Style Now: Your Effortless Guide to Fall 2013 Beauty
By Paige Schultz, Fashion Editor, and Fashion Writers Maddy Gilson, Emma Leuman, and Meghann Stelzner
With midterms beginning to commence and the size of morning Starbucks drinks verging on venti, taking time to execute a beauty routine seems to be the last thing on a busy college girl’s mind. If anything, makeup has been reserved for covering up dark circles from minimal sleep and blemishes from insane amounts of stress. Meanwhile hair styling efforts have suffered too, as dos have become restricted to running a comb through your hair or perhaps throwing it up in a messy bun if you can afford the extra time.
Feeling as though this may be hitting close to home? Here at MODA, our Fashion Team gets it. With so much to do in so little time, a no-fuss beauty look is exactly what we’re craving this season. Thus we have composed this beauty guide for you in an effort to not only encapsulate the major hair/makeup trends of fall 2013, but to also highlight how you can adapt them into your busy life in a way that merges style with functionality. Sure, this guide won’t help to decrease the amount of reading and studying that you have to do, but hopefully it will give you a little boost of confidence. After all, when trying to perform our best it’s important for us to feel our best; and in feeling our best, looking fabulous certainly does help.
The Non-Red Lip
It may seem like a drag to get up before class and have to put forward a fully made-up face every day. However, the beauty trends of fall 2013 have effortlessly taken this monotonous routine to new places. In fact, a mere splash of lip color may be all you need to emulate the runway looks this fall.
To take a classic look into high fashion territory, switch up the depth of your lip color. This autumn, it’s all about a copper or burgundy-toned red lip, as well as a “barely there” red. For class, swipe on a color close to the natural tone of your skin when you blush for a look that is muted yet still statement-worthy. For simply stained look to your lip color, take a cloth and dab lightly to remove excess color. For night, a deeper tone such as copper or wine will take your cocktail dress to new levels of glamour.
An Eye for Autumn
As fall settles in, our eyes and minds tend to drift away from class to the window where we admire the burst of stunningly vibrant colors of the season. A season of pumpkin spice lattes, burnt orange leaves, and new fashion trends, autumn is truly the best season of all. However, there is more to this time of year than the reappearance of boots, scarves and flannels, as beauty trends, like the leaves of fall, begin to change as well.
On the fall 2013 runways, autumn-painted eyes made their debut with a mix of stunning coppery and rosy shadows creating a look that was truly fitting for the season. Easily wearable in day-to-day life, this trend can be recreated to look “both simple and luxurious,” said makeup artist Gucci Westman at J.Mendel.
In searching for products to help you with this look, Urban Decay’s Naked 2 palette may be your best bet as it embodies this season’s autumn eye perfectly. For a class appropriate take, mix lighter shades for a base coat and add a touch of copper near your crease lines. Then for an after-hours look, play up the bolder colors of copper and red. Either way you’ll be sure to epitomize the beauty of the season in your look this fall.
The Sleek Pony
Classic and sophisticated, the sleek ponytail is a simple hairstyle that has proven to be a true classic both on and off the runway. On the catwalk slicked-back ponies were constantly seen, making this a prominent trend for the fall.
As a simplistic and low maintenance look, mastering this style is essentially effortless. To begin, start by using a styling product on your hair that creates control and moisture. After that, layer on a shine enhancer to make your hair appear ultra-glossy. Then, gather and tightly secure your hair into a ponytail just below the crown, and finish by straightening the tail with a flat iron.
Another way to embrace this trend involves following the first two steps, but instead parting your hair down the center and securing it in a low spot at the nape of the neck. Use hairspray if needed, but only a minimal amount to avoid the dreaded “crispy” effect. A sleek ponytail is minimalistic yet timeless, and can be the perfect go-to style for busy college students.
The Cat-Eye
This season, designers took many classic trends and put a modern twist on them for their shows. The cat-eye in particular is a retro-inspired style that represents one of the easiest ways to work a runway look without seeming over the top. Whether it was given a 50’s flair with Twiggy-style, drawn-on bottom lashes, given a softer sex appeal, or switched up with an unexpected pop of color, the cat eye was everywhere this season.
To wear this look during the day, try a simple wing like the style models wore at the Dolce & Gabbana show. Emphasize the look even more by adding a subtle swipe of taupe eye shadow to accent the shape of the eye in a romantic manner. For an elevated nighttime look, incorporate shades of teal like stylists did at Jason Wu, or add interesting details like shimmer and defined bottom lashes as they demonstrated at Anna Sui.
Statement Brows
Our eyebrows have the amazing ability to transform our face and bring out distinct features. The styling of brows is a commonly neglected step, especially during our usual beauty routine. However, one trend being embraced this season is keeping eyebrows thick and beautifully bold. A truly powerful statement, bold brows have the ability to intensify your look and also allow the face to appear more symmetrical. Making frequent appearances on the runway, designers such as Marc Jacobs, Jason Wu, and Narciso Rodriguez all adopted this trend in their own way. It’s especially important to note the variation of these looks, from brows that are subtle and groomed to fierce and striking.
Yet how can one incorporate this trend into daily life? Start off by taking a break from continuous grooming and only tweeze stray hairs outside of your arch. Next, use a pencil or powder to assist in filling and creating more defined shape. Lastly, set brows with a gel in order to ensure the look will last all day. Strong brows show no signs of going out of style, so take a break from constant maintenance and make a statement with this trend.
Retro Curls
Turning heads better than no other designer this season, Marc Jacobs made a styling statement during his fall 2013 show as models strutted down the catwalk in a frizzy frenzy of retro-inspired curled dos. Capturing the essence of the 40’s, Jacobs paired the pin-curl look with a stunning red lip. To create this gorgeous look, each hair stylist pin-curled models’ hair, allowing the shape to set before brushing through the curls with a bristle brush. Redken stylist Guido Palau said, “We didn’t want it to feel symmetrical or too perfect, the back-brushing gives a teased effect, a little crazy.”
Yet perhaps the most important question for us is how can we bring this fabulous runway style to class? While some of us may naturally wake up with a nest of frizzy hair, the bedhead effect is not exactly what we’re aiming for. Instead, try curling your hair and brushing through it sans hairspray. By using less holding product, the intensity of the volume won’t be too extreme. In addition, Mason Pearson makes a great boar bristle brush. Need another excuse to try this fabulous hairstyle? This week, put a twist on the typical Thursday “TBT” and bring back the 40’s as inspired by Jacobs.