Spring is the season for fresh starts, and the way to make one right now is by updating lips, brows and hair. Lips should shimmer with color and shine, brows should surge beyond their formerly anorexic proportions, and hair should coil into lustrous corkscrew curls.
Of course, trends aren’t right for everyone, notes star Manhattan makeup artist Paula Dorf, who also has an eponymous cosmetics line (sold here at Barneys New York). “Just because something is in for the moment doesn’t mean it will look good on you,” she says. But she also points out that these three elements are such universally played beauty pawns that there may be something for everyone this season.
Best of all, “brows and lips work together because they can dress up your whole face and take just seconds to do,” says Dorf. At long last, she says, “we really do have a two-minute face.”
Whatever you choose to embrace, here’s the 411 from the pros.
LIPS: Color and shine are currently the cosmetic equivalent of bread and butter. Virtually any bold hue will do–purple, red, pink or orange as long as it shimmers once it’s slicked on the lips. “Women can wear much more color than they do, especially since it brightens your whole face,” says Dorf. But brown is the one exception to her rule, because “it detracts from your face and isn’t attractive.”
Also, change shades frequently, she says. “You wouldn’t wear the same blouse every day, so why wear the same shade of lipstick? It’s time to be adventurous. Layer lip colors to create different effects, and use different shades throughout the day.” Dorf usually slicks on one of her Lipsicles, which have the intensity of a lipstick and the shine of a gloss, over anything matte. “Yesterday I wore coral over pink,” she says.
BROWS: “Brows are fuller, thicker and more natural right now,” says bicoastal celebrity eyebrow artist Damone Roberts, who splits his time between Lepine New York and Sager French Salon in Los Angeles to serve a client roster that includes Madonna, Elizabeth Taylor, Sela Ward and Lara Flynn Boyle, whose brows are among the most striking around, opening up the eyes while giving character to the face. It’s pure backlash: “With recent events, women want less maintenance and are going for a more natural look,” he says.
To get it, Roberts says, “no more tweezing the tops. Just do a slight tweeze on the bottom and brush them up and to the side. Forget pencils and fancy eyebrow compacts. You don’t need all those colors.” Instead, “fill in bare spots on brows with eye shadow and an angled brush, and finish them off with a little eyebrow gel.” If overplucked patches are a real problem, buy an over-the-counter Rogaine product and apply it to your brow with a cotton swab. “I’ve seen it bring back hair that hasn’t grown in years,” he claims.
But Dorf recommends restraint. “Not everyone looks good with heavier brows, so go a bit more natural but keep them relatively neat,” she says. “And use lighter tones in varying shades to fill in bare spots; hair is many colors and brows should be too.”
To finish brows, Dorf recommends a mascaralike tint, brow powder or a product like her colorless wax Brow Stay.
HAIR: Curly hair is back for many reasons. “Spring styles are sexy, soft and feminine, and so is curly hair,” says Manhattan-based celebrity hairstylist Oscar James, who counts Halle Berry among his clients. “The average woman has some curl, so why fight it? Women are relaxing and learning to like what they have.”
But these are curls unlike those we’ve ever seen: “They’re shiny, healthy and controlled,” says trend-setting Chicago stylist Charles Ifergan, who owns salons in the city and suburbs.
To get the look, Ifergan says to apply a silicone defrizzing product or pomade first, then sculpt the curls with a curling iron. Curly-hair expert Osmane Cunha at the Tiffani Kim Institute advises, “Stick to cream products instead of gels, which are too drying, to separate curls, condition hair and add shine.”
Not surprisingly, hair’s curling quotient “is all in the cut, so get a great one,” cautions James. That means “no blunt ends. They cause hair to swell into a giant triangle.” Instead, “go for long layers that frame the face.” Ifergan suggests a fractured cut, which allows you more control. “You can add curl to certain parts, or the whole thing.”
To break the density of the curls and keep them from looking too thick, James also suggests consulting with a colorist about adding highlights. “Focus them around your face and keep them on the top layers of hair since color can dry hair, and curly hair already has the tendency to be dry.”
