear the right shade of purple!

Jackson did write a makeup book, and a book of men’s colours, but they don’t hold a candle to the original. She outdid herself with that first book. She did such a good job with the topic that there was nothing left to say, If she rewrote it today, the makeup application/hair/clothes might change, but the colors would not.

Feel NO fear

So many women are apprehensive or confused by makeup because they think they’ll end up looking foolish, or that the rainbow is all they have to choose from. I aim to show you makeup that’s accessible and give you enough success from the beginning that you’ll feel secure and beautiful wearing it…even if I have to design my own collection.

Applied with a less-is-more hand (which happens to be fast and easy as well), neutral makeup is what looks real and believable. It gives you a little lift of the spirit because you know you look a little better.

Posted by Christine Scaman | Filed Under Makeup

Comments

2 Responses to “THE ALLURE OF NEUTRAL MAKEUP”

Hollis on July 18th, 2008 11:34 pm

You ask… “Have you ever seen a photo of a makeup artist? Look at Bobbi Brown and Sonia Kashuk below. They never look like the models they paint. They never make themselves up to look that way because they know that it doesn’t work on real women. They’re trying to sell something so it has to be continually reinvented and look larger than life to catch our eye and sell product.”

I HAVE met Bobbi Brown on several occasions, at in-store beauty events at Bergdorf Goodman and Barneys, and I was thrilled to receive some personal “face time” with her. She is *renown* for advocating a natural and neutral look, in both her written work and her product line. A source you seemingly respect, Paula Begoun, corroborates this in her online summary [ http://www.beautypedia.com/Brand/Bobbi%20Brown/75.aspx ],

Of all the professional makeup artists who developed their own product lines, Bobbi is probably the best known for “real world” colors and application. The others I have met (Paula Dorf, Trish McEvoy, Sylvie Chantecaille, Laura Mercier) also advocate a comparably livable approach. Their products may be pricey, but their pitches are accessible and realistic. (And, of course, the market offers a range of low cost options in lines such as Cover Girl, Wet ‘n Wild, E.L.F., Milano, Prestige, etc.)

I personally don’t hold much stock in the call to carry the look I was born with. Heck, I was also born illiterate, and they took care of THAT right away! I’d rather be known by the look I can achieve with my discipline and artistry. Buck naked, my face looks like Elmer Fudd; properly made up, I feel confident and attractive. What a difference a brush makes!

Hope this finds you well, and that you are enjoying your summer!
Christine Scaman on July 22nd, 2008 7:51 pm

Hollis,
Good to hear from you. Love the Elmer Fudd comment (though I doubt it’s entirely true). Like you, I don’t go far without makeup, and if I do, the baseball hat is pulled way down.
All the artists you mention present a certain spin on neutral makeup and I love the variations on the theme. Once we get over 40, I really think this is the most flattering look. I have no problem with blue/purple/green color as accent, but if someone looking at you can identify the color easily, well… I don’t see it as the best look. Other might disagree.
Thanks for the kind good wishes. I’m vacationing at the moment, but will be back at it at the end of July. Hopefully I can come up with a few things to stir the pot again! I enjoyed the first go round : )