Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Dusk and Smoke

Lately, I've been paying attention to the soft, cool, dusky colours of the Soft Summer palette.  I have to say that I absolutely adore the smokey greys, mauves, taupes and plums.  Dusk in the dictionary is: the beginning of darkness in the evening, and occurs after twilight, when the sky generally remains bright and blue.  Take a look at the following 'dusky' scenes:





The colours in these scenes are cool, soft, yet at the same time 'greyed' and hazy.  Dusky colours are often described as muted, grey, ashy - you hear the words: heather, stone, silvered taupe, steel blue etc.  Soft Summers looks 'amazing' in these kinds of colours,  They need a muted, hazy, dusky colour palette to look their best - here are a few examples of makeup that would look stunning on a Soft Summer (Note: Soft Autumns also need a muted, soft palette, but their colours are warm, with more of a golden cast vs the dusky, cool shades of SS):



Bobbi Brown makes fantastic colours for the soft summer woman - in this picture, her mauve palette is shown.  The model is definitely deeper, but the colours are so elegant for a SS.  I love how the blush is soft with a plumy-mauve base and how the shadows have that taupey-grey undertone - stunning!  The lip colours shown seem a bit deeper, but often Bobbi Browns colours go on very sheer - SS really shine in tan pink, dusky rose and plum-rose shades.

I think this eyeshadow shade should be a staple in every SS woman's makeup bag - its a very hazy, heathered mauve shade - the colour itself is called 'icy heather' by Jordana




These shades are Fantastic for SS - notice how the grey shade has a plumy-taupe undertone and seems very 'dusky and hazy' - this is exactly what the SS woman needs - also the rose shades are dusky and muted as well!

The SS woman can really pull off the taupes quite well - especially if its mixed with a plum, grey or smoke undertone



Plums and plum-taupe shades are ideal for the SS - cocoa is another colour that is stunning on a SS - notice how these colours posses an element of warmth without being overtly warm - this is exactly what makes SS unique and different from a true or cool summer - SS's have a very slight warm undertone and should not be afraid to play around with brown shades with a cocoa or taupy-plum undertone!


Here are a few more examples of SS eyeshadow shades - once again, Bobbi Brown is the Soft Seasons best friend, her shades are perfect for the soft summer and autumn!


I love Blushbaby blush by MAC for a SS-its the perfect blend of pink-beige-rose and goes with almost any look!



Tawny blush by BB is another 'no-fail' soft blush - its the perfect neutral pink shade!!!



Brownie Pink would be a great soft everyday look for a SS - its has that tan/sandy pink undertone and if you wanted more depth, just layer it on top of your favourite neutral lipliner!!!


NARS Dolce Vita would also be an excellent choice for a SS - its the perfect rose shade and its also been recognized as a 'universally flattering' shade!




SS's need to be careful when choosing a red for evening - anything too bright or deep and it will throw off their natural beauty - Try Capricious lipstick - its a plum-rose (the lipstick is pictured above) or for a deeper evening look, try 'Party Line' (its the swatch picture shown above) - a softer burgundy toned lipcolour.



My all time favourite SS lipliner is 'Soar' by MAC its described as a pinky-brown shade!!

Finally, here are two Soft Summer looks, so you can see the whole effect of the colours working together to create that beautiful dusky look:



This model looks stunning, elegant and beautiful in her SS colours - Notice how the colours blend into her skintone and you see her best features without seeing the colours only - this is how you know you've found your best set of colours!!!



Kiera Knightly looks stunning in the soft colour palette - I love her lipcolour and blush - it reminds me of Blushbaby and Brownie Pink - very elegant and stunning for a day into evening look!!!

I hope you enjoyed me post about the SS colours - I think anyone can wear these colours if they're going for a soft, muted look!!!

14 comments:

Hollie Ann said...

I love this post! What is the name of the eyeshadow palette you demonstrated on your arm?

Renata said...

Hi Hollie,
Thanks so much! Unfortunetly, that wasn't 'my' arm - I found that picture on-line and, like you, automatically fell in love with the colours - As far as I remember the colours were not a 'palette' but various individual shadows - I will try my best to search for that pic again and see if i can get any more info for you!

