We're deeply manifesting spring, because alongside lighter evenings and the return of rosé we're looking forward to the step-change the new season brings – for our mood, and our makeup bag. We'd almost forgotten how much we love a colour pop eyeliner and sheer juicy mani, so we teamed up with top makeup artist, Francesca Brazzo, hair stylist, Ken O'Rourke and nail artist, Robbie Tomkins to help mood board our spring beauty wardrobe with all the top-trending inspo.
The main takeaway? Chromatic is the new chrome. It takes the glazed, glossy finish that just works as soon as the spring sunshine hits, but it majors on playful bursts of experimental colour, too. Whether you're decorating your eyebrow arches (yes, really), remixing lip liner in lilac, flipping the glossy hair trend on its ends or updating your nails with the next-gen jelly texture, here are the chromatic spring beauty trends to know…
Blue tones
Blue has been tipped as the shade to watch this spring with Pinterest spotlighting the shade in its 2024 report. Instead of the blueberry milk nails that headlined last spring, this time round we'll be wearing blue tones as pops of colour on our eyes. “To make colour pop, you use a cream or gel base first in the same colour, and when you put the eyeshadow on top, the colour pops and it lasts longer," explains Francesca.
With searches for “aqua makeup look” up by 100% on Pinterest, we wanted to know how to get the look. Francesca started with a neutral base on the lid, using MAC's Pro Longwear Paint Pot in Groundwork, then contrasted it with a streak of aqua under the eyebrow arch. She layered MAC Eyeshadow in Mint Condition on top of Made By Mitchell's Gel Gleam in Frostbite. She added structure to the brows by brushing them up with the L'Oreal Paris Eyebrow Artist Plump & Set Brow Serum.
Francesca kept skin glowy with the L'Oreal Paris True Match Lumi Glotion and Fenty Beauty Sun Stalk'r Instant Warmth Bronzer then finished off the look with a brown-toned pink lip using L'Oreal Les Nus Lipstick in 172 Determine.
Glazed blush
With glossy lips formerly hogging all the attention (thanks to our obsession with lip oils and glosses) glazed has made its way to our cheeks, and our blusher is getting a sheeny glow-up. But alongside a fresh, dewy finish, we'll see a bolder wash of colour that still let skin show through.
“It all starts with skincare: super hydrated skin, a glowy foundation, then using cream products," explains Francesca. Start with the L'Oreal Paris Revitalift Hyaluronic Acid Serum to ensure skin is quenched, then lightly layer foundation. Francesca mixed the Armani Luminous Silk Foundation with the L'Oreal Paris True Match Lumi Glotion.
Next, “apply cream on top of cream: creamy bronzer, creamy blusher, creamy highlight. Cream formulas are better to use if you can because it gives that different texture. It just feels like skin a bit more,” Francesca explains. She used the & Other Stories Dimple Peach Cheek & Lip Tint across the apple of cheeks and diffused out toward the temples. “You can powder around the nose and under the eye but leave the rest creamy. And when the glow starts to fade, refresh it with a spritz of face mist,” she adds.
Francesca added definition to eyes with a sweep of Armani Eye Tint Liquid Eyeshadow in 22M Cashew, L’Oreal Paris Superliner Le Khol in Pure Espresso applied close to the lash line and two coats of L’Oreal Paris Volume Million Lashes Panorama Mascara. She completed the look with a tonal lip creating using NYX Professional Makeup Slim Lip Pencil in Natural and L’Oreal Paris L’Oreal Les Nus Lipstick in 181 Intense.
Glossy grunge
While healthy, luminous finishes are an undeniable trend for spring, we've also seen a mussier aesthetic emerging, courtesy of the grungier movement that's tapped up the nineties for inspo. Colliding the two makes for a modern look that's pretty, but not too polished. We love the glossy grunge waves created by Ken.
Prep hair using the L'Oreal Paris Elvive Glycolic Gloss 5 Minute Lamination Treatment before rinsing with Glycolic Gloss shampoo and following with the conditioner. “Use a hair mousse in the hair to get as much root lift as possible,” says Ken who used the L'Oreal Paris Drem Lengths Waterfall Mousse.
“For smoothness, apply a balm through strands,” adds Ken who used the Sam McKnight Happy Endings Nourishing Balm “and to make sure it’s extra glossy, add an oil,” he says. For this, try the L’Oreal Elvive Extraordinary Hair Oil.
He created the waves by taking small sections of hair and using a 25mm barrel curling tong to crimp hair, clamping the tong horizontally under, then over the hair.“Texture spray helps give that softly waved texture,” said Ken who used Sam McKnight Cool Girl Texture Spray, “and a light mist of hairspray keeps things in place.” Ken used L’Oreal Elnett Hairspray.
