Soft Autumn VS Clear Spring

THe two palettes that people request the most that I try is either Soft Autumn or Clear Spring. In my last post, I created a warm salmon pink based makeup look and used neutral shades that can be worn by both the SA and CS palettes. I decided to do a collage using the same pic surounded by both palettes (once again I used the swatches from the dress photos from the redandlipstick.blogspot.ca link). Would love to hear your votes: Soft Autumn:

Clear Spring:

Warm Salmon Pink

There is just something so pretty about a Salmon-Pink lip colour! I love the warm and neutrality of this colour - its not quite pink and its not quite coral - its the 'happy' medium!!! For this makeup look I used my usual concealer/tinted moisturizer. I then blended two blush shades - MAC Sweet as cocoa with Chanel Candy. For the eyes, I used coquette eyeshadow from the lid to crease, then applied a basic brown eyeliner and smudged MAC knight divine into the lashline and finished the eyemakeup look with some black mascara. THen for the lips, I blended MAC Fanfare lipstick with Laura Mercier Rose. Voila!!!

Colour Palette Experiement

I found a new blog that has amazing dress-colour examples for all the seasons - its redandlipstick.blogspot.com - I find that this is a great blog to read for anyone who is interested in colour theory and colour analysis. Since soft autumn has crept in again as a great palette for me to work with, I decided to do yet 'another' little colour experiment. I honestly don't get tired of making/creating these - they are a lot of fun and you learn a lot along the way. In fact, if you don't know what your seasonal colour type is, I highly recommend to do as many self-experiments as possible - drape yourself in different colours, see how you 'feel' in certain colours, try on some wigs or do a virtual makeover experiment to see which hair colours suit you - this is all about self exploration and self discovery - have fun, let loose - learn and discover as much as you can about colour - you will learn and discover YOU in the process!!!

Classic 'Autumn Day' Look

Today its a beautiful day outside! The sun is shining, its warm, the fall air is ever so breezy and the leaves on the trees are just starting to change colour - today is one of those days thats perfect for picking apples, choosing a pumpkin, enjoying a hot chai tea latte and letting GO of all the worries in life. I wanted to create a makeup look that reflects the essence of this 'beginning of autumn' season!

I started with just a touch of concealer and tined moisturizer. I then applied a more bronze toned blush - Sweet as Cocoa by MAC. For the eyes, I actually blended a few shadow shades to create a silver-khaki effect - I used era+coquette by MAC and also blended in Sephora's queen for a day shadow. I used a warm brown liner (Mambo by NARS)and smudged 'queen for a day' into the upper lash line before applying black mascara to finish off the eye-look. For the lips, I blended in a deeper mahogany shade 'Fire Down Below' by NARS with Fanfare by MAC, a salmon pink shade! I think that blending soft shades with a bit of warmth is what the beginning of autumn is all about!!!

Soft Season Eye Comparison

I have recently come across a great blog called 'Expressing Your Truth' - please take the time to google it and check it out, its great! There is also a lot of great info on seasonal makeup types. I found some interesting photos of seasonal 'eyeshades' and patterns on the site and decided to do a little experiment. Interestingly enough, my colour and patterns fit perfectly into the 'SOFT' categories. Colour wise, it seems to fit better into Soft Summer, but patten wise, its 100% Soft Autumn. Since I lean neural-warm without question, it really makes me want to re-visit Soft Autumn. Its a season that just keeps re-appearing for me over and over. I can't explain why the brights also look so great and why I drawn to the deep season lipstick shades, but saying that the most 'NATURAL' makeup look on me has always fit into Soft Autumn. Here is the eye comparison 'experiement'. My natural eyecolour is in the centre. The soft Summer is to the left and the Soft Autumn is on the right:

Your 'Natural' Lipstick Shade

I have mentioned a few times before the concept of using the shades that are naturally present in your skin, hair, eyes etc to determine the best makeup shades and palette for you. One of the BEST ways to discover your ideal lipstick and blush shades is to pinch the end of your fingertip - that natural 'flush' will reveal your best shade. If you're interested in more about this concept, check out David Zyla online - he's a celebrity fashion stylist who wrote a book about this entire concept of finding your best colours. On to my personal experiement - I took a photo of my pinched finger tip and then magnitized that shade - here is what I got:

It got me thinking about how to describe this colour and I kept coming back to a warm peachy or salmon rose shade. I then started thinking about a lipstick colour that I keep coming back to over and over and over again - Mocha Lipstick by MAC. This got me thinking about doing a another little experiement - check it out:

WOW - isn't that amazing? I feel like my instincts were always right - there is a reason that you are drawn to certain shades or keep coming back to certain shades. Mocha lipstick by MAC is actually an EXACT match to the shade that presents itself when my pinch the end of my finger tip - this is my natural 'flush' shade. That isn't to say that I won't wear other variations of this shade or swipe on a red version of this, but I love that I have a 'signature' go-to everyday shade that will NEVER fail because its in complete harmony with my natural colouring. I think everyone should do this experiement - its not only fun, but will make makeup shopping so much fun!!!

The 'Gamine'

I have to say that I am embracing the Gamine look full force. Paris has absolutely inspired this look for me and there is a REASON that the Gamine look is eternally classic and stylish. Let me give you a little bit of an idea of why the Gamine look is so chic. First of all, Gamine literally is the French version of the 'tomboy' - Its that boyish, charming appeal that a woman possesses. Its also the look of a confident, put together woman who still has that child-like appeal - she is usually petite, looks young for her age, likes to simply be herself. She doesn't 'try' to be sexy, the bombshell type - she doesn't suit looks that force her to be anything that she is. The hallmark of the Gamine look for me is the hair and makeup. The Gamine short haircut will always be chic - Audrey Hepburn comes to mind - Her role in Sabrina and Roman Holiday when she chops off her hair and really 'finds herself' - this is what Gamine is all about!!! Today you have Audrey Toutou, Emma Watson, Michelle Williams andAnne Hathaway that have sported the Gamine hair style. And lets not to forget the classic and ultimate in Gamine hair - Jean Seberg - check it out:

I have recently cut my hair again and have to say that I am enjoying sporting the Gamine look - I went for the classic Gamine 'Le No makeup Look' in this photo, but a classic Red Lip is still very ultra faminine and perfect for that polished/sophisticated gamine look! In this photo, Its a sheer swipe of MAC Soba eyeshadow, Candy blush by Chanel, a few coats of YSL black mascara and MAC Mocha lipstick - Tres Chic:

VOILA!!!