From the moment Florence Welch emerged from a giant shell at the Chanel show in Paris last October, the scene was set for the modern mermaid trend. From fish scale frocks at McQueen to starfish and seahorses at Versace, designers galore are telling us that it is indeed better, down where it’s wetter, and are conjuring a watery wonderland with marine-inspired textures, colours and prints.
Granted, I don’t have the bod or the budget for a couture clamshell bra, but I can still channel Ariel with this spring’s aquatic beauty trend. It’s such a pretty, ethereal look and if you’re anything like me (i.e. an obsessive beauty hoarder), you probably have a lot of what’s needed to create it in your makeup bag already. And if not, there are plenty of Beaut.ienomical products out there to help you get the look for less.
The aquatic trend is all about playing with the colours and textures of the ocean – it’s a light infused combo of fluid textures, luminous skin and shades of teal, pearl and aqua. If you’re blessed with the natural glow of youth, then huzzah! You’re half way there. For me that’s a distant memory so a good place to start is with some kind of radiance cream; I have several lurking in my bathroom cabinet, like Clarins Instant Light Complexion Perfector, €28, and Estee Lauder’s Spotlight Skin Tone Perfector, €37.50 - both good products, but on the pricey side.
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If you don’t have one to hand I’d suggest snapping up Aldi’s Lacura Shimmering Day Cream, at a slightly more reasonable €2.99. It scooped the top radiance cream award from the Mirror’s Celebs on Sunday magazine, after which sales shot up by a reported 1,581%! And I can see why: though it’s quite heavily scented, which some people might find a bit off-putting, it does the same job as more expensive creams for a fraction of the price.
- Once you've got your glow on, layer it with your sheerest foundation or BB cream to keep everything looking dewy and radiant
- Follow up with a gel or liquid blush (check out this post for some suggestions) and add a touch of liquid highlighter for a pearly white, iridescent sheen on the cheekbones. I love the new Dior Skinflash pen primer in Universal Light, €35, but a more purse friendly alternative is the Shimmering Facial Whip from e.l.f. in Spotlight, at just €1.70
- Cyber Teal (1) from Estee Lauder’s Cyber Eyes Collection is a great choice for eyes, but don’t worry if you don’t have a spare €27 lying about. Catrice have come up trumps again and their new Intensif’eye Wet and Dry Shadow, €4.29, in Have You Seen Alice (2) is a near-perfect dupe. Like the Lauder lovely, it can also be used wet for a more intense finish. And if you really want to channel the underwater look, consider finishing your shadow with a touch of wet-look gloss. Try Elizabeth Arden's 8 hour cream, or a dab of plain ol' Vaseline.
- All you need on the lips is a slick of pearlescent gloss – the YSL Golden Glosses, €28, in White Gold Diamond, White Gold Opal (pictured, 3) or White Gold Quartz, are all perfect but for a more wallet friendly alternative hit up Penneys for NYC’s Kiss Gloss in 5th Ave Frosting, or XXXL shine gloss from Essence in the silvery shade, Wanted (both under €5).
- For nails, choose from a colour palette of pearly whites, silvers, blues or teals; whatever you have in your collection. I dug out this Art Deco colour in #346 (4), Revlon’s Blue Lagoon (5), Boots No7 in Totally Teal (6) and Chanel’s Black pearl (7). Both Catrice and its sister brand Essence offer up great varnishes for a couple of quid; a good dupe for Black Pearl is After Eight from Catrice, or you could try out the gorgeously glittery Blue Addicted, from Essence.
So what do you think, is the aquatic trend floating your boat? (Sorry, I couldn’t stop myself!)
