When designers put elegant clothes on the runway for fall, the models’ makeup was equally dramatic – red lips, thick eyeliner, blue eye shadow.
But for women who are used to a more natural look in cosmetics, wearing a lot of color is going to take some getting used to. That’s where people like Gina Brooke come in. The artistic director of Shu Uemura and makeup pro for such celebrities as Madonna, Brooke breaks down the trends for women when she visits stores on behalf of the cosmetics company. She’ll be in Denver on Saturday to open the new Shu Uemura department at Neiman Marcus.
In a phone interview, Brooke said she doesn’t believe in makeup rules or trends. The most important thing, she said, quoting the legendary Shu Uemura, who started his career working on Hollywood movies in the 1950s, is “beautiful makeup starts with beautiful skin.”
And to complement beautiful skin, you need to wear the right shades of foundation, eye and lip colors, which is where a good makeup artist comes in. For fall, there’s a shade of red lipstick for every woman, and it can look “elegant, sexy and beautiful,” she says.
“You need to be realistic about your skin tone,” Brooke says. If you have fair skin with cool undertones, the red should have a blue undertone to it. Women with warm skin tones can wear more of an orange shade.
She recommends Shu Uemura’s RD 165 as being a versatile red. “It’s made with high-tech pigment and a shade that can match just about any woman.”
Mixing lipstick colors is an option too. “I’m always doing that with foundation – it’s hard to find the one that matches exactly,” she says.
To find out if you like a color after trying it at the cosmetics counter, go outside in natural light and see if it flatters you, Brooke recommends.
She also cautions that red or dark lip color can harden the face and make you look older. “Take Madonna,” Brooke says. “She looks younger than her age, 49. I always go lighter on her lips unless it’s a very special occasion.”
When a woman wears strong lip color, she should go neutral with the rest of her makeup or risk looking clownish, Brooke says.
The prettiest eye makeup for fall includes liquid eyeliner and false lashes, which sounds like a lot of effort. But Brooke says the right tools and products make it easier to wear.
“I’m obsessed with liquid liner because it defines the eyes much better than pencil,” she says. “The liner we have in the collection has a pen-like tip that can go really thick or thin and the top is a pump that regulates how heavy or light you want to apply it. It’s ideal for women who are worried about using eyeliner.”
She’s also a big fan of false eyelashes. “We have a lash bar and there are styles for women who love drama and ones for women who just want to look subtle and beautiful.”
The styles are in Lucite cases that a woman can hold up to her eye to see if she likes the effect. Then a makeup artist can show her how to apply them. “You can use them over and over again. Once you practice, they become addictive. I have clients who won’t leave the house without them.”
Gina Brooke of Shu Uemura will be at Neiman Marcus in Cherry Creek Shopping Center from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday. For appointments, call 303-329-2600.
