Orange (aren’t) you glad your clients are going bold?
The key makeup trend this season will see your clients go bold. Flown in from the American runways, the bold orange lip is a fun summer colour in the US and will be a refreshingly warm change to the colder months here.
As much as we love the look, bold lip colour, particularly in a hue as daring as orange, presents some distinct problems. First, how do we match the orange tones, or any eye-grabbing lipstick tones for that matter, to a range of client skin tones? And, how do we create a foundation for strong, non-smudge lips, without having to go matte?
It turns out orange is an extremely diverse shade, with slightly altered tones adding the perfect finish to different skin types. For example, nude and peach style lipsticks best accentuate fair skin types, so a peachy orange is the perfect choice for paler clients. The trick is to understand the best bold lip colour for your clients and translate that to the orange colour palette. Skin types with pink undertones do well with coral hues, while darker skin types are best in bright. Bring out the old colour wheel and start experimenting with where these hues fall in the orange spectrum.
Once you have your client in a bold lip, orange or otherwise, the trick is keeping it there. There are some preparation tips you can try to keep your client smudge-free all day. First, moisturise the lips and add plenty of lip balm so that you aren’t applying the lipstick to cracked, dry lips. While you can do this during preparation, it’s best to remind your clients to keep the lip balm on hand when they aren’t wearing lipstick to keep up that soft pout.
Ironically, the next step is vital in absorbing that moisture. After application blot the lips with a tissue, then cover them with a tissue and apply invisible setting powder with a blush brush onto the tissue. This will help absorb the excess moisture and keep the bold lip in place.
If you want to keep the look well-defined and within the lip lines without actually using lip liner, you can use a cream concealer to line the lips, staying invisible while keeping the look in place.
Don’t let fear of clashing hues or smudge hold your clients back from being on trend. Master the bold lip and you’ll have your clients grabbing attention with every pout.
By Shannon Gaitz