Francesca completed the look by creating a blurred lip using the L'Oreal Paris Infallible Matte Resistance Lipstick in Sunbathing with bright coral pink eyeshadow from the Huda Beauty Coral Obsessions Eyeshadow Palette on top. “Apply concealer around the edges of the lips to make the shape crisp. When you apply the coral lipstick, buff it on with a fluffy brush for a diffused, blurred finish. Then pack a bright coral eyeshadow powder on top in the middle for impact," says Francesca.
Jelly textures
Glazed is taking a new direction for spring 2024. Rather than looking like the top of an iced donut, we're heading toward glass territory, with sheer shades that you can see all the way through, in juicy colours. Think jelly textures in apricots, peach, watermelon and raspberry.
We love this splash mani by Robbie, who incorporated water droplet details onto a mandarin jelly base. Robbie used pro gel formulas and an led lamp, but for something similar at home, try sheer shades like Butter London's Jelly Preserve nail shades, or choose a colour you love and apply it to a still-wet clear base coat to sheer it out. You can add extra detail with crystal or droplet nail stickers.
Then, match your mani to your lips. Francesca layered two shades of L'Oreal Paris Glow Paradise Balm In Gloss (Inflate and Amplify) to get the look. “To get the lip colour I mixed two shades, applying the darker watermelon first, then the sheer iridescent pink on top," she explains.
Lip liner 2.0
We love a lip combo, but this technique flips the duo on its head. Rather than starting with a lip liner for the base, then going in with a lipstick on top, Francesca started with a lipstick (L'Oreal Le Nus Lipstick in 173 Impertinent), then went in with a line on top. And to make it spring, she remixed things with a pretty lilac lip pop, created using Fenty Mattemoiselle Plush Matte Lipstick in One Of The Boyz. It's another opportunity to incorporate colour, and while it's not for the shy and retiring, it's surprisingly cute and wearable for the girls that want something a little more playful. To finish up the looks she layered up lashes with L’Oreal Paris Volume Million Lashes Panorama Mascara for an XXL flutter.
Sheer sparkle
Much like glossy textures, spring sunshine is the perfect partner to a little low-key sparkle. Francesca kept the skin pared back and fresh, then let a wash of shimmer over the eyes and lips make a soft statement. She used the palest iced lilac shade from the NARS Pulp Fiction Quad Eyeshadow which included a little iridescence, then lined the lash line with Guerlain Khol Couture Waterproof Eye Pencil in Lilac for some definition before finishing off with a coat of the L’Oreal Paris Volume Million Lashes Panorama Mascara.
For lips, once again Francesca layered two L'Oreal Paris Glow Paradise Balm In Gloss shades to get the look: Accentuate (a raspberry pink) followed by Amplify (a sheer pink shimmer).
Hydro hair
Hydro hair has already been trending since the start of the year, but heading into spring, wet-look strands feel all the more wearable. However, there is a knack to getting it right. “You can’t just wet it because it won’t stay wet," explains Ken. “It dries really quickly so you have to put an oil into it.”
And, if you want some height, Ken recommends using a mousse to “give it a little volume at the front if you don't want it just slicked down.” After raking some L'Oreal Elvive Styliste mousse through the roots, he took Olaplex No.7 Bonding Oil. “Apply it just through the roots and leave the lengths and ends bare," he says. Or for a silky finish, rub the L’Oreal Glycolic Gloss Leave-In-Serum through damp lengths and leave to dry. "Don’t use a gel on the roots as it’ll go crispy,” Ken says. "Brush it back and behind the ears for a cool, modern finish and use a wide-tooth comb so you get the comb marks through,” he adds. It's the perfect disguise for second day hair, too and if you don't want to leave your hair loose, you could adapt the technique to a neat wet-look bun.
For makeup, Francesca kept things simple but bold, adding a pop of yellow eyeshadow to the inner eye corner using MAC Eyeshadow in Memories of Space for an easy statement makeup moment.
Photographer Harriet MacSween Deputy Editor (UK), European Beauty Director Camilla Kay Senior Beauty Editor Elle Turner Hair Ken O’Rourke Makeup Francesca Brazzo Nails Robbie Tomkins European Fashion Editor Londiwe Ncube European Design Director Dennis Lye European Visuals Director Amelia Trevette Models Harriet Longhurst c/o Elite London; Altynay Jakisheva at Wilhelmina London; Laura Brown at Milk Collective
