Picture this: It’s 2006. You sneak into your mom’s makeup drawer and rifle through her stash of Maybelline eye shadow and Revlon lipsticks. You’re on a mission. You saw Rihanna walk a red carpet in nude lips and you have to re-create the look. You swipe your mom’s concealer across your lips and let it dry into a crusty paste. You’ve never felt prettier.
Sandy Liang’s most recent showing at New York Fashion Week was like a time machine, taking us back to this bygone era of beauty. While the clothes were evocative of early-aughts fashion (miniskirts with ankle leggings), it was the concealer lips coming down the runway that really sealed the deal. The models at Liang’s show were mostly barefaced (with copious skin prep using Facile beauty), with little to no blush or contouring. Coupled with the nude lips, which felt like an extension of the throwback frosted lips at the designer’s fashion show last year, this lack of contrast and definition created a striking blank canvas. Only the eyes, covered in pastel shadows, stood out.
“This season, I created mannequin latex lips and doll eyes with washes of custom mixed colors pulled straight from the collection,” Fara Homidi, the makeup artist behind the looks, told the Cut. “The skin was glowing and healthy thanks to my Fara Homidi Essential Face Compact and buffer brush to give a breathable airbrush quality to it.”
They say the trend cycle takes about 20 years for fads to come back into style, so perhaps we really are due for a nude-lip revival. I guess it’s time to look through my makeup drawer and swap my red lipstick out for my beige concealer.