2013 Summer Makeup Trends

Jeweled eyelids, thick eyebrows, colored eyeliner, extra-long lashes and bold, matte lips are here to turn the hot summer into a fashionable one.

Designers like Donna Karan, Clements Ribeiro, Christopher Kane, Gucci, Versace, Chanel and Dior chose to draw attention to the eyes with colored liner, jeweled lids and extra-long lashes at the four fashion weeks this year. Other designers like Giles, Rochas and Burberry Prorsum drew attention to the lips using bold, matte lip colors.

Misbah Adil, a 22-year-old freelance makeup artist from Lexington, Ky., thinks matte lips are perfect for the hot weather.

“I do prefer matte lips for the warm weather, because it’s warm out and your makeup gets greasy,” Adil said. “Matte lips stay looking fresh, and add a glow to the face.”

Maariyah Hussain, an 18-year-old cosmetology major and freelance makeup artist from Bradford, England, thinks bold lips only look good if worn for a special occasion.

Vibrant colored eye shadows, blushes and lipsticks are also trending this summer. Using bright colors for the eyes with nude lips, and nude eyes with bright lips is the way to go this summer.

Madiha Iqbal, a 24-year-old salon owner and professional makeup artist from Aberdeen, Scotland, thinks vibrant colors look best, especially on the runway.

“I am using a lot of reds on my models now for fashion shows, etc.,” Iqbal said. “I love using vibrant colors.”

Uche Iheukwumere, a 22-year-old freelance makeup artist from Springfield, Mo., thinks this summer’s makeup trends have been exciting because they are very color oriented.

“Bright lips, bright eyes, colored eyeliner, and so forth are all in. I love it. I love popping makeup so I love it,” Iheukwumere said.

The type of shades of makeup one should wear heavily depends on the skin tone a person has.

Adil thinks nude lips don’t look good on lighter skin tones, while vibrant colors look best.

Iqbal thinks pink, bronze and apricot colored cheeks work great with all different skin types.

Iheukwumere thinks dark colored lips and eye shadows look better on darker skin tones.

“Generally fairer skin tones are allowed more versatility whilst darker women should focus on medium to darker eye colors,” Iheukwumere said.

Face contouring or sculpting is also a popular trend this summer. Contouring became popular among women because of celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Lilly Ghalichi, etc.

Contouring is done by using darker shades of brown under the cheek bones, along the bridges of the nose, under the jaw line, and on the sides of the forehead to create an illusion of a more defined face.

Highlighting is the opposite of contouring, which is done by using lighter shades of brown on top of the cheekbones, brows, Cupid’s bow, and the tip of nose—making these areas pop out.

“Contouring is a must for me. I believe everyone can benefit from contouring the cheek bone, nose and jaw line, and highlighting is also a must. Definitely need to highlight the areas required,” Iqbal said.

“For everyday makeup I think it should be done very lightly. Before applying blush or bronzer,” Hussain said.

Another trend this summer made popular by models on the runway and celebrities like Lilly Ghalichi is—big bold eyebrows.

Thick brows look best with a nude eye or just a little bit of mascara, red/orange lips, and a lot of bronzer or blush, along with a well contoured and highlighted face.

“I dislike ladies who still believe thin eyebrows look nice and have to pencil them in. It is not a good look at all.” Iqbal said.

Some makeup don’ts this summer would be metallic lips, thin eyebrows, heavy eyeliner and glossy lips.

Transcript:

Annureet Kaur: Kamal Kaur, a 26-year-old makeup user shows us a makeup tutorial on a day look and a night look.

Kamal Kaur: The foundation that I like to use is the MAC StudioTech. It’s this cream foundation, like the best thing ever invented. It’s really nice for like an everyday, quick makeup look that covers everything. So for my eyes, for an everyday look, I like to use the MAC paint pot….Just make everything blend in. Next, I’m going to use this gel eyeliner with this angled brush…it just kind of accentuates my eyes a little bit. Ok, so last, but not least, I’m just going to apply some colored lip gloss. So there it is! My five minute day look. Ok, so now I’m going to show you how to transform this day look into a night look just by adding a couple of things to your face. The first thing I’m going to use is this dark brown eye shadow, and I’m going just take a little bit of it, and add it to the crease, and just blend out that eyeshadow that you just added. Another thing I’m going to do is, use this darker blush. It’s a dark, bronze, powder blush. For the night look, I’m going to change my lip color to this really pretty pink that I have.

Contouring and Highlighting Your Face

Majoring in Fashion?

