Beauty: Face off

The Urban look using M.A.C products. Photo / Supplied

Chunky knits or biker leather? Enamelled love beads or punked-up baroque pearls? Ethereal or edgy? Lost innocent or jaded sophisticate?

Make your style selection; this season will see you right. But how to set off these seemingly contrasting choices? First be comfortable in your skin, then match hair and makeup to your mood. The aim is for it to look effortless, whether you opt for prairie girl prettiness, urban alternative or something in-between.

That means choosing flattering colours in healthy, shiny hair and caring for skin so it appears to glow from within. Then it's all down to some burnish and polish, with cosmetics that reflect light and play with shadow.

New Zealand women generally take a low-maintenance approach to skincare and are keener on colour than some countries - perhaps to counteract all our dark clothes - so current makeup looks from the global beauty houses should appeal. There's fewer nude shades about, a subtle injection of depth to eye shadows and an explosion of options for lips, from dark mattes to shiny glosses. Light-deflecting makeup and mineral powders are ideal for our harsh sunshine and our practical natures, offering natural look with coverage.

Certain trends won't go away: pretty sells on the counter, glamazon works on the runway. But increasingly the two are merging; celebrities like it both ways and so do we. Witness the Oscars, where the stars and their makeup artists watered down runway trends to something beautifully wearable. Stained red super-shiny lips turn into a high-gloss rose pout, a Gareth Pugh pallor into porcelain perfection, and sculpted cheekbones into a sun-kissed dusting.

Bridging the gap between conceptual creation and public expectation is what happens from the time makeup gets its first workout on the runway until it arrives in shops months later. One New Zealander who knows the process from the inside out is M.A.C's senior New Zealand makeup artist, Amber Dreadon. This month she was called up for 13 shows in Paris, including Chloe, Vivienne Westwood, Emmanuel Ungaro and Sonia Rykiel, and before that she did a tour of duty in Milan. Six months ago she was also in Milan, working alongside her makeup heroes on the shows that have helped shape the makeup coming in store now.

Top makeup artists both freelance and from the major brands lead show teams - such as Estee Lauder's Tom Pecheux at Balmain and Marni and Cover Girl's Pat McGrath for Dior - but M.A.C has a dominance at the international collections from the sheer number of backstage artists and products it provides. This means its trend forecasts have a wide application, reflecting what is photographed from many design houses and the zeitgeisty nature of fashion across the board.

Before she headed overseas, Dreadon talked Viva through the four key looks. These were: Dye A Tribe (wearing colour with a cool factor), American Nomad (think surfer girls hiking in the desert), Underground Society (urban tribalism moves Uptown) and Pale n Dandy (uber-nude skin worn with blue-blood nonchalance).

To make life easier, I've boiled these down to the two most dominant influences: Nomad and Urban, which we illustrate today. Mix in smudgy splashes of colour to enliven either look.

These looks were evident at New Zealand Fashion Week last year, where they were teamed with the autumn-winter ranges now appearing on shop clothes racks. Nomad-style hair and makeup complemented fashion gone sweetly feral at Stolen Girlfriends and Nom*d. (Chanel showed this earthy look last season also). It was all edgy elegance at Zambesi and Kate Sylvester, with looks that knock back well for streetwear.

The light and dark approach is neatly nailed in New Zealander Aaron De Mey's new O My Rose colour collection for Lancome, which features both an eye palette in golds and taupes and another in oil-deep greens. By taking an established house into more fashion-led territory, he is charting the course Estee Lauder hopes Pecheux will also set.

Given how trends so quickly translate, it seems we are bound to follow.

Urban

Rodarte/Zambesi

To achieve this look try M.A.C Face & Body Foundation. For eyes use Chromaline in Black or Penultimate Eyeliner in Rapid Black. For lips use a nude cream colour base and lip conditioner; go dark with Midnight Media lipstick or bright with Russian Red and Cherry Lip Pencil.

Nomad

Proenza Schouler/Stolen Girlfriends

To achieve this look try M.A.C Studio Sculpt Foundation, Mineralize Blush and creamy colour base on the eyes. Lightly groom brows. Lips and lashes can be left unmade-up or coat with Zoom Lash in Lofty Brown and Twig lipstick, a matte nude-brown.