Kenzie’s Beauty Corner: 2017 forecasts bold trends

Starry-Eyed: A model at Shiatzy Chen’s 2017 spring fashion show sparkles with a glittery lower lashline. This eye-catching trend has been gaining in popularity since the autumn of 2016.

Kenzie McCoy

2016 was the year of contouring, matte liquid lipsticks and strobing eye makeup led by innovative brands such as Milk Makeup, Pat McGrath Labs, Kylie Cosmetics and Colourpop Cosmetics.

Beauty trends and popular products of the year typically make their debuts via YouTube beauty vloggers and Instagram models. According to Statista, statistics database, makeup-related YouTube videos grossed an average of 5 million views every month, with over 5.3 million makeup and beauty videos released in 2016.

Many popular beauty trends seen throughout Instagram and YouTube included glittery eye makeup, blue lipstick, magnetic face masks and pumpkin spice hair.

While no one can exactly predict which beauty trends will take off or remain confined in the depths of Instagram and Youtube, 2017 has a promising beauty forecast with fresh and striking trends already spreading like wildfire.

It’s funny to think how often old trends come back around. Before contouring and matte lips, there was just standard bronzer and lipstick. In recent years, trends from past decades have slowly snuck back into the music, fashion and cosmetics industires. It makes me wonder, will 2017 bring about some of these previous, simpler trends, or will we continue on the sharp winged eyeliner, filled-in eyebrows, dramatic lipstick makeup train? I’m excited to see what takes off in the year of the Rooster.

After scouring photos both on social media and of models during New York Fashion week, here are my predictions. Whatever your resolutions are for 2017, I suggest experimenting with up and coming beauty trends to make 2017 a year full of feeling beautiful. Grab a drink and take notes.

Bold Blushes

With spring and summer trends approaching quickly, it’s expected that bright colors will be on trend. However, unlike when this trend reached global popularity in the ‘80s with bright blushes every color of the rainbow, 2017’s spin on this trend will focus more on soft femininity. Various shades of pink will likely be the central colors the masses will be experimenting with this year. Try a monochromatic, feminine look with soft pink or silver eyeshadows, bright blush that compliments your skin tone swept up to your temples, softly defined brows and glossy pink lips to achieve a more accessible adaptation of Kenzo Takada’s models in his spring fashion show.

Glittery Accents

Glittery lip and eye makeup took off last year, spear-headed by designers Marc Jacobs, Pat McGrath, Dolce & Gabbana and Alexander McQueen during their end of 2016 fashion shows. With glitter accents becoming more and more common amongst runway models and online beauty gurus, it’s likely that 2017 won’t be too preoccupied with the natural look. Subtle, fun pops of glitter can quickly amp up any look for a night out with friends, or a trip to the grocery store. No judgement here. Products like eyeliner, eyeshadow, lipstick, highlighter and false eyelashes are getting the glittery treatment, becoming more widely visible and available in local drug stores and cosmetic companies’ websites. If you’re newer to bold makeup trends, a good jumping off point would be taking a cue from designer Shiatzy Chen, who added silver glitter to the lower lashlines of her models for her 2017 Paris Fashion Week show. Soft, feminine lipstick colors make the look polished and more accessible.

Glossy Lips

Opt for the natural look with clear or a sheer-pink lipgloss and bold eyebrows for an appearance that’s effortless and easy to integrate into your every day look. Eyebrows shape the face and add sophistication to a minimalistic look, off-setting an understated lip. Soft, glossy lips were a key aspect in the models’ overall look in Christian Dior’s 2017 spring beauty and fashion line. For a fun look, try out glossy lips in a bolder pink with an otherwise natural make-up look, a style which first appeared in late 2016 on Instagram and M.A.C. cosmetics’s fall ads.

Smudged Eyeliner

Winged liner comes and goes, but smudgy liner is back in black in 2017. Think of all those mornings in middle school when you quickly ran a black line of your mom’s Maybelline eyeliner under your eyes and called it a day. It’s a fun callback to the ‘90s grunge look that’s easy to dress up or down. Make your eyeliner look less messy and more chic by adding bronzer and liquid highlighter to your face for a sun-kissed look like this model from Blumarine.