The Look of the Future: A New Spring Trend in Japan

The other two trends I have written about (Blossom Girl and Rainbow Tropics) make sense to me and I had anticipated them early in the season. However, this new look I am about to discuss surprised me. Shocked me even.

In fact, I had initially despised the futuristic, science-fiction inspired look.

"Are you kidding me?" I howled. I was about to turn away, when I looked again, and noticed that this look wasn't gaudy. It wasn't unattractive. It actually had a luminous, ethereal quality to it.

In fact, if it's done well, it is gorgeous.

What characterizes this look? Well, you have the spaceship silver, space-suit gold and then an unexpected electric blue-violet. So how does one try this trend out?

Use that beautiful blue-violet as an eyeliner. It makes green eyes look like emeralds in the sun, blue eyes look crystal clear, and brown eyes look mysterious. I rim it all around my eyes and wing it up at the outer corner for a futuristic-retro look. One wonderful product is Stila's Smudgepot, and in order to get that blue-violet, I mix Cobalt and Plum. Or even better, Urban Decay's 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Lust. That color, with a mix of a bit of bright blue liner, is divine.

Then in your inner eye corner, put a bit of white-silver highlighter to make your eyes look alive. I usually do this anyway, as it takes away from my dark under eye circles and makes my eyes look brighter.

Then in the middle of your upper lid, put some metal-chrome gold shadow to really make your eyes stand out. If this is too much for you, and you're beginning to feel a bit too Star Trek-ish, then in place of the metal gold, wear a light beige on your upper lid and wear a medium beige in the crease of your eyelid.

Make sure your cheeks have enough color so you don't look anemic. Don't use your usual blush (it may be too colorful and may compete with your eye look). Instead, mix a bit of silver-white highlighter or your gold highlighter with your blush, and apply sparingly to the tops of your cheeks. If this makes you look too washed out, wear some light bronzer on your forehead, cheeks and chin after you've applied the space-hybrid blush.Try to match your lipstick to your natural lip color (a beige-pink works great) and blot. You don't want to wear any gloss, and you certainly do not want to wear any bright colors on your lips. I don't even wear lipliner, and try to keep my lips looking as bare as possible. Even chapstick will suffice. Keep it understated, and let those eyes do the talking. After all, youfre carrying the icily iridescent, imperious stare of the future and speaking would be superfluous.