Hilari Holt, a 21-year-old sophomore at Metropolitan Community College, has always dreamed of being famous—as a model, actress and a fashion designer.

Holt is one of many who study fashion in college aspiring to become fashion designers, fashion merchandisers, models, etc., but believe that a college degree isn’t the only thing that’s necessary to get into the fashion business.

While designers like Calvin Klein, Anna Sui, Norman Norell, Clair McCardell, John Galliano, Stella McCarthy, etc. went to fashion school to receive a four year degree, other designers like Tom Ford, Marc Jacobs, Ralph Lauren, Coco Chanel, etc. believed their talent was enough for them to get recognized.

Britt Benjamin, a fashion professor at Johnson County Community College, Hilari Holt, and Samantha Kenny, a 19-year-old fashion major at Johnson County Community College, think a college degree is crucial for a fashion designer, but experience, determination and networking is just as important.

 “For any career in fashion you will start at the bottom, and build connections through networking, interning, etc.,” Holt said. “Just because you start out one way, doesn’t mean you’ll be completely stuck with it forever.”

“Jobs won’t come to a fashion major student, but they must start strong, meet the right people, show what you know and make it happen,” Kenny said. “Definitely takes a lot of self-determination and ambition.”

“I recommend freelancing for a company to get your foot in the door.  You can prove yourself by hard work and talent,” Benjamin said.

After receiving a four year fashion degree, freelancing provides a fashion major with experience and exposes them to the fashion industry.

Holt thinks a degree and the amount of experience required depends on what field you want to go in.

“If you already have experience designing, sewing, making patterns, etc., you can be fine getting in the business just to make clothes, but if you want to do more than make clothes, a degree is important,” Holt said.

According to Benjamin, the fashion industry is a billion dollar business, and it always will be, because everyone has to wear clothes.

The fashion industry might be a hard one to get into, but hard work, talent, and determination pay off in the end.

“You must not only love what you do but you be good at it and also know what exactly people want,” Kenny said.

Kenny thinks high-end fashion cities like Los Angeles, New York, Miami, etc. provide better career opportunities for fashion designers.

According to Holt, the Midwest can provide career opportunities for fashion merchandisers and buyers through retail. A fashion merchandiser could look for a retail job, where he/she can dress mannequins and make them look appealing to customer.  

“When in doubt retail is the way to go for fashion graduates,” Holt said.

The fashion industry is full of different kinds of jobs, and fashion majors have different reasons to get into the business.

“My dream job is a buyer. I just want to be a fashion icon and a fashion statement. I want my story to inspire and motivate others,” Kenny said.

“My inspiration is creating clothes that women want to wear and have in their closets because they feel confident and beautiful while wearing my clothing. With this I have the idea to keep the clothing I create a mixture of daring or sassy, classy and elegant or sophisticated,” Holt said.

According to Huffington Post, the top eight fashion schools in the United States are: Parsons the New School for Design, Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, Savannah College of Art and Design, Fashion Institute of Technology, New York University, Academy of Art University, Pratt Insitute and School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Oak Park Mall

An insider’s guide to the Oak Park Mall–where you should shop, and how you can do so without spending too much money.

Tattoos

Aaron Monson, a 21-year-old Shawnee male and the manager at Ice Fire Hookah Lounge, has several tattoos–one of them being a gang affiliated tattoo–something he regrets today.

Monson is one of many who get tattoos, but all for different reasons. According to a Smithsonian magazine article called “Tattoos: The Ancient and Mysterious History”–the very first tattoo was done on a man known as “Icemen”, a 5,200-year-old mummy, as a form of acupuncture to treat arthritis. Since then, tattoos are done for different reasons: as an act of rebellion, to gain status, to make a fashion or personal statement, to carry a sentimental value, etc.

Reasons

Tattoos nowadays are done to make a fashion statement or to show off your personality, as compared to Iceman’s tattoo, and other ancient tattoos, which were done to serve a purpose, a punishment, or as a status symbol among tribes, religions, cults, etc.

“I got the tattoos for the idea of personal representation of what I was trying to portray to other people. I wanted to send a message,” Monson said. “You want to hold a certain position amongst your friends.”

Cons/ Concerns/ Regrets

Tattoos are permanent, and it’s almost impossible to take them off completely after they’ve been done, which sometimes can result in regret. One way to avoid regretting getting a tattoo is by thinking about what you’re getting and what it means.

Polynesian or tribal tattoos have been done in the United States for a long time. Today, they’re just looked at as designs, but back then they represented tribes, families and religions.

