The Look of Love

A wash of green. A touch of red. Wear your passion on your face with a mix of the right colours and strokes. We’ve got you a hot edit of the sexiest lipsticks and the most romantic eyeshadows. And an effortless yet stunning look created specially for the L’Officiel woman, by makeup expert Jenna Menard.

What’s the season of love, without a dash of soft, romantic colours! From reds, pinks and berries for your lips, to greens, blue-greys and peachy-browns for your eyes, the palettes this season have us going gaga. It’s time you made him go weak in the knees, too. Just remember what Coco said. To put these colours together, turn to Clinique global colour artist Jenna Menard’s tip sheet, created exclusively for you.

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Kissable Lips

To red or not to red. That’s the question. In its different avatars and derivatives, it could be powerful, sexy, seductive and passionate, or feminine, soft, romantic and girly. Everything we want from our lip colour! The tricky part is getting a shade you can own. But the rules of thumb are simple: Orange undertones for the peachy and blue undertones for the dusky; Warmer shades if your skin has yellow undertones and cooler shades if your skin has pink undertones.

Make your colour last: Exfoliate before you wear your lipstick. Apply a lip balm, leave it in for a while, then rub it off with dry tissue. Pick a lip liner as close to the shade of your lipstick as possible and fill in your lips with it, creating a base. Then apply your lipstick. Wait at least 10 minutes before you eat, drink or put anything to your lips. Just enough time to let your lip colour set in and not bleed out. Matte colours last longer than glossy colours.

Candy for Your Eyes

Move over pinks, lilacs and golds. The romantic colours this season are all earthy. From ecru to tawn and steel blue, these dramatic colours are set to help you work your own dreamy, princess look. The best part is, most hues work on nearly all skin tones. Just don’t pick one too close to the undertones in your skin or you may look a tad sallow. And please don’t layer them on. You are not getting dressed for Halloween!

Work it: Try a light wash across the upper lid—a single swipe over the entire lid—for a soft look. For more drama, go for a smudge on both your lash lines. If sultry is more your style, combine two shades from the same family, to contrast the lash lines, to create a smoky eye or to go ombré. Make your colour stay with a shadow primer. And no matter how you’re wearing your eyeshadow, don’t forget the mascara, even go crazy with it. For there’s no such thing as too much mascara—as long as you don’t let it get clumpy, that is!

“The best colour in the whole world is the one that looks good, on you!”—Coco Chanel

“I live by a man’s code, designed to fit a man’s world, yet at the same time I never forget that a woman’s first job is to choose the right shade of lipstick.” —Carole Lombard

“Don’t use your skin tone as a guide to choosing the colour of your eye shadow. Rather, for everyday application, pick shades of shadow that bring out your eye colour.” —Bobbi Brown

Sweet Sensuality

Jenna Menard, global colour artist for Clinique, created a classic look for us. It’s simple, it’s elegant, it will always be on-trend, and it gives off a quiet sensuousness we’re loving. Menard brings out the definition in the eyes by working on both the top and the bottom lids. No eyeliner! So it’s easy to achieve and quick, too. Here’s how you can own it. Start with applying the Clinique All About Shadow Primer for Eyes in Medium across the lid, using the doe foot wand and then blending with your ring finger. The eyeshadow palette you want is All About Shadow in Jenna’s Essentials. Apply the medium-brown shade with a shadow brush all over the lid, blending softly into the brow bone. To add definition, swipe the darkest shade along the lower lash line, using a contour blush. Finish off with a few swipes of Naturally Glossy Mascara in Black. Keep your cheeks looking smooth and rosy with a sweep of Blushing Blush Powder Blush in Berry Delight. Add a hint of red to the lips with Chubby Stick Intense Moisturizing Lip Colour Balm in Roomiest Rose.

From the February 2014 issue of L’Officiel India.