Beauty Report: Fall 2014 Makeup Trends

Refresh your beauty routine and add a few products into your makeup kit this fall. Like your wardrobe, your makeup look should be seasonal too. There’s no need to make a radical overhaul of your beauty kit, you should keep your standard go-to products in there as a base, but also make room for trends in your makeup dresser.

Fall is always so exciting since it brings with it so much opportunity to experiment with something new and discover a new look that works with your natural beauty and enhances it. Here ‘s a rundown of my favorite beauty trends from the Fall 2014 runway:

Read My Lips

Lip color trends are what I look forward to the most each season. Your lipstick of choice is the easiest and quickest way to update your beauty look and make it more current. Donning seasonal shades and trendy colors drastically improve the overall impact of your makeup look. Moreover, lipstick shades don’t require too much commitment from you and it is so easy and fun to play around with different hues! At Missoni and Nicole Miller, lips reminiscent of summer and were orange-tinged, while Anna Sui and Zac Posen showed a glamorously intense scarlet lip. The reign of the bold and intense colored lip isn’t over yet. However, natural looking puckers are proving to be a worthy contender to this trend. Berry tinged lips at Prada and Carolina Herrera had me reaching for lip tint instead of full on lip color.

Au Naturel

This season, designers have embraced the normcore trend in beauty–the no makeup makeup look. This elusive and hard to achieve look is decidedly dewy with a natural glow. It’s not about mattifying this fall, it’s about showing off the natural beauty of your skin. Go back to basics and just opt for some light cover-up, cause nobody’s perfect after all. Some lip and cheeks stain will give just the right amount of color and finish off this look flawlessly.

Metal Detector

From Rodarte to Altuzarra, it was all about high-octane heavy metal this season. You can go really heavy handed with the glitter and the glam because that is exactly the most coveted and most high fashion beauty look for Fall 2014. If you’re feeling extra risky, you can even match your metallic eyeshadow with some metallic lip color. Forget that dark smoky eye and opt for silver, gold, and bronze on your lids for your next night out.

High Brow

Slow down on those tweezers girl. This season it’s time to let your brows grow out a little bit for the look that is inspired by fashion’s latest it girl, model and girl about town Cara Delevingne. These boyish inspired brows are sure to shoot up your chic factor by a thousand percent instantly. Keep them groomed and shaped with a simple routine of clear mascara or some light brow powder.

Mod Appeal

 

The 60s were a big decade on the runway for Fall 2014. From glitter go-go boots to pop art floral prints, the fashion industry is going mod this time around. Of course, beauty trends and looks are sure to follow the inspiration of the clothing, colors, prints, and fabrics. Twiggy-esque lashes are one of the most copied looks off the runway, not to mention the easiest to pull off and work into your everyday personal style. Open up those peepers with doll-like lashes, and make sure to separate those lashes after multiple coats of mascara.

Walk the Line

 

Go for maximum drama and high watt impact with your eyeliner, and take your cat-eye liner beyond your usual limits. It is exactly this exaggerated line and very editorial liner look that will separate your beauty look, and take you from ordinary to extraordinary. This is also a very wearable and versatile look that you can easily translate from day to night. Try this dramatic cat-eye in a colored line, if you dare.

So which trend will you be taking out for a spin this season? I can’t wait to get creative and play with my makeup kit! Have a great week lovely ladies!

Images from Allure, Harper’s Bazaar, Elle Magazine and The Zoe Report

Runway Review: Miu Miu Spring 2015

Miuccia Prada wows fashion lovers once again with her recent Miu Miu Spring 2015 show. The Prada brand’s little sister has always been more rebellious, more coquettish, more youthful, and more subversive. More so now with this Spring 2015 offering from Miu Miu annexing bad girl/naughty schoolgirl stereotypes for a truly unforgettable show. Large bows on leather slip-on mules and sky-high chunky platforms will be next season’s most coveted shoes, that I am sure. But what is truly significant in this collection is how Miuccia Prada elevated standard feminine wear like the pencil skirt, pantsuit, and even the housecoat to something more unprecedented, she made these style staples that are considered normal go beyond their functional call of duty and transform into fashion forward, some even avant-garde, pieces for your closet.