Martin Camiño, a 46-year-old tattoo artist and the owner of Ichiban Tattoo in Lawrence, thinks tattoos need to be well thought about before someone decides to get them.

“It’s not good to copy something you see from a picture when it comes to tribal tattoos, because they were done in a spiritual way,” Camiño said. “Copying something like that is considered bad luck.”

Tattoos can also come with a health risk. Many tattoo parlors practice unsanitary procedures while performing tattoos. Using the same needles to perform tattoos can result to the transferring of diseases through blood borne pathogens.

Some people are against the idea of getting tattoos.

Iqbal ‘John’ Nasiri, a 21-year-old Shawnee male, and the owner of Ice Fire Hookah Lounge, would never get a tattoo, because it’s against Islam–the religion he practices.

Fardin Khan, a 23-year-old Lenexa male shares Nasiri’s beliefs.

“My mom would disown me if I ever got a tattoo,” Khan said.

Monson, who has a total of seven tattoos, regrets the tattoo on his right arm–a gang affiliated tattoo, which he got when he was just a teenager.

“It (gang affiliated tattoo) does give you ideas of what you have done in your past…so some things you want to forget, but you can’t forget about them, because it’s now marked on you, and it’s always something you’ll remember,” Monson said.

Pros

Some people get tattoos to remember certain incidents in their lives.

“It really is up to personal choice and if you’re wanting to tell a story on your body–something that you can carry with you instead of hang on your wall,” Monson said.

Camiño thinks the society is becoming more accepting of the art of tattooing, nowadays.

“It’s just art. I fell in love with tattooing. I don’t understand why the society fails to see that,” Camiño said.

Transcript

Annureet Kaur: Aaron Monson, a 21-year-old manager at Ice Fire Hookah Lounge tells us about his tattoos, what they mean to him, and if he regrets getting any of them.

Aaron Monson: The first tattoo I had gotten was my initials on my back. My initials are ‘AJM’, and when displayed, it also has a mix message inside of it with an ‘MJ’, because I used to…what’s the word for it…distribute drugs. Another tattoo that I had gotten was here on my arm…a representation, which involved myself with the wrong group of people…gang affiliation, and criminal actions. I have ‘MOB’ tattooed over my ribcage…personal mission that I had towards the idea of gaining status over relationship and live by it to this day. The last tattoo that I have is ‘illuminati’, which you can view both upside down and right side up. The reason that I have that tattoo is for the reason that…there’s someone always watching over your shoulder and that you can’t see them, but they can see you. I regret one (tattoo). The one of my arm, primarily is more employment. Also it does give you ideas of what you have done in your past…so some things you want to forget, but you can’t forget about them, because it’s now marked on you, and it’s always something you’ll remember.

Multicultural Fashion Show

Thiago Vianna represents his native country, Brazil, on the runway

From left to right: Bithia Gutema and Sundus Javaid host the multicultural event at JCCC

From left to right: Helena Kim Salt from Korea, Noor Sheikh from Pakistan,Annureet Kaur, Ana Tripodi from Ethiopia, Dhruv Patel from India, Jon Hargett from Afghanistan, Sundus Javaid from Saudi Arabia, and Kedar Jagtap from India- after the event

The Lawrence fashionista, Annureet Kaur, at the multicultural fashion show

Johnson County Community College held a multicultural fashion show on Friday, April 5, which showcased cultures from all over the world.

The multicultural fashion show presented outfits from Brazil, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Indonesia, India, Kenya, Korea, Palestine, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Africa and Senegal.

Atama from Nigeria, habesha libs from Ethiopia, sherwani from India, shadda from Nigeria, and salwar kameez and saree from Pakistan were some of the outfits that were worn on the runway.

The event hosted about 100 people and they were amazed by the vast amount of diversity at the event.

“I’m so happy that students from all over the world came. It’s from events like this that we learn about other people’s cultures. It’s a great thing,” said Akilu Damtew, father of the vice-president and host of the event, Bithia Gutema.

The event was put together by a club called Invisible Children at JCCC, and the money collected from the event would go to children in Africa.

Sundus Javaid, the president of the Invisible Children, was satisfied with the audience turn-out and worked hard to raise money for the event.

“We started doing fundraising events like bake sales, volleyball tournaments, etc. to raise money for the event itself, and also for the children in Africa” Javaid said.

Eyebrow Threading

A threading salon recently opened up in Lawrence called Brow Expressions.

