Paris Fashion Week Makes the Case for 'French Girl' Makeup

We are only a few shows into Paris Fashion Week, but the Spring/Summer 2018 catwalks can already be viewed as a masterclass in ‘French girl' beauty.

The majority of the fashion houses to show in the city so far have decided to opt for a restrained makeup look -- an inimitably French concept -- that hinges on making one particular beauty statement.

For many, that statement for this season is bold eyebrows. They were filled-in and bushy at Paskal, and almost spiky at Saint Laurent, but in both cases they were teamed with clean, prepped skin and not much else. Victoria/Tomas made a little more out of the look by elongating the brows down the sides of the nose, and by adding a smudge of eyeliner and a sideswept fringe for an extra moody look, but even then, the overall effect remained controlled.

At Christian Dior, the beauty statement of choice was doll-like eyes rimmed with spiky black lashes, with a touch of silver shimmer at the inner corner of the eye. Complexions were kept matte, lips nude, and hair tousled. Jacquemus was another designer to champion natural, carefree beauty, with clear skin and a softly smoky eye the focus of his catwalk look. At Koche, the statement came in the form of gelled-back hair, or, in some cases, an electrifying red lip.

Anrealage took the French aversion to ‘try hard' beauty one step further, making imperfect complexions the basis of its beauty look, while barefaced beauty was also advocated at Y/Project, where the emphasis was on dewy, beaming skin.