Here are my 10 favorite looks from the Miu Miu Spring 2015 Runway:

I can already imagine the hordes of fashionistas that will be clamoring for this amazing shoe. After all, who can resist that large bow detail? So fun and so chic.

A ruffled detail placed right where a pencil skirt darting usually is shows Miu Miu’s penchant for the unexpected and the truly clever.

The suede brown panel on this checkered jacquard updated housecoat is a 70s inspired detail that will surely resonate within industry trendwatchers.

I just adore how the paneled pencil skirt is so rich in texture and how it pairs perfectly with the brown and red top handle purse.

Plaid certainly isn’t just for fall anymore. This boxy top with a ruffle detail straight down the middle is prim-and-proper and ladylike yet there’s still an edge to it.

A cropped ruffle top with a textured pencil skirt is a youthful and refreshing take on the skirt and bare midriff trend.

This look is like a modern housewife gone wild. The matching printed sleeveless top and pant is made even more exciting with some ultra bright aquamarine .

The mishmash of influences in this look is simply fantastic. From the red-rimmed statement sunglasses, vintage fitted sweater, bold print pencil skirt down to the chunky black heels, this look has a mod/70s/sexy secretary vibe that spells so much chicness.

Coordinating your belt with your crop top will be the next big thing this spring.

Fur, satin, plaid, and loud colors shouldn’t work together, but in this memorable runway look they certainly do.

So much inspiration this past Fashion Week! I can’t wait for next year!

All Images from Style.com

 

Emmy Awards 2014 Red Carpet: The Best and The Worst

The best thing about award shows? All the red carpet fashion, of course. Watching Hollywood in a fashion frenzy, observing trends, and seeing the hottest stars duke it out on the red carpet to see who comes out on top of best dressed lists are all what makes award shows so exciting for fashion fiends like us.

The red carpet is all about high glam and wowing the crowd with designer gowns, shiny bling, and well-chosen beauty looks. This year’s Emmy Awards was no exception. Stars sashayed down the red carpet in style and we excitedly watched from our TV screens. Red was the color of the night, and there was a wealth of plunging necklines, white gowns, and metallics too. Read on for more of my personal picks for best dressed and worst dressed on the red carpet.

Best Dressed

Sarah Hyland makes a strong case for crop tops with halter necklines in this Christian Siriano look  that is both age-appropriate and cocktail chic.

Champagne gowns are usually a safe bet and a tad bit overdone on the red carpet, but Orange is the New Black star Taylor Schilling gives this Zuhair Murad beaded halter gown a dose of trendy style with a crystal ear cuff. Bravo, Taylor.

January Jones stood out from the sea of red dresses, and avoided looking like the red carpet itself, in this gorgeous Prabal Gurung creation.The textured quality of this jacquard fabric places it a cut above the rest, and her choice of footwear is superb. Those strappy black heels give the look its much needed edge.

The captivating digital print on this Peter Som gown is a refreshing and modern look for Modern Family star, Julie Bowen.

One of the most distinctive and sophisticated looks on the red carpet, Michelle Dockery impresses in this Rosie Assoulin frock. The petal like chest detail done in pale pink, royal blue, and apple green is exquisite.

Lizzy Caplan looked like she belonged at the top of the A-list in this Donna Karan Atelier stunner. This look is proof that black need not be boring.

Amy Poehler opted for a design from up-and-coming Irish designer Don O’Neill, and her choice definitely paid off. This metallic, art deco inspired number is red carpet diva at its finest.

Kerry Washington proves that Prada is a girl’s best friend in this unexpectedly sophisticated and intensely striking orange gown.

Julia Roberts wears an embellished Elie Saab mini and achieved red carpet royalty status sans a floor length gown. The navy color of this ensemble is perfection.

Worst Dressed

Great beauty look, and great color. But Mayim Bialik commits a major fashion faux pas with a gown that looks more like a costume than an awards show dress.

Admittedly, the ombre color of the skirt is beautiful. However, the bob and the makeup and the white button down are all sartorial mistakes. Sorry, Lena Dunham, this look is a disaster.

