Fashion Month is in full swing, and with that, I’m introducing a new series on Monochrome Minimalist – Global Beauty. My goal is to take makeup looks and beauty trends straight from the runway and make them wearable.

One thing that I’ve always had an interest in is beauty trends from around the world. With the meat of Fashion Week season coming up and New York Fashion Week recently ending, there has been many beauty looks spotted on the runway and on the street that – in my opinion – are a good representation of where they’ve been spotted. Now that London Fashion Week is starting, I can recall the many beautiful looks that I’d seen on the runway last year – I wanted to try and create what I noticed to be a common trend throughout. Leisure and ease were the key to this look, as well as a stunning nude lip.

Shop My Look

One thing that I’ve always admired about English beauty trends is the pure ease that it embodied. Day looks never appeared to be too forced, and for the most part were erring on the side of natural beauty. However, there was a subtle smokiness to the look that gave off an inadvertent sexiness that I really gravitated towards.

Starting with a base, I wanted to choose a foundation that had a medium coverage. I’ve got quite sensitive skin when it comes to acne and breakouts, so I don’t want anything too heavy that would cake on my face and clog my pores. The foundation that I’ve been using solidly for the past year or so is the Pro Longwear Foundation by MAC Cosmetics. The coverage it gives is really velvety, smooth and buildable if you prefer a more high-coverage matte look. I go for a light-to-medium coverage so that I can still see some of my freckles peeking through (which for me, is a plus!). I’ll then set my face with the Mineral Veil powder by Bare Minerals for a flawless finish. I’ve been using this powder since this past spring, and I can honestly say that the pink undertones in this powder match the undertones in my skin perfectly.

Shop My Makeup Look

To add a bit more colour into my face after applying my foundation, I opt for a rather pinky peach shade of blush from NARS. I’ve adopted an application trend that I’d noticed on the streets of London, and that was to add a bit of blush to the nose as well as the apples of the cheeks. This gives a natural flushed look, and elevates the entire face.

To add a bit of glow to the face, I’ve added a bit of my favourite pearl highlight from Physician’s formula. I typically switch between two shades of this highlight, depending on the season. For the colder months, I opt for a cooler shade with pink undertones, as these tones complement my skin better when I don’t have a tan. However, in the summer I tend to opt for a warm golden highlight, as it adds quite nicely to a slight tan.

Now that my base is complete, I move on to my eye makeup. Like mentioned before, whilst in London I noticed a barely-there but subtly sexy makeup trend during the day that I loved to replicate. Even now, I can’t stop wearing this look. I think it may even be my favourite.

On the eyes I’ve been reaching for two palettes lately. One is The Perfect 10 Palette by Soap & Glory, but the one I decided to go for in this look is the It’s Eye Time palette from Pixi Beauty. I’ll start with a warm nude shade for an all-over-the-lid base, and start to build up my crease with a warm brown shade. I love to smoke out the lower lash line with the same warm brown used in my crease to achieve the subtly sexy look that I’ve been totally smitten with.

Current Eye Shadow Palette Favourites

For brows, I’ll lightly fill them in with my absolute holy-grail brow product of the moment, the Goof Proof Brow Pencil by Benefit Cosmetics. I tend to prefer a shade with cool undertones, as I find that suits me year-round.

I love to go for a nude lip to compliment this look. It seamlessly ties in the daytime element, but can also be worn in the evening with a deeper nude tone. I tend to prefer more of a warm tone nude for this look, as it works well with the warm shades used in the eye makeup. L’Oreal has some beautiful options for a daytime nude lip. In this look I’m wearing Jennifer’s Nude, which has a bit more of a comfortable satin finish. I think it’s the perfect complement to this makeup look.

To accentuate this subtly sexy makeup look, I couldn’t think of a better pairing than what I like to call my “power colour”. Wearing head to toe black is, for me, a confidence boost. I love that it lengthens my entire body as well as giving me the chance to spice up my look by playing around with different textures. For a bit of extra texture, I added a leopard tote. It stands out from the look whilst still being a complement to it – and, if you’re not feeling the leopard print, it reverses to a black leather. Two handbags in one, you could say I’m in love.

What is your go-to beauty look? Do you like to take inspiration from the runways at Fashion Week? Let me know in the comments! Until next, xoxo.

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