Christian Dior’s 2011 Spring/Summer Makeup Trends

Breezy, exotic, colorful. Those are just a few words to describe what was seen on the Paris runway of Christian Dior’s 2011 Spring/Summer Ready to Wear collection. With dress and styling that gave a nod back to the iconic Bettie Page, it was like a sea of tropical pin-ups from a naval base in the South Pacific.
The beauty look was just as bold and exciting as clothes. Makeup artist Pat McGrath said she created “a technicolor Bettie Page with electric pop art makeup.” Most of the face was kept nude and light with pops of color on the eyelids and lips. She used a light foundation and gave the complexion a touch of glow with a highlighter to also mimic wet skin from an ocean mist.  The cheekbones were dusted with a soft flush of feminine pink. The stand-out element of the look were the bold and colorful eyes.

Pat used ultra-pigmented monochromatic cream eyeshadows in 10 different shades and applied them to the eyelids only. This electric look in shades of red, orange, violet, pink, green and turquoise (to name a few) were mixed with three different shades of red on the lip, so there were 30 possible looks for the 45 models. To top off this eye-catching look, eyeliner was drawn to a point on the upper eyelids and false lashes and extra mascara helped to bring together the look.

For lips, a quick trace with pencil was used to exaggerate the shape of the mouth before a smooth, creamy red shade was applied. There were also some exciting details like electric orange nails on both hands and feet that kept the look bright and pop art-inspired. Lastly, the hair was also inspired by Bettie Page and each look was a take on Bettie’s signature wavy bob and blunt bangs combination.