Laura Prepon’s messy looking hair tendrils and awkward origami-like neck embellishment are not helping the already unfortunate and dated gown she’s wearing.

The bold pink and red combined with layers of tulle on Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting’s dress is too saccharine and looks too much like an old prom dress.

Christina Hendricks usually looks va-va-voom on the red carpet, but she disappoints with a gown that has unflattering ruching and borderline tacky gold applique.

Oh Sarah Paulson, I have no words. The overdose on tulle and red dots is not working at all.

Mindy Kaling scores a miss on the red carpet. The metallic details are current and chic, but the empire waist is so last year.

This is champagne gone wrong, the color and sheen just washes out Katherine Heigl.

Who are your picks for the best and worst dressed at the Emmy Awards? Let me know!

All Images from Eonline

Style Icon: Lupita Nyong’o

2014 has brought us a new fashion icon: Lupita Nyong’o. Her breakout role in 12 Years A Slave had her gracing award shows and red carpets worldwide. Not only is she naturally stunning, but it is quite hard to miss her regal presence on the red carpet.

Fashion magazines, editors, and industry insiders have been taking notice and constantly praising her impeccable style choices. Named People Magazine’s Most Beautiful Person of the year and the face of Prada’s S/S 2014 campaign, Lupita Nyong’o is redefining glamour and upping the ante of celebrity style with every ensemble.

Take a note and get inspired, here are 8 of Lupita’s best looks:

Photo credits: Vogue.co.uk

This uber chic jumpsuit reaffirms the timeless albeit underrated elegance of the color navy. 

Photo credits: Elleuk.com

One of the best looks during the 2014 Oscars, this pretty much cemented Lupita’s new style icon status. The delicate pleats on her powder blue Prada gown is the very picture of understated sophistication. A true style coup.

Photo credits: Vanityfair.com

Pulling off one of spring’s most daring trends, culottes, in a daring print is not a feat to be sniffed at. This SUNO outfit is proof that fashion risks do pay off.

Photo credits: Teenvogue.com

Lupita is telling you two things here. One: do not be afraid of bold colors. Two: sometimes the less accessories you wear, the better off you are.

Photo credits: Vogue.co.uk

Take a cue from Lupita, and try a bold lip with a bright colored dress. Just make sure that your lip color is a contrasting and complementary hue.

Photo credits: Elle UK

Rich jewel tones, like this luscious emerald green strapless gown, are best when paired with metallic accessories. Remember to keep your metals minimal and sleek like Lupita does, since the color is already a strong statement.

Photo credits: Vogue.co.uk

Conventional fashion wisdom says do not wear the same color (unless it’s neutrals) from top to bottom. Lupita breaks that rule and comes away with an unforgettable fashion moment. You can wear a bright red orange dress, pumps, and earrings–so long as you keep your makeup natural and dewy.

Photo credits: Vogue.co.uk

Perfect summer dress? Check. Perfect summer sandals? Check. Perfect summer accessories? Check. This is how you do black-and-white for a summer afternoon.

A new style icon to add to your fashion watch list. We all really have a lot to learn from Lupita’s bold and feminine panache. 

Have a great week!

 

Easy Chic

People often say that the devil is in the details. That’s true for most things, especially in fashion. Accessories are the quickest way to either dress up or dress down an outfit. A basic black dress can look casual or formal depending on the shoes, purse, or jewelry added on to it. Investing in chic, timeless, and well-made accessories is a smart decision for any fashionista. These investment pieces outlast trends and are items that you will wear often and keep forever.

Meet the little blue dress, a chic alternative to your standard black cocktail dress. Every woman has a killer LBD or “Little Black Dress” in her fashion arsenal. This dress is her go-to piece whenever she’s in a bind and has to look good, or even just whenever she wants to make an entrance. This dress has travelled, has been in countless dates and parties, and has given the woman unparalleled confidence countless times. This dress may have been a product of countless hours of shopping. It may have been a chance encounter and an impulse purchase. Regardless of the circumstance, any well-dressed woman has a beloved dress of this kind.

