Radiant Orchid (ish!) makeup
Pantone’s Colour of the year for 2014 is Radiant Orchid. It’s a lavender/pinky/lilac/purple shade. So, how do we translate that into makeup? Well, quite easily! There are loads of products around in all shades.
Recently I have been addicted to Stila’s Color Balm Lipstick in Gemma (pink violet), £16, stila.co.uk. It has an amazing minty taste, it feels SO luxurious, and it is the brightest, boldest, purpley-orchid you could get! Some think it can be a difficult colour to wear, but I think plums and purples suit all skintones, from light to dark – you just have to wear with confidence.
I’ve matched my Stila lip colour this week with Mauve nail polish from the Nail Polish Trio from the Holly Sharpe collection for Marks and Spencer, we blogged about here last week.
Lips and nails are a great way to buy into this trend – choose anything from a light pinky-orchid, like What A Feeling! from MAC’s new Huggable Lip Colour range, to a bold, deep, dark plum, like the Tom Ford Wet Violet Lip Gloss.
You can add a little orchid colour to your complexion for a spring pastel pop as well, with either BeneFit’s new Lollitint, or their Hervana face powder, which has lucky shell, divine peach, heavenly rose and berry delight to blend perfectly together for an orchid blossom blush.
Here are a few of our favourite lip and cheek shades:
Clockwise, from top left: Smashbox Be Legendary Lipstick in Vivid Violet, £15, boots.com
bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie Lipstick in Fly High, £16, bareminerals.co.uk
Top Shop Beauty Nails
in Profound, £5, topshop.co.uk,
BeneFit Hervana powder, £23.50, benefitcosmetics.co.uk
MAC Huggable Lipcolor in What A Feeling!, £17.50, maccosmetics.co.uk
Clinique Chubby Stick in Volputuous Violet, £17, clinique.co.uk
BeneFit Lollitint, £24.50,
Shiseido Lacquer Gloss in Phantom, £21, from March, houseoffraser.co.uk, johnlewis.com
Top Shop Beauty Lip Cream in Double Take, £7
Tom Ford Ultra Shine Lip GLoss in Wet Violet, £32, harveynichols.com
I’ve also been trying out two Estee Lauder lipglosses – Pure Color GLoss in Plum Divine and Wild Lilac (£18) which are at different ends of this plum/pink.orchid spectrum. Plum Divine is a true plum – an excellent neutral makeup, perfect for most skintones.
Wild Lilac is a bit more of a gamble – it’s a real pinky shade, which maybe be a little too pink-sweet for some, but if you are a blonde, I’d suggest this would be a fabulous colour to try. However, there is also an Orchid Passion shade!
Create a different smoky eye with a purple/orchid palette from Clarins, Clinique or bareMinerals, or just apply a sweep of pale lilac colour. I love this – with a black eyeliner, and a red lip, it gives a truly different makeup look!
Here’s a few of our favourite eye shades for this trend:
Clockwise, from top left: Too Faced Exotic Colour Intense Eye Shadow in Violet Femme, £15, lookfantastic.com
Clarins Opalescence Eye Quartet in Vibrant Light, £31, clarins.co.uk
bareMinerals Ready EyeShadow quad in The Dream Sequence, £29, bareMinerals Lasting Line Long-wearing Eyeliner in Endless Orchid (from March), £14, both bareminerals.co.uk
Smashbox Jet Set liner in Deep Purple, £16, boots.com
Shu Uemura Silk Cushion Eye Shadow in Amethyst Purple, £19, from March, houseoffraser.co.uk
Marks and Spencer Limited Collection single shadow in Lavender, £4, marksandspencer.com
Smashbox Always Sharp liner in Violette, £16, smashbox.co.uk
Tom Ford Beauty Eye Quad in Orchid Haze, £62, selfridges.com
Clinique Chubby Stick Shadow Tint for Eyes in Lavish Lilac, £16, Clinique All About Shadows Quad in Going Steady, £28, both clinique.co.uk
