Makeup trends are becoming less shimmery and more matte

NEW YORK -- Consider these the last days of disco. Again. Strong, sultry eyes are still the big story in the world of cosmetics this fall, but glitter addicts beware: The smoky eyes are now part of a more matte face. Eyes, cheeks and lips can still have a little shimmer, but put away the gold flecks and high gloss that have been popular the past few years.

"I think it's had its moment," Tina Davis, a makeup artist who works with j.a.n.e cosmetics, says of glitter. "It's kind of being used differently. It's more subtle."

Cosmetics creator Laura Mercier says she's using a finer texture of glitter -- and only using it sparingly.

"Even if I do glitter, it will have more particles," says Mercier, who sells to Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom, among other retailers. "It will be very wearable. It won't be too girly or too trendy. I don't go to the far edges so women of all ages can play with it."

Less shimmer also means less shine, which complements the season's bold styles inspired by 1980s fashion.

A natural-looking yet flawless foundation dominated the runway looks for fall in Milan, Paris and New York, says B.J. Gillian, Cover Girl's makeup artist.

"All three cities really were using things that were less shimmery and shiny and more to create the look of really good, poreless skin that you would see on children," Gillian says.

The look evokes the 1980s, but improves on it by keeping skin a little dewy.

"We will never come back to a flat, powdery matte look like we had in the '80s," Mercier says. "It's kind of an in-between where you can keep your cheekbones a little dewy -- that's always good and very youthful looking -- but the rest is satinet and a little flatter."

With the return of a more natural look for skin, a fuller brow also is returning. The days of the pencil-thin, sharp brows are over for now.

"If you've got some brows left, don't pluck them, put the tweezers away," says Mally Roncal, makeup artist for Sephora. "You want to make sure you have a nice shape but you don't want to pull away anything that might be needed."

The return of fuller brows is good news for women over 35, since overplucked brows can add years, Roncal says.

"A fuller brow immediately makes us look younger," Roncal says. "If you look at pictures of movie stars, you'll see if they have a thinner, sharper brow it tends to age them a little bit."

Along with more prominent brows, black eyeliner -- and lots of it -- was featured on the fall runways along with fashion's nods to 1960s mod style and 1980s biker chic.

Davis even touts the "punk farmgirl" look, a term coined by clothing designer James Coviello. Working with Coviello on his runway show, Davis created a youthful look for models by pairing sharp black eyeliner with fresh, rosy cheeks and lips.

She applied eyeliner on the inside rim and onto the lashes in a thick line and applied mascara to the top lashes only. To make the line as sharp as possible, she put a small amount of makeup remover on a pointed cotton swab to smooth out any bumps. The last step was application of a shimmery beige or shimmery taupe to lids.

"It's kind of like a contradiction, sweet makeup with a punk eyeliner," Davis says. "It looks really good with messy hair. It gives that 'I don't care' attitude, that 'I'm tough and I've also been in the barn baling hay' look."

Black is definitely back, but Roncal suggests trying the smoky eye with eyeliner shades like plums and grays to update the look that's been around a few seasons. She suggests applying the liner along the top and bottom lashes, inside and out, then take a corresponding shadow to "smoke it out," she says.

The smoky eye, done with smudged liner along the top and bottom lashes, can be a part of a mod look, though Roncal cautions that extreme nude or white lipsticks don't have to be part of the package.

"You don't necessarily want to copy that look verbatim. You'll look dead, let's face it," she says.

To make mod more wearable, go for shiny lips in flattering blush and rose shades.

Heavily-lined eyes and natural lips weren't the only makeup trends on the runways for fall. Like lips? A lot? This is a good year for you, as glamorous red lips are making a huge comeback.

"You can see it in a lot of the advertising, from Banana Republic to Dior to Yves Saint Laurent," says Poppy King, color designer for Prescriptives.

The trend is to wear cranberry or red lipstick with minimal eye makeup -- black mascara paired with whites, light greens, buttery suedes or a sheer wash of color on the lids. Blush should be warm but understated.

Roncal says the look reminds her of the image of the effortlessly chic French woman, and agrees that a strong element like bright, strong red lips should be paired with understated eyes and cheeks.

"You can't do this strong eye with the red look because you're going to look like 'Chicago,' like something from the 1920s," Roncal says. "When you do the red lip, do it with a naked face. A little mascara, a soft cheek, and let the red lipstick be the star."