These two elements – investment accessories and the new LBD, make for the perfect classic look. Fashion always changes but some pieces outlast the fleeting trends. This look is the perfect example of that. The dress comes in royal blue, a trendy color, but its sheath silhouette will remain a classic. 

The long sterling necklace by Chanel, slate gray peep toe heels by Prada, and crocodile pattern leather bag by Furla are fashionable additions to the look that make it suitable for a party or a formal dinner. 

Take this ensemble from dinner to a weekend getaway to New York by layering a cardigan, like this one from Giordano, and toting an elegant and durable Tumi suitcase to the airport. There’s no reason why you can’t look chic thousands of miles up in the air. 

Mixing and matching is what makes fashion fun. So invest in the classics but keep yourself open to bright colors and bold trends—that is the key to defining your personal style. 

The Intriguing Character

Hi everyone,

Hope you are feeling happy and well today! I am crazy excited to show you this awesome new look. The reason I love it so much is because it is 100% charismatic and 100% complete. I also love it because Jessica here is a great model and she makes everything look surreal.

Just one glance at this outfit and suddenly the whole image is complete in your head. No thinking requited – it is instant.

Feeling intrigued?

Check out the look:

What does it make you feel? Where do you think Jessica is going? Who is going to meet her?

The answer my imagination gave me is at the very end of this post 🙂 

To create this look we have used a bit of everything: a little bit of imagination, a drop of makeup skills and our shopping experience.

We have purchased this sweatshirt from a US brand called NSF. It is not super famous, and therefore may be a little bit difficult to find, but some of the stuff they make is really cool and worth looking for. Sweatshirts are big right now and it really is one of my favourite current trends. They are very versatile, can be styled to match any look and are insanely comfortable. This one also happens to be beautiful. It has a great abstract print adding a bit of oomph to the overall design.

The dress is by Ted Baker and was actually purchased on a Christmas sale! Imagine that! And by the way, yes, it is a dress… Usually I am against stripes, but this is a really clever type of stripe. Its hugs your body diagonally making it slimmer and it really lengthens your whole silhouette. In other words, a really genius stripe. 

The shoes are classic grey Prada slingback that are totally worth what you pay for them. They look awesome everywhere and this outfit is no exception.

We have added a pearl and silver necklace by Chanel that adds more chic to this look. Any more jewelry would look a little over the top here because the key accessory in this outfit make a very bold statement. And that accessory is the headscarf.

The headscarf is what makes this look complete. It also delivers 80% of its character. Why is the headscarf so special in this case? Well, first of all it matches both the color scheme and the theme of the entire outfit. Secondly, this scarf has a lot of white, which reflects the light right onto Jessica’s face. This gives a bit of a glow and shimmer to the skin. And finally, it has a function of keeping Jessica’s hair out of her face.

Last but not least – the sunglasses. This very striking pair of purple Miu Miu glasses was added to frame Jessica’s face and to complete the look.

 

And now is the time I reveal more about Jessica’s character in this shoot.

This young lady is about to make the most of this warm sunny day and go for a drive in her open top car down a small country road in Cornwall!

If you have a different scenario as to what Jessica should do in this outfit, do not hesitate to leave a comment or email me your suggestions on kate@stylewithkate.com!

Hope you enjoyed it!

How to look great on a really hot day

Good morning everyone!

How have you guys been? Hope you had a fabulous couple of days and got a lot of great things done!

Close up

It has been crazy hot here in Singapore. So I decided to get busy and create a look for super hot weather.

Well what can I say, the choice is huge. There is a wealth of cute little clothes for hot weather out there– millions of crop tops, billions of silky skirts and gazillions of strappy sandals.

So where do I start? OK, I am a total freak when it comes to getting protected from those nasty UV rays. Obsessed, crazy and don’t I know it. That is why I started with the hat 🙂

I had this awesome hat that I bought a few season ago in one of my favourite stores called Furla. It is a very classic hat you would expect to see in the stores all year round. A hat is always a great accessory in hot weather because not only does it help protect your visage from the sun, but also protect your hair from loosing its lovely colour. Yes, sun ruins your hair colour, that is a fact. Unless of course you want to have sun highlights (which your hairdresser will not thank you for) or you are blonde and don’t mind being even blonder.

