Chris Nicholls Creates a Beauty Buzz Flare’s ‘The New Wave’

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Posted Aug 10, 2012

Chris Nicholls creates a Beauty-Buzz with, ‘The New Wave,’ for Flare Magazine’s September Issue.  Starting the season off right, models Jenna Earle and Amanda N show off some of Fall’s hottest hair & makeup trends, using fabulous styles from the 60’s-80’s, as jumping off points for inspiration.  Embracing the angular movement of the moment, we see the structural elements at work in each diverse look.  Combining the strong lines of architecture with futuristic styles, give some of our favorite looks a serious update.  The most exciting of which is the new ‘Winged-Eye.’  Our love of this trend evolves to full-on obsession, with the addition of multi-colored wings and aggressive shapes.  Bold colors move up past the crease and extend out, for a wider, more overt wing that looks as if it could take flight.  Complimenting this bolder approach, makeup artist Greg Wencel introduces something I’m calling the “inverted wing.”  He shows his love of color by blending strong shades over the lid/crease and, in an unexpected twist, brings the color down past the inner-eye in an ‘inverted-wing.’  And while I’m sure these various peacock-blues will have a hard time translated to real-life, I’m predicting this new extension of shadow past the inner-eye, may have a future in fashion.  I like the idea of creating a defined shape in that area, that takes us beyond the typical highlighting. It feels very fashion-forward, and with the right editing, could be a flattering update.  But undoubtedly, the beauty trend that takes precedence over all, is the ‘No-Brow’ effect.  The one constant in each image below is the lightened brows.  This ethereal futuristic runway look, that’s been slowly spreading over the last few years, is now making it’s stand in the commercial world.  What used to be considered extreme, now looks like the next totm (trend of the moment).  It reminds me of the Ombré hair trend.  It started out as something that gave the wearer serious street-cred, but ended up over-saturating the industry.  However, I still think there is plenty of time to enjoy this fabulous-fad.  As someone who lives/dies by her brow appts., and considers my ‘Anastasia’ brow-darkening tools an integral part of my routine – I can’t help but to be intrigued.  So as with everything in this arena we must proceed with caution, but I dare say Chris Nicholls has given us some intriguing beauty updates to ponder. Images via FGR.