Transcript

Intro: The hundreds of years old art of threading has recently made its way into Lawrence with a salon named Brow Expressions.

Annureet: The 47-year-old owner of Brow Expressions, Nasrin Parast, thinks threading is a better alternative for hair-removal than waxing.

Nasrin Parast: The best thing is, there is not any chemical, just a regular thread that pulls up the hair from the follicle. It lasts longer, no chemical to damage their (customer’s) skin or burn their (customer’s) skin.

Annureet: A 60-year-old Lawrence female, Deborah Miller, thinks threading makes your eyebrows look much cleaner as compared to waxing.

Deborah Miller: I like the shape of my eyebrows. They look very clean and the threading was less painful overall than the waxing.

Annureet: Threading can be done to your entire face and not necessarily just to your eyebrows.

Nasrin Parast: Usually some of them (customers) ask me about the full face. They say, can I do side, upper lips, chin? And then I told them that yeah, it’s good. And then they do it, and they love it.

Annureet: Brow Expressions is located on Louisiana Street by GNC and Panera Bread.

Sign off: This is Annureet Kaur with Lawrence Fashionista.

Leggings

Leggings have been an ongoing trend now. People style them differently. Some dress them up, while other dress them down. Certain women prefer to wear them at home, and others think they look good with dresses, tunics and skirts. The trend has been around for a few years, and it seems like it’s going to stick around for a few more years.

Transcript:

Annureet: Leggings have been in style for a long time now. They are comfortable, chic, stylish and fashionable. You can dress them up or wear them to the gym. Leggings are a comfortable alternative for college girls, who don’t like dressing up to classes in the early morning. A 20-year-old sales associate at Forever 21, Emily Hackworth, enjoys wearing leggings, but only at home.

Emily Hackworth: I think it’s more of a at home thing, like I think if it’s just comfortable, like I wear them at home.

Annureet: Leggings can be dressed up with over-sized sweaters and tunics, or dressed down with a sweatshirt and some boots. An 18-year-old Overland Park female, Sophia Angell, thinks it’s important for a person to think about their body type, and the occasion before they decide to wear leggings.

Sophia Angell: I like leggings. I wear them, a lot. I think it depends on your body type. I think it depends on where you’re going. I think it depends on the top you’re wearing with the leggings, definitely not a crop top. Please don’t do that.

Annureet: The leggings trend has been going on for a while now, and will probably last a few years. Leggings can have other uses to them as well. If a dress is too short to wear by itself, pairing leggings with it solves the problem. Lately, leggings have been seen in different prints and different fabrics like: leather, cotton, spandex and knit- for the cold weather. So, if you want to be comfortable and you think you can pull them off, then make leggings your best friend.

Sign-off: This is Annureet Kaur with Lawrence Fashionista.

Fashion Repeats Itself

Photo Courtesy: realsimple.com and Google images

Kayi Esse, a 23-year-old junior at UMKC, wears high-waisted shorts, which were popular in the 70s, while Nancy Schmidt, a 60-year-old sales associate at Saffees Platinum, steams empire-waisted dresses at work- the same style of dresses that she wore 30 years ago.

Esse and Schmidt are two of the many who have witnessed past fashion trends return. Just like history, fashion also repeats itself. A trend may go out of style just months after it has been introduced, but there’s a high chance that it’ll return a few years later. According to Tim Yu in an article called Why is Old School Fashion Repeating Itself?, fashion repeats itself because of the media. The current generation was brought up watching shows like That 70s Show and movies like Pretty Woman and Hutch, which make people want to repossess a past that they weren’t a part of.

“It’s like you’re tired of everything you’ve worn recently, and then you find a shirt from years ago and remember how much you used to like it, so you put it on again” Esse said.

High-waisted shorts or pants, colored pants or capris, denim fabrics, empire-waisted dresses and leather fabrics are some of the several fashion trends that were popular in the past and have returned recently.

“I used to wear colored capris to the beaches back in the day. ‘Clam diggers’, they would call them. And clam diggers are definitely back in style,” Schmidt said.

Some things that never really changed in the fashion world are: brands and inspirations. Maegan Beatty, a 24-year-old fashion designer, a history of fashion major, and the store manager at Apricot Lane Boutique tells us how certain brands like Levis and Chanel never went out of style.

“Levis Strauss invented blue jeans, and Chanel invented the suit dress, both of which are still around,” Beatty said.

Schmidt said that when she was young, the fashion inspiration was Jacqueline Kennedy. Public figures and celebrities have always been a source of inspiration when it comes to fashion and trends.

