MAC A/W ’11 Trend Report

MAC Cosmetics distinguishes four major trends for autumn/winter 2011: Mod-Ernist, Disco-Tech, Tough-Love and Amber-Gris. Below I’ve listed each trend accompanied by some runway examples and product info to get you started.

Mod-Ernist

A Sixties redux vibe that’s making texture-play feel contemporary by giving retro-inflected looks a modern rethink.

Brigitte Bardot served as an inspiration for this sixties look with a modern twist. Think beige, lashes, a little bit of mod and feline. The modern aspect of this look is all about the hightech skinfinish of the looks, making the skin look flawless by using featherlight foundations, highlighters, super-sheer powders and an abundance of gloss for a perfectly polished effect. Add in the strong brows, light eyelashes and zero rouge, and you’ve got yourself a modernist look. The whole idea here is channeling the sixties spirit, but not being literal about it.

“Ideally a perfect and pared-back base work in conjunction. The objective with this look is not to see any base but to give the impression of having flawless skin.” – LISA BUTLER

DIY
Want to try out the Modernist look yourself? Here’s a list of MAC products to get you started:

Eyes
Haute & Naughty Lash; Lingering and Fling Eye Brows; Root Cream Colour Base; Smolder Eye Kohl; Fascinating Eye Kohl
Face
Complete Comfort Creme; Care Blends Essential Oils; Matchmaster SPF 15 Foundation (Available A/W 2011); Select Cover-Up Concealer; M·A·C Gloss; M·A·C PRO Shine Mixing Medium; Studio Moisture Fix SPF 15; M·A·C PRO Sculpting Powder; Pearl Cream Colour Base; Luna Cream Colour Base; Seaside Cream Colour Base (Available A/W 2011)
Lips
Peachstock Lipstick; Freckletone Lipstick; Illicit Lipglass (Available A/W 2011); Have to Have It Lip Pencil

Disco-Tech

A reconsideration of decadence executed in a way that’s all about creatve confidence and the most high-tech colours and textures.

With the Disco-Tech look artists explore a mannequin-like beauty that is super-done. There’s excess in all areas: attitude, influence, execution..all taken with a heavy pinch of hedonism. Think indulgently dark eyes paired with an opulent mouth, out there color combinations and over-the-top lips, all together a conceptual, limitlessy creative approach to color and texture. This is beauty at its slightly surrealist best: big on impact, but seamless rather than heavy.

 “Initially it’s about beautiful skin…but then injecting colour onto the face in an untraditional manner.” – JAMES O’ RILEY

DIY
Want to try out the Disco-Tech look yourself? Here’s a list of MAC products to get you started:

Eyes
Chromagraphic Pencils in Hi-Def Cyan, Primary Yellow, Basic Red, Pure White, Landscape Green, Genuine Orange, and Marine Ultra); Cherry Lip Pencil; Marine Ultra Pigment; M·A·C PRO Burgundy Lipmix; 36 Lash; Pro Longwear Eye Shadow in Plush (Available A/W 2011)
Face
Old Gold Metal Pigment; M·A·C PRO Gold Glitter; Pigment in Electric Coral; M·A·C PRO Pigments in Neon Shades
Lips
M·A·C PRO Fuchsia and M·A·C PRO Orange Lipmix; Ruby Woo Lipstick; M·A·C Gloss; Clear Lipglass

Tough-Love

The hard, honed look at androgynous makeup’s stamped-on red lips and fiercely tuned eyes that’s making boy-girl power and attitude about more than raw skin and bare lashes.

The boyish look is back in full force for A/W 2011. However, this season there’s more than just the barefaced androgyny (bare lashes, hollow cheekbones, honed skin and a bare lip). There’s also the hard approach where the focus lies on the masculine attitude: a hard-ass brow, a Newton-esque matte lip or a severe, warrior-accented eye. These girls are not to be messed with!

“It’s the spirit of Charlotte Rampling and Kate Moss, not so much in the way they do their makeup, but more in their attitude of raw sexiness. They’re not afraid.” – LISA BUTLER

“There’s definitely a play on masculine-feminine this season.” – TOM PECHEUX

DIY
Want to try out the Tough-Love look yourself? Here’s a list of MAC products to get you started:

Eyes
Lingering and Fling Eye Brows; Mineralize Eye Shadow in Blue Sheen; Mineralize Eye Shadow in Smoked Ruby; Mineralize Eye Shadow in Dark Indulgence; Black Penultimate Eye Liner; Clear Brow Set; NC15/NW20 Chromagraphic Pencil; Dark Brown Cream Colour Base; Mid-tone Sepia Cream Colour Base
Face
Studio Sculpt SPF 15 Foundation; Invisible Set Powder; Prep + Prime Highlighters; White Face and Body Foundation; M·A·C PRO Taupe Powder Blush; M·A·C PRO Sculpt Sculpting Powder; M·A·C PRO Bone Beige Sculpting Powder; M·A·C Gloss
Lips
Lip Conditioner SPF 15; Clear Lipglass; Dim Lip Erase; Runaway Red Lipstick (Available A/W 2011)

Amber-Gris

Soft, super-blended and stained shades given a modern rethink by being treated as a new form of monochrome and given an artistic attitude and technique.

The Amber-Gris trend is this season’s take on softer-edged makeup, albeit inflected with an urban edge. The color palette holds amber to grey and every shade of rust, rose, sand, bark, ochre, lavender, burnt gold and chinchilla in between, all to be applied in stains and lineless washes. The goal is to create a certain mood and the motive is more artistically-driven than simply looking ‘fresh’ or ‘romantic’. This is the look where imperfections are allowed, it’s about being poetically experimental with your palette and feeling it with your fingers, not brushes….

“They’re all colours that are naturally present in the skin’s tone – including everything from flesh, amber and brown to purples, khakis and greys…. They enhance rather than dominate the face, conveying mood more than a definitive feel of ‘makeup’.” – LYNE DESNOYERS

“There’s a subtle playfulness, sensuality and youth to it… and while it’s using colour, it’s not about the makeup, it’s more about the personality of the girl.” – TOM PECHEUX

DIY
Want to try out the Amber-Gris look yourself? Here’s a list of MAC products to get you started:

Eyes
Soba Eye Shadow; Crystal Eye Shadow; Khaki Cream Colour Base; Groundwork Paint Pot; Indigo Eye Pencil; Smoked Ruby Mineralize Eye Shadow; Golden Gaze Mineralize Eye Shadow; Weathered Pro Longwear Eye Shadow (Available A/W 2011); Sweet Satisfaction Pro Longwear Eye Shadow (Available A/W 2011); Bordeauxline Powerpoint Eye Pencil
Face
Accentuate Sculpting Cream (Available soon); Cheek Powder Blush; Pearl Cream Colour Base
Lips
Photo Lipstick; Cork Lip Pencil; One of a Kind Lipstick; Prince Noir Lipstick (Available A/W 2011); Currant Lip Pencil; Beet Lip Pencil

Pictures courtesy of MAC Cosmetics.

www.maccosmetics.be