MANILA, Philippines - If you’re in a bit of a beauty slump from the pale, almost-goth ‘90s look from the fall/winter beauty trends, this should break you out of your stupor: think shimmery, multi-colored eyes, a shiny, berry lip with blurred edges, and florid cheeks contoured for an angular look. It’s basically David Bowie’s face paired with Grace Coddington’s mane of wild, ginger hair. It’s a look that’s heavily inspired by the heady, glamorous days of the ‘70s, Studio 54 and the heyday of illustrator Antonio Lopez and his muses. Earlier this week, YStyle got the exclusive opportunity to sit down with MAC Australia makeup artist Dalal Mansour and have her break down this holiday look for us, while forecasting the beauty trends for spring/summer.
YSTYLE: So what are the beauty trends for holiday?
DALAL MANSOUR: I think there’s a great focus on being so glamorous. So, for holiday seasom, you’ll find a nice mix of gold undertones and some bold lip colors and neutral colors. For lips, it’s a mix of more creamy and satin textures. For eyes, it’s multi-colored because our new eyeshadows give you that flexibility to use one to three colors out of it.
How are the two-tone Mineralize eyeshadows supposed to be used?
They were designed in a way so the customer could get the best out of both. They correspond with each other, so you’ve got a highlighter and a darker one, but you can always mix them together to create your own color or use one as a feature color.
For this look, you’re looking at around three shadows, so you have the darker purple from Mineralize eyeshadow in Past Midnight, and then the mid-tone and lighter tones in Captivating. The Fluidline gel eyeliner in Macroviolet is used there, as well as the Feline Eye Kohl. For those with smaller eyes, utilize the area underneath the eyes. You can still do an eyeliner on top, but have a feature color or a little bit of something under the eyes. Or you can wing it out a little bit more. Don’t be shy (about adding) a bit of color onto the eyes.
If you were to make a recommendation, what’s the one must-have from this collection?
I would definitely encourage (using) the Mineralize Skinfinish. They’re colors that we’ve not done before, so it’s exciting for our die-hard MAC fans because they’re very original this time around. We used to do it with a gold vein running through it, so you kind of just have that one color. This time, they’re different colors and, like I said, you can be quite specific, so I think it is definitely one to purchase from the collection.
What are your beauty forecasts for spring/summer?
In terms of trends, instead of the really polished, sort of plastic look on the skin, focus on beautiful, healthy-looking, bronze skin. I prefer powder bronzer just to warm it all up. For lips, I think we’re gonna go more peach-y or warmer. In the Rihanna collection that we just had, we had a beautiful orange-y frost, which was so popular: Who’s That Chick. So I think that’s definitely the direction we’ll be taking.
What are your top six all-time favorite MAC products?
Fix+, definitely. Always good to freshen up the skin, doesn’t matter what season it is, winter or summer. In Extreme Dimension 3D Black Lash mascara, which is our newest mascara. I love all our mascaras, but this one is by far, like every amazing MAC mascara put into one. Graphblack Technakohl Liner — love it for the upper rim. You can smudge it if you want to use it quite quickly. Otherwise, you can just draw it on and it will stay, and it’s safe for the waterline and is smudge-resistant. I love our matte lipsticks, so any of the Retro Mattes. Ruby Woo is probably my favorite red. I always have a red lipstick in my handbag. Prep+Prime Highlighter Pens. I use a color called Light Boost, which I adore and I just use it to brighten up after long days. Then there’s the Prep+Prime BB Cream, which I use on days whey I don’t really need to wear makeup to even out my skin, plus it has SPF and it lasts until nighttime.
After a long day in makeup, how do you take care of your skin?
I’ve tried so many skincare products because I always like to know what’s this and what’s the new fad; then when I look at the ingredients it’s all the same thing, so what’s gonna work for your skin is vitamin A. I went out and bought vitamin A capsules or oil capsules and then I use two of them and burst them. I rub it all over my skin and it stays clear and line-free. For eyes, it’s La Mer. I love it. I also use La Mer lotion for day. My mom brought me up on taking a spoonful of olive oil orally, but if your skin’s really bad or dry, just rub in olive oil. For my hair, it’s olive and coconut oil. I put it in the shower and then I rinse it out. In Australia, Lucas Papaw Ointment is very popular, but I love our MAC Lip Conditioner.