Hollie Ann said...

Thanks Renata! I too am a soft summer and can't trust my own judgement to pick out the right makeup colors yet. I tend to gravitate towards warmer colors. Opposites attract, right?

Renata said...

Hey Hollie,
You are describing me a while back - I used to always be drawn to the warmer side of the spectrum - but then I realized that Soft Summers have a neutral skintone and can work both sides of the spectrum quite well - We are summers that flow into autumn, so colours like coffee, warm rose, warm pink and neutrals like pewter, stone and sage suit us very well - Its fun to study the colours and come up with your own combinations - In terms of makeup, here are the colours I've been wearing lately that really, really work well for me:
Face: Laura Mercerier tinted moisturizer in Nude, Loreal N4 concealer, MAC's Refined Golden Bronzer (I think I pull this off because I'm a darker SS), Mocha and Breath of Plum blush by MAC and Tawny blush by Bobbi Brown
Eyes: Copperplate, Print, Concrete, Coquette and Charcoal Brown shadows are amazing (I usually mix them up - copperplate and print is my favourite combo) - paired with coffee, perma-plum or prussian eyeliner (MAC) or Charbon eyeliner by Lise Watier.
I also really like Sable and Pewter eyeshadows by Laura Mercier!
Lips: I'm loving 'Fig' lipliner by Estee Lauder, paired with Baroque lipstick (Chanel), Brownie Pink (Bobbie Brown), and also Faux and Capricious by MAC
I hope this helps!!!

Susan W. said...

Love this blog! Gald I saw you mention it on 12 Blueprints

Renata said...

Thanks so much Susan!!!

Q said...

Great post! I love the dusky photos you found for SSu paired with practical makeup advice. :)

Inez said...

Dusk and smoke - you made me feel better. Thank you. I am make-up beginner, trying to buy the right colours first.Could you check whether those are good for SS?
Lancome, Ombre Absolue Palette Chic and Helena Rubinstein, Wanted Eyes Palette twilight rose.

Anonymous said...

Hi Renata, Great blog; seriously, you always look stunning:)

I have just found out that I am a soft summer too; I love dirty pinks, grays and navy - my top colours. But because I only use teined moisturizer I tend to use a bit of bronzer:)

To be fair, it annoys me when professionals say - soft summer - no bronzer! I see photos of Jen Aniston, SJP and other celebs (typical soft summer and they always have bronzer and blusher!)

I am very much struggling at the moment to find the right bronzer. I am using Nars Laguna and I really dont like it - it is far too dry for me and it is too brown!

I am Caucasian with yellow undertone (no pink at all) and I would like to find a nice yellowish - peachy bronzer that would only have a tiny bit of shimmer and would be soft, of lovely consistency (nothing too dry!)

Do you have any suggestions?

I would be very grateful for your advise:) agnes

P.S What do you thin about Illamasqua Powder blusher in disobey?

Renata said...

Hey,
Thanks for writing - I agree with you, I disagree when people say that soft summers can't wear bronzer - I personally think that SS's look amazing with the right shade of blush - I would look for more of a true 'tan'(bronze with a bit of a cool-beige tone) or pinky-beige bronze shade - Sometimes I find bronzers too warm, even for some of the autumns, so I would actually look for a blush shade that you could wear as a bronzer, check our MAC's sincere, with perhaps a hint of prism blush mixed in - check out lancomes bronzers, I think they have palettes (look for one with more of a pink/beige tone) OR, this just popped into my head, try mixing a neutral bronzer with bobbi browns shimmer brick palette in the beige tone - this would be SO pretty!!!

Anonymous said...

thank you so much for your advise; will look for these and will let you know if they work on my skin:)

I hope so though:)

Anonymous said...

hi there, love your blog... I realize this is probably outdated, but do you have the name of the cosmetic pallet you show in the 6th photo down?
thanks much :)

Renata said...

I'm not 100% sure what its called, but I think it's a Lancome palette. I'm sure if you went to the Lancome counter, they would suggest a palette similar to this (or perhaps even the same one if it hasn't been discontinued) :)

Anonymous said...

Ok, Thank you Renata. DH