5 Makeup Trends To Lose in 2018

I'm personally hoping that the biggest makeup trend of the coming year will be a return to the more natural face. Makeup artists say colour will be big in 2018, and you may have noticed that they sent models down the runway in Fashion Week sporting lurid yellow, orange and ocean blue eyeshadow.  I may be wrong here, but I think that the appeal of citrus-colour lids may be limited. Those same makeup artists are leading the charge in banishing trends that mask natural beauty. Here are outdated looks that the pros say you should avoid at the risk of looking dated, old school and out of fashion after the New Year rings in. So don’t even think about putting on last year’s face during 2018.

OUT: Harsh Contouring
This is one trend that has most definitely saturated our Instagram feeds, and it really has to stop.  I honestly don't think that any woman needs three contouring colours and three different highlighters in her makeup kit.  Please remember that Instagram isn’t real life, and the overly contoured stripped look is over. Plus what looks good (and I think that this is debatable) on a highly edited photograph does not look good in the harsh light of day.  If you find that you are addicted to contouring your face then I urge you to save the strident contouring for special occasions. The technique works best for evening or events when you will be photographed.  So ditch the contour brush unless you’re planning to walk down a red carpet.

OUT: Overdrawn Lips
Next year it is time to wave goodbye to overblown lips.  Please believe me when I say that your natural lips are enough. If you feel the need to enhance and enlarge, overdraw your lips subtly with a little bit of highlight on the cupids bow and a shimmery light gloss.

OUT: Highlighter Astronauts Can See from Outer Space
I'm going to gently advice that you take it down a couple of shades if you are finding that your highlighter makes you look like the Tin Man, perhaps leave off the illuminator altogether. Highlighter that gives you a metallic look is not a good thing, Shine should give you a subtly natural, fresh and touchable face.  So step away from the highlighter in 2018.

OUT: The Dense Eyebrow
Here’s another example of too much of a good thing is just simply not a good thing! If you find that you are drawing in your natural brow with Magic Marker, or the finished brows look like you please don't.  The full natural brow is lovely, but the filled-in, blocked off, squared-off version is not quite so lovely. I think that the finished brow should display actual brow hairs and give an impression of airiness. Too big is just too big.

OUT: The Full “Beat Face”
Makeup should be fun, and 2017 saw it being used to the limit. The theme of this year could easily be “the more fake, the better”. The new year is expected to reveal that fake, fake, fake has run its course. Look for makeup artists to embrace makeup to enhance natural beauty without completely masking it. Skin is in. Artificial and mask-like is out for 2018. Look for more natural faces in the new year.

Emma x