“Celebrities have always played one of the biggest roles in making trends work,” Esse said.

Besides clothing trends, some other trends that have returned are trends in accessories. Big-button earrings that were popular in the 80s have returned on runways recently. Leather shoes and leather jackets, which were popular in the 70s and the 80s, recently made it on the runway through Rihanna’s River Island collection.

Big-framed glasses that were popular in the 50s, and came back during the 80s and early 90s have also made a comeback again recently.

“Celebrities keep bringing back fashion trends from the past, and people like them. So it works,” Esse said.

Fashion is a never ending cycle, which is bound to repeat itself every few years, although, sometimes the trends return with a little bit of change.

Transcript:

Annureet: Nancy Schmidt, a 60-year-old sales associate at Saffees Platinum, tells us what she wore back in the day and how it’s still in fashion.

Schmidt: I remember back when I was in my 30s, we wore dresses then, 30 years ago, and the empire-waist was very popular and I’m just steaming a bunch of clothes right now that have that same empire-waist, although, they have added a small, thin belt at the top. One thing I do see reoccurring, growing up, stripes were always big when I was in my 20s and 30s…and you see and awful lot of stripes around right now. I am into comfort right now. I wish I could wear, I wish I could wear the you know, higher heels. They are so darn cute on girls like you, but I just can’t wear them anymore. I just want to be comfortable. Everybody sewed, that was something else too. You know, you always learned how to sew, and I can remember you know, making some of my own simple dresses at home, and they were great. You just, you didn’t wear them with a belt…I’m thinking you know, nowadays, you would probably throw a belt on, with it.

Kansas City Fashion Week

The 2013 Kansas City Fashion Week held its first runway event of the week on Thursday, Feb. 28.

The designers that presented their clothing lines at the event were: Maegan Stracy, Nikki Fizer, Lauren Cram, Andrea Marie Long and Karma Jade.

Each designer brought something different to the runway. Maegan Stracy presented a spring collection line with raincoats and boots. Nikki Fizer brought zombies to the runway with her very interesting clothing line called No Human Intentions. Lauren Cram painted a picture of the modern woman with Victrola, using sequin fabrics and lively colors. Andrea Marie Long presented an exotic, sexy, unique and culture-based clothing line. Karma Jade showed us an eco-friendly, punk, rock-chic collection, American Trash, using lots of leather fabrics.

The event hosted about 200 people and they were fascinated by the variety of each collection.

“Each collection was so impressive. It’s quite inspiring what fashion can do,” said Mike Wang, a friend of a volunteer at the Kansas City Fashion Week.

Family members of the designers also attended the event and showed support. Joe Kenn, husband of Nikki Fizer, enjoyed the event and said he loved his wife’s collection the most.

“I don’t know much about fashion, but what she [Nikki Fizer] put out there was amazing,” Kenn said.

The Kansas City Fashion Week will continue presenting other collections on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Stiletto Nails

The sharp, pointy, dangerous-looking, claw-shaped stiletto nails are in and they are here to stay.

The stiletto nail trend has taken the whole world by storm, especially the music industry. According to an online magazine called Mail Online, Lady Gaga was the first person to start the trend. Gaga was spotted wearing black stiletto nails in a visit to London in 2010. Other pop artists like Rihanna, Katy Perry, Adele, Beyoncé and Jessie J have also jumped on the stiletto nails bandwagon recently.

Kevin Nguyen, a nail technician at the Lovely Nails salon thinks they are elegant and bold at the same time, but not everyone can pull them off. They are looked at as dangerous and daring, but who said dangerous is bad.

“I love the technicality involved in the claw-shaped nails. I am an artistic guy and I look at them [stiletto nails] as art,” Nguyen said.

Pop artists may have started the trend a few years ago, but the general public has just started following the trend. Christina Borac, an architect, wears peach-colored stiletto nails and thinks they add a little excitement to her everyday life.

“People think they [stiletto nails] are very bold and crazy, but I think what makes them crazy or bold is the color they are painted with. Black is very punk. Peach is elegant and subtle. This is why I like them [stiletto nails]; you can make them match your personality just by painting them a certain color,” Borac said.

Nguyen and Borac, both think that the trend is meant for the age group of 18-35 and should only last for another few months. Stiletto nails aren’t as popular with the general public as they are with pop artists, so the trend may die down quickly.

“I’m in love with mine [stiletto nails], and I will wear them regardless of them being in style or not,” Borac said.