Seasonal Style Rules

Often as seasons change, my clients ask me what’s trending in with the new weather pattern. While there’s always a fair amount of unexpected fashion, there are also a lot of style rules that don’t really change. Hope these help you stay on point.

 

springSpring.

-Makeup returns to peach tones and colorful pastels, think “playful” and “innocent.”

-Clothing is shorter, of course, as few items as possible, kind of the anti-layering, usually lace or other “open” fabrics.

-Hair gets lighter though don’t go too light too quickly, but more natural sun-kissed, typically on the ash/beige end of the color spectrum.

 

 

 

summerSummer.

-Makeup is typically dewy with soft, brown-rimmed eyes, not black, and nothing too deep for lip colors. Sometimes bright eyeshadows for extreme color trend, but that can be hit or miss.

-Let’s address the clothing trends: Denim! It’s always denim. I don’t know why, it’s a terrible fabric, but summer brings is denim skirts, shorts, vests, oh gosh, everything!

-Hair this season views lots of blondes, golds, caramels for darker hair with beachy, worn-in scrunchy wavy softness.

 

 

AutumnAutumn.

-Lots of natural soft looks with makeup, sometimes just a bit of color to keep it interesting. Since it’s just starting to get cooler people seem to start cutting down their beauty routine. Possibly to spend a few extra minutes in a warm bed each morning?

-Autumnal clothing is pretty well understood by most already. Unlike spring, despite similar temperature ranges, there is almost an obsession with layering as though you aren’t dressed without three outfits at the same time. Also wear lots of brown, since Autumn is the season to celebrate brown everything.

-Personally it’s my favorite hair season because I love all the gold, red and copper. Emulate the local foliage as much as you reasonably can.

 

 

winterWinter.

-Makeup settles in with bold, jewel tones with a soft neutral lip, or goes the other direction with a Snow White look and red lips.

-Clothing gets puffy. As the temperature decreases, the level of mass required by clothing increases exponentially. 40=jacket. 30=puffy jacket. 20=strap on a polar bear and hide it with an even puffier jacket.

-Hair trends darker, more intense, and often straighter, my guess is that since this is the coldest season it’s the only one where the hair is chosen based on ease. If you cannot leave with wet hair, straight is usually the fastest.

My Winter Face – Favorite Things

With the weather all wonky for Winter skin can be dry and lips can feel like they need some extra oomph (technical term, I swear). So today I reached for some of my favorite Winter products to protect and emphasize.

Dermalogica Barrier Repair
Dermalogica Barrier Repair

I’ll start off with Barrier Repair, a calming “moisturizer” for sensitive skin by Dermalogica. Barrier Repair is a water free silicone and natural oil based “moisturizer” designed to instantly form a soothing barrier for your skin. You’ll notice I keep putting moisturizer in quotes. This is because it’s not a moisturizer in the traditional sense. Most moisturizers add lots of oils to your skin to fill it up and keep it feeling supple, what Barrier Repair does is different because it’s not creating moisture so much as it’s protecting it. It’s also full of other vitamins to keep the health of your skin up during these chilly dry months. Think of it as the grown up version of when your parents put Vaseline on your face before you went out to play in the snow. Added benefit: it can be used as a primer before make-up or instead of make-up because the silicone adds a soft focus feeling and reduces the appearance of pores. Really a great multitask product. That’s what we all need right? Fewer things in our bag?

 

 

Du Wop Lip Venom Flash
Du Wop Lip Venom Flash

My other favorite Winter product isn’t as much a multitasker or hugely beneficial, but it always makes me feel like my lips really pop. In the Winter I feel like my lips start to disappear on my face because they get dry and they aren’t shiny so they look thin and, well, blah. Enter Du Wop Lip Venom (I prefer the Gold Flash version for added sparkle). Unlike many other lip plumping products this one stays shiny all day so that long after the effects have worn off it still feels like it’s working. It also has more of a cinnamon “flavor” than mint so I’m quite appreciative of the warmth during Winter instead of just the tingling you would normally get from other products.

So those are my gotta have Winter favorites for my make-up kit. What about you? What Winter product do you always turn to?