Recently a beauty journalist pal looked inside my own personal makeup bag, which is tiny, she was shocked by the lack of colourful products. I love colour but recently I have been following the nude trend that was seen all over the runways for both S/S12 & A/W12. This is not a no makeup look by any means in fact this look is tons of makeup with clever sculpting & highlighting all done in barely there shades of nude or natural tones. The first couple of images are from a recent shoot that I did makeup for Muse Magazine and the model is the gorgeous Carola Remer (she has the widest apart eyes I have ever come across, looks like a beautiful alien!) shot by Matt Irwin, styled by Darcy Backlar and hair by Nicolas Jurnjack. I used all MAC makeup. I was influenced by nude makeup as seen on the silver screen by my divine heroines Catherine Deneuve in Belle De Jour, Michelle Pfeiffer in Scarface, Jane Fonda in Barbarella and also Queen of cool singer Nico. I love that Nico always looked like this. I like to think that this was partly because Nico knew she looked amazing this way and partly because she couldn’t be bothered and had perhaps a nihilistic attitude to makeup. As you can see the gals in all the images sport a fully madeup makeup look. The makeup is there but other than nudes and a touch of black there is not much colour going on but there are different finishes and textures. This is a look that is great on everyone because it is sophisticated, cool and sexy as hell. If you feel that you need colour you can certainly inject a bright pop of lipstick, a flushed cheek with a blush or even a colour wash of eyeshadow on the lid but I think the fact that it is deceptively bare is what makes it so iconic. Some of the products that I think you need for this look are a good matte foundation, I really like this MAC foundation, to give a flawless base to start off with. Invest in a good concealer like this Smashbox high definition one and a sweep of fine milled compact powder try this one by Tom Ford. I have been trying this Burberry bronzer which is matte and I use it for a contour first with a soft brush just under cheekbones and then lightly sweep it across cheeks too for a nude blush. I love Chanel eyeshadow in Prelude & my top tip is if you get lots of powder or eyeshadow on your lashes don’t panic! It is fantastic don’t brush it off just pop the mascara over and it will add to the volume, thickness and give you fuller lashes. I have recently been using this Lancome mascara which is great for humid weather as it stays put. Now think about playing around with different textures to add depth & dimension so that the look is not flat. Try a shimmer highlight in cream like this pen by Dior or a lip gloss or balm. I am obsessed by the extra soothing balm by Bobbi Brown that can go on lips or face and add a healthy sheen. So this Summer, Fall & Winter I have decided that I will most definitely be going nude, on my face that is.