The catwalk is not the natural home of everyday make-up. As the final cherry-on-the-top flourish for a designer’s creative vision, backstage beauty has been an arena of limitless possibilities, not of the middle-of-the-road and unremarkable. Perhaps that’s why the barely-there make-up trends that have dominated recent seasons came as such a welcome change. In line with the fashion industry’s current fixation with ardently ordinary clothes designed for women — not peacocks — beauty has gone back to basics.
Last season, that translated as a united ban on mascara. But next spring, it’s a bare lip that looks set to take centre stage. The hero of your spring/summer 15 make-up bag? The humble lip balm.
In New York at the start of this month, many of fashion week’s biggest names pushed aside the juicy colour pop hues of summer in favour of a more natural approach. Victoria Beckham championed a power-brow-and-bare-lip combo, Prabal Gurung patted on MAC’s lip conditioner for maximum moisture with minimal shine, while models at Jason Wu sported just a slick of Lancôme’s highlighting lip treatment L’Absolu Rogue in La Base. Though few could compete with Marc Jacobs’s commitment to natural beauty — he sent out models without a single ounce of make-up, only a layer of moisturising lotion for fresh, hydrated complexions.
Here in London, the trend gathered pace with the likes J.W. Anderson, Jonathan Saunders, Mary Katrantzou, Erdem, Simone Rocha (and practically every other name on the fashion week schedule) all opting for a little more than a simple hydrating balm.
So is this the last we’ve heard of lippy? Of course not. Because while we may be quick to hail the virtues of a beauty look that doesn’t even require a mirror, let alone any thought, there are few products out there that can claim quite as many diehard fans as a slick of lipstick.
As Poppy King, founder of the brand Lipstick Queen, puts it: “All other cosmetics enhance, correct or conceal whereas lipstick transforms your entire sense of self. It is not merely a cosmetic; it’s an icon of the experience of being female.”
François Nars is another who needs no convincing of the transformative power of lipstick. So much so in fact that he has named each of the 40 shades in his anniversary collection — created in honour of the first 12 lipsticks he launched in Barney’s 20 years ago — after his muses. “The names represent strong, rule-breaking women who have inspired me throughout my career. For me it was very simple: I gave the products names to make them more special, to bring them to life, to give them personality. It’s no longer just a tube of lipstick — it’s a character you can identify with.”
Bold or bare? It’s time to choose. The good thing is you can’t go wrong either way.