Next step – clothes. Decisions decisions… As a girl who is not a fan of showing too much leg, I went with a dress that covers up my knees, but leaves my shoulders and neckline open. That is just the way I like it. I have purchased a navy colour dress from a brand called Three Dots. It is a US brand that is great for casual simple clothes. As this dress is quite revealing around the neckline, I have gone with not one but two big and bold statement necklaces to cover up some flesh. Those necklaces are easy to find in any accessories stores. I got these ones somewhere in Far East Plaza on Orchard road. I liked them in particular because they match my natural colors (eyes, lips and skin) and make the hat and dress look nice together. Plus, they are slightly ethnic which goes well with the shoes.

When it comes to shoes, I definitely use the “quality above quantity” rule. I don’t have a lot of shoes, but those that I do choose to buy are high quality classics that last forever.

The fat heel sandals here (I guess you could almost call them wedges) were purchased in Selflidges in London a long time ago. They are probably the only Givenchy shoes I have seen that can be attributed to the ethnic style. But here we are.

And voilá my Hot Day outfit is complete!

 

Hot Day Outfit – Front view

Hot Day Outfit – Navy dress

Oh yes, don’t forget to smother yourself with sunblock before you step outside!

Have a great day!

Street Style Know How.

Hello fashionistas,

Lets talk street style! Street style is one of the most versatile styles in fashion. It basically is anything and everything that people are wearing on the streets of fashion capitals like New York, London, Tokyo and other cosmopolitan cities. It may be something you have effortlessly thrown together like a little cropped T-shirt with a high waist skirt or an outfit you have put some thought in, like a trendy bomber jacket with a cigarette pant accompanied by the latest accessories.

The popularity of street style has been growing together with sporty and effortless look trends. Why? Cause everyone loves it! It makes you look and feel free, confident and fresh. And an outfit like that is really easy to put together. Here is what you need to ask yourself:

1. What kind of clothes do I feel comfortable in?

2. What is my usual everyday style?

3. How do I make the whole outfit trendy and fresh?

Once you have answered these questions you can go ahead and start styling! Assemble together the clothes that you love and feel good in and try and incorporate them with your existing style. You should be able to put together a couple of outfits. It is really that easy. However, if you still feel like this has made no difference there is only 1 thing you can do to rectify the problem – go and get some awesome clothes! Once that is done and you know which pieces match into wholesome outfits you can start thinking about accessories. As I mentioned in several previous posts accessories are essential to almost any outfit. Please don’t ignore them. Put that bracelet on your wrist and see what happens. It is like clicking refresh in your email. Bound to make a difference.  So that is all great stuff))) Here is what you have to bear in mind when you do effortless street style. Tidiness and neatness is more important than ever. We are going for an effortless look of a fresh modern woman and not the look of the homeless person collecting cardboard. It is not difficult to cross that line which is why I urge you to pay attention to that factor.

As an example, we have put together a street style look that is cool and totally wearable. Which brings us nicely to our standard question:

Who is this outfit perfect for? This outfit is perfect for a free spirited gal in the age range of 20 to 40 who values comfort above all and feels confident about her taste. What to do if that does’t really sound like you?

Consider possible variations:

– we went for a very relaxed slightly hippie outfit. Your street style does’t have to be like that. If you love your classics you can stick to them by choosing a more classic look with a hint of casual in it. Or if you are into more boyish look, why not go for a baggy T-shirt and straight cut pants instead! It is all in the details.

– shoes shoes shoes….ahh so many choices here. You could substitute these for flats very easily. If you are wearing pants or shorts instead multi-color sneakers can be your best bet! If you just want to recreate our look here is how:

– vest from Mango at $59.90,

– dress from Topshop around $90 (any straight cut dress with ethnic pattern will look new and in-season)

– mini tote bag by Furla in monochrome colour :-)(see our post on monochrome on this page)

– leather shoes by Prada

– glasses by Prada $399

If you feel inspired to create your own street look with my help do not hesitate to contact me atkate@stylewithkate.com or call/SMS 8668 6226 for a more immediate response.

Happy styling!