2017 is coming to an end and with it, we hope, a number of beauty trends that have flooded our Instagram feeds (and lives) can finally be laid to rest. We asked celebrity makeup artists to discuss the looks and trends that should be put out to pasture in 2018. Plus, what they’re looking forward to next year.
OUT: Highlighter that could direct airport traffic
Instagram: @hudabeauty
Shine had a good run, but it’s time for illuminator to evolve. “I’d really like to see highlighter go away or at least be brought down a few notches,” says Robert Sesnek, who has worked on the famous faces of Kendall Jenner, Hailey Baldwin, Adriana Lima, and Lily Aldridge. “Glow is beautiful on all skins, but lately I’ve seen it almost look as though the skin is underwater or as metallic as the Tin Man.”
Everyone agrees, extreme glowiness is on its last legs. “The cakey overdone highlighter is funny to me because the concept of adding highlighter is to create a subtle glow, yet people have been taking the trend way too far,” explains Julianne Kaye, who counts Beyoncé, Sanaa Lathan, and Dove Cameron as clients. “Skin should look fresh and touchable!”
OUT: Harsh contouring
Put down the contour brush. We repeat: Put down the contour brush. “I can not take any more harsh contouring,” says Desirae Cherman, who works with Lili Reinhart, Natalia Dyer, and Camila Mendes. “Instagram isn’t real life and the overly contoured stripped look has got to go. No one needs to own a make-up palette with three contour colours and three different highlights.”
Contour may best be left to special occasions. “Most of the time, these techniques look best for evening or times when you will be photographed at events,” explains Sesnek. Unless you’re headed to a red carpet, ditch the contour.
OUT: The chunky eyebrow
Instagram: @hudabeauty
Everyone can appreciate thick eyebrows but when they start to look like they’ve been filled in with Magic Marker, enough is enough. “I wouldn’t be sad to see the heavy, blocked up, squared off brow take a back seat in 2018,” says Fiona Stiles, who works with Lily Collins, Jennifer Garner, and Gabrielle Union. “I love, love, love a full brow, but one that is so dense that it doesn’t have any airiness or feeling of actual brow hairs is just too much for me.”
OUT: The full “beat face”
Skin is in for 2018. “I love when skin looks like skin and not artificial or a mask,” says Sesnek. The message is that make-up artists want to see more natural faces in the new year.
“I think the theme for 2017 was the more fake, the better, “ adds Kaye. “Make-up is a fun tool that we can use to enhance natural beauty, not mask it completely.”
OUT: Overdrawn lips
“To be quite honest, I don’t see what’s wrong with thinner lips but if you must overdraw them, do it subtly with a little bit of highlight on the cupids bow and a shimmery light gloss,” Kaye says. Rock the lips you were born with in 2018.
Instagram: @hudabeauty
IN: Colour
Brighten up your 2018 with color. “Colour will be big, expect to see colours from orange to ocean blues,” says Sesnek. 2018 might be the year of colour but it’s also worth noting a majority of the trends we hope to say goodbye to mask natural beauty. 2018 might be a year where we embrace natural beauty.
From: ELLE UK
