Fashion meets beauty: How to style your outfit with your makeup
A class in coordination and clashing
By Ruby Cotton
Content Producer / March 31 2022
How often have you asked someone if your shoes look good with your dress? Or if your bag matches your shoes? Or if you should keep or lose your earrings? Necklace, no necklace?
There’s a basic checklist for ensuring that our outfit works with our accessories. But one area we are frequently overlooking? How our makeup fits into it.
There are two things we know for sure: monochrome makeup goes with everything and bold outfits with daring makeup can be scary.
Almost all of us have a day and nighttime-specific beauty look that we seldom experiment with.
We know which foundation suits our skin type, which mascara won't smudge during a dinner and which eyeshadow will make our eyes pop. However, when it comes to adding a splash of colour to an outfit, we often opt for the bright handbag instead of a bold liner or neon eyeshadow.
But, with a few easy-to-follow tips and tricks, coordinating our makeup with our outfit can add an entirely new layer to our look.
Versed more on the world of beauty than the one of fashion? Us too. So we brought in fashion stylist, Stefani Zupanoska to help in that department.
Whether it's clashing colours or the red lip combinations we never thought we'd adore, we’re throwing out the rule book and having a little fun with these outfit-enhancing makeup looks.
Tonal
Image credits: @laurapolko, @maryphillips, @maryphillips, @patrickta
Forget everything you’ve heard about matchy-matchy being off-limits. Whether it’s the same shade or a similar hue, pick a colour and run with it. The key to not looking overdone? Keep your lips bare. Take a quick stroll through the Instagram accounts of celebrity makeup artists like @patrickta and @maryphillips, and the vision becomes clear.
Clashing
Image credits: @laurapolko, @hungvanngo, @laurapolko, @hungvanngo
What once was the job of an eye-catching clutch or statement shoe has been replaced by a dramatic lid. Keep things interesting by seeking out the lesser-used shades in your eyeshadow palette so the brown and bronze tones can take a breather. It's cheaper to change up your eyeshadow than to buy a new bag, after all.
Got a green outfit in your closet that needs a little sprucing up? Zupanoska shares an idea: “[Try a] black winged eyeliner [with a] smoky deep purple eyeshadow, blending a wash of purple sparkle into the crease and inner corners of the eye.” As for the lips? “Make sure it is a soft pink with a blue undertone (practically universally flattering) to let the drama of purple take charge.”
While eyelid and outfit mismatches can be fun, Zupanoska reminds us that not all colour combinations will be as appealing.
“Never let your blush and lipstick clash. Keep your lips and blush colours in the same tone i.e. warm or cool tones.”
Graphic accent
Image credit: @patrickta, @patrickta, @patrickta
Want impact without committing to a head-to-toe look? Emphasise a particular accessory or pattern detail by isolating one tone and pairing it with a matching flick of graphic eyeliner.
Something but nothing
Image credit: @patrickta, @fatimacaser, @jentioseco
The subtle girl’s guide to coordinating a vibrant outfit with your makeup? A pop of colour can be created by dabbing a complementary shade on the inner corner of the eye.
Crimson coordination
Image credit: @patrickta, @maryphillips, @patrickta, @patrickta
A timeless combination like red on red offers a failsafe way to make a statement with your outfit and beauty look. Whether it's sequins and matte lipstick or high-shine gloss and silk, the bold match in tone never fails to impress. As for the rest of your makeup? Keep it simple. “When it comes to a statement red lip, I always prefer to keep the rest of my makeup quite stripped back,” Zupanoska advises.
1. Rare Beauty Lip Soufflé Matte Lip Cream, $34 at Sephora
2. Patrick Ta Major Headlines Precision Lip Crayon, $40 at Sephora
3. Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupte Shine, $59 at YSL Beauty
Unexpected partners
Image credit: @patrickta, @patrickta, @maryphillips, @patrickta
As far as bright pairings go, yellow-hued outfits and a vibrant red lip are as colourful as it gets - and we love to see it. A combination famously donned by Ronald McDonald, Zupanoska offers this advice to keep the combo a little more Gigi Hadid and a little less circus: keep it basic. “Red is such a bold confident colour you don’t want to run the risk of looking clown-like [by pairing it] with heavy-handed contouring and dark smoky eyeshadow.”
Main image credits: @patrickta, @patrickta, @lauraharrier
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