4 beauty tips to take from New York Fashion Week and employ right now

It’s safe to say that a lot of the trends seen on the catwalks don’t translate well into day-to-day life. For example, few of us would be brave enough to channel the brushed-back, wet-look hair seen at Jason Wu or paste flower prints onto our cheeks like a handful of the models at Anna Sui (unless we were heading to a festival).

That said, there are still a few tips and tricks we can take away from the shows and try right now. As New York Fashion Week draws to a close, we outline the ones to try…  

Gloss isn’t just for lips

Across the shows, make-up artists were employing glosses and balms across the eyes. At Anna Sui, gloss was coated around the eyes to enhance a vertical silver line, while at Prabal Gurung make-up artist Diane Kendal patted MAC’s Lipglass Clear into eyelids and blended it up to the brows. “It’s make-up embraces the optimism of summer,” she said backstage.

If you don’t fancy smearing your lip gloss across your eyes, YSL Beauty has a specific Eye Gloss, ￡18.50. It’s clear, shiny and doesn’t leave a sticky film.

The best make-up looks for spring/summer 2018 from the catwalks

Go minimalist with brights

Most of us are guilty of sticking to ‘safe’ colours, including black, brown and grey, and often the coloured make-up used on the runways and in editorial shoots is still very daunting. Next season is slightly different though. At both Chromat and Oscar de la Renta, colour was used to accessorise these safer shades rather than take centre stage and as a result they’re much easier to wear.

Make-up artist Tom Pecheux used blue, lilac and pink to underline the black flicks at Oscar de la Renta. At Chromat there were various looks, including a full smoky eye. But it was a smudge of bright orange placed on the inner corner of the eyes that caught our attention. Less is more seems to be a popular take on colour and it’s one we could get on board with.  

Experiment with your ponytail

Braids are usually a signature spring trend and at Christian Siriano they were used to decorate a low ponytail. Two double braids formed the base of the ponytail for a fresh, chic look. Low ponytails were also spotted at Victoria Beckham, where hairstylist Guido Palau used a Tangle Teezer to smooth the hair and loop the tail for a relaxed, off-duty feel.

At Fenty by Rihanna, ponytails were worn a little higher and sectioned with vibrant thread running through them. Perhaps not quite as office-friendly as the first two styles, but the message is clear, we need to take a more playful approach to the mundane ponytail.

Straight down the line

Possibly the easiest trend to tap into right now is the one for centre parting. Seen at Victoria Beckham, Ralph Lauren, and Jill Stuart to name just a few, middle partings are definitely shaping up to be a key look for spring. Swapping the placement of your hair is also the cheapest and quickest way to update your style. If you usually part it to the side, try it down the middle and you'll be surprised at the difference it makes to your overall look.

The best hair looks from the spring/summer 2018 catwalks so far