Green makeup: how to wear the colour of the season
Green is still a huge thing in fashion (blame Bottega Veneta), and now it’s coming for our makeup bags. We needn’t be talking lurid greens and faddy neons here – we’re looking at a gentler, more muted autumnal palette: beer-bottle green, shimmering moss and khaki, the warm-toned avocado of a 1970s bathroom suite, the outer fronds of a sprout.
Not that appetising on paper, I’ll grant you, but, on the eyes and nails, these sludgy, earthy tones are extremely flattering, surprisingly wearable and still show some daring and enthusiasm for the now.
If pretty, coordinating shadow palettes are your weakness (and I quite understand), my picks are Charlotte Tilbury’s perfectly blendable The Rebel (10g for £40), and e.l.f.’s outrageously cheap (3.5g for £4!) Hot Jalapeño quads, since both are unmistakably green while their neutral undertones keep things appropriately adult.
Personally, I’d recommend choosing just one green shade and fluffing it all over the lid with a medium brush, stopping a fraction beyond the crease, using a smaller one to add a little of the same under the lower lashes, then cracking straight on with mascara.
There’s something more playful and cool about the monochromatic look than faffing around with multiple tones, textures and shades that you’d more usually see on Strictly. My preference here is for single cream shadows and, even on my green eyes, I’ve seen striking results from minimal effort with Glossier Lidstar in Herb (a glistening GI-fatigues green, 4.5ml for £15) and Stila’s matte Suede Shade Liquid Eye Shadow in Enchanted Earth (4.5ml for £20), a sort of guacamole-on-the-turn.
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If even this makes you nervous or pre-emptively tired, remember you can always smudge across a simple green eyeliner and call it a day. My favourite is Chanel’s Khaki Métal Stylo Yeux Waterproof Eyliner and Pencil (£24), an easy-to-use, retractable pencil that glides on softly before setting fast for hours, even in rain.
You can tie everything together with a green nail lacquer à la Liza Minnelli in Cabaret. OPI’s Rated Pea-G Nail Lacquer (15 ml for £13.90) is a sort of lush, billiard-table baize, while Essie’s Muted Khaki Nail Lacquer (13.5ml for £7.99) is practically a neutral and so goes with everything.
Helpfully, this trend requires zero rejigging of any of your accompanying makeup. Feel free to wear whatever you like on lips and cheeks – peach, apricot, brown, berry, rose – but, for a flattering, fashionable eye makeup or mani, don’t forget your greens.
