Sexy Pastel Makeup Is Trending for Spring 2018

Easter eggs. Macarons. The twinsets my grandmother used to buy me from Bon-Ton that made me look like the child in a '50s family sitcom. There's a reason pastels have a reputation for being sweet and tame and the opposite of getting laid. That is, unless that pastel is in the hands of makeup artist Tom Pecheux, like it was at the Alberta Ferretti Spring 2018 show in Milan.

To echo the clothes in the show — which had a "liquid, watery feeling" thanks to luxurious draping, diaphanous fabrics, or dresses straight up covered in sequins — Pecheux chose to play with lavender loose glitter from M.A.C. (their Glitter in 3D Lavender). "The collection is very pastel-y, so [the designer] wanted to bring a bit of toughness to the face, but without losing any sensuality," said Pecheux, which meant that he needed to find a way to take one of the pastel shades seen on the runway, use it on the face, and give it an edge. He chose pale purple, and decided go with glitter as his medium over shadow or liner.

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The makeup he came up with was not only one hell of a sexy look, but also a non-crazy way to wear glitter on your eyes in every day life, even if you're not someone who takes major risks with your makeup. To start, Pecheux lined the eyes with black pencil, smudging it under the lower lashes with a blending brush. Then he took that same pencil and scribbled it on the lids, blending the pigment out into a sheer, sooty wash with a fluffy shadow brush. "The liner is still creamy, so it gives something for the glitter to stick to without adding lots of layers," he explained. Then, taking a flat shadow brush, he pressed the loose iridescent lavender glitter onto the lids as well as along the outer corners of the eyes, almost like a highlighter. He then lined the waterlines and coated top and bottom lashes with lots of mascara.

Under the lights, the pale purple glitter gleamed and twinkled, and reminded me of all the purple holographic highlighters out there today, like Milk Makeup Holographic Stick in Supernova, or the new cream sticks from Rihanna's Fenty Beauty line). In the shadows, or without direct light hitting it, however, it just looks like a layer of shine on the lids and cheekbones. And that's what was so genius about this look. Everything about it is subtle — the flecks of glitter, the soft layer of smoke, and that hint of pastel that looked totally and utterly fuck-able (sorry, dad).

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