Trend on trial: Is Gareth Pugh's brooding make-up just for Halloween?
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- Stylist Beauty Team
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It’s safe to say Stylist’s beauty team were skeptical to try Gareth Pugh’s disheveled make-up. How did they fare once they had it on?
This is the kind of make-up you may unintentionally be wearing after a particularly heavy Saturday night, but would anyone actually leave the house in it? It’s hard to imagine people sitting in front of the mirror purposefully using dabbing mud splatters on their face. Maybe the black lip and smudgy black liner has mileage though - after all, if RiRi backs it, it’s going to be a thing.
Hanna Ibraheem, Stylist’s beauty writer
Let’s face it, this make-up isn’t quite as impressive as my colleagues’ looks but it is easy to do. To recreate the catwalk look, I sat on a chair while Lucy and Ava feverishly scribbled black liquid lipstick onto the tips of make-up brushes before dabbing them all around my face. I was told I looked like a chimney sweep but if it saves me putting effort into a costume, I think I can work with that.
Lucy Partington, Stylist’s beauty editor
OK, so I definitely look like a long-lost member of The Addams Family here, and, to be honest, I’m more than alright with that. There was something quite liberating about scribbling brown liner all around my eyes, and applying matte lipstick so haphazardly on and over my lips that I can’t help but love it. I also secretly enjoyed putting on way too much bronzer in order to give myself some killer cheekbones. I mean, obviously, it’s not suitable for any time of year except 31 October, but at least I’ve found this year’s look if nothing else.
Ava Welsing-Kitcher, Stylist’s junior beauty writer
If you squint, I look vaguely normal(ish). I know that’s not the point, but once I’m back in focus, it just looks like I’ve taken the bushy eyebrow trend too far, rather than attempted Halloween make-up. I’ll admit I had fun destroying my carefully pencilled and gelled arches by dragging a smudgy black pencil up and out, but the joy ends there. And as for the rest of the face, I wouldn’t usually go for so much black eyeliner, but I’m loving the inky lips.
Verdict
The models at Gareth Pugh rocked these Grace Jones inspired looks with ease – but they had outlandish shoulder pads and sky-high platforms to round it all off. We’re loving the deviation from the beauty norm and this couldn’t come at a better time of year, especially as our ability to pour effort into a costume declines year after year. It’s a yes from us. Happy Halloween, everyone.