There is so much I love about my job and I'm constantly inspired by all the amazing makeup artists and beauty enthusiasts we have a direct visual link to these days, but even I have days where I think 'I'd be very happy if I never saw that that beauty trend ever again'. I want to preface this by saying that I'm completely on board with 'each to their own' and if you want to look a certain way then more power to you - you do you. But if you want a makeup artist's professional option on some current beauty trends then have I got opinions for you!
More, More, MORE
A lot of the makeup looks made popular today are extremely heavy and bold. Makeup should be about balance and so for example, if you're highlighting your eyes with a bold dark smokey eye, it looks so much more impressive if you pair it with sheer skin, naturally groomed brows and a nude lip. All the iconic style icons know that less is more and so try picking just one feature to go bold with and keeping everything else simple and paired back. It'll look more 'expensive' and more high-fashion.
Dry Matte Lips
Matte liquid lipstick has its benefits for sure: it's very longwearing, you can get a nice crisp clean outline with it and you often don't need a liner underneath. However, you really need to keep your lips in tip top condition to be able to pull it off as its generally drying or at the very least will accentuate the look of dry lips. Whenever you're not wearing it, make sure to keep lips nourished with a good quality lip balm that's non-addicting and remember that you can always apply a gloss or lip balm over the top of a liquid lipstick for a softer look.
Highlighter upon Highlighter
Believe it or not, you can have too much highlighter. A highlight should accentuate your natural bone structure; it create a trick of the eye to make the area of application 'pop' out more than it does on it's own. Typically then we would use it on the tops of cheekbones, cupids bow of the lip, inner corners of the eyes and collar bones. You might also want to make the bridge of the nose stand out more if you have a very flat nose or non-existant nose bridge. Areas that I've seen people apply highlighter that make absolutely no sense by this logic are on the forehead, underneath a contour and on the very tip of the nose. Now there are always exceptions and some people may want to make the tip of their nose look more prominent but my suggestion is to go very easy with the product and use a soft fan brush to apply - it should give the illusion of soft light shining on the high points of face, and not look like stripes of shimmer.
Overfilled Lips
I'm actually a huge fan of appearance medicine and have had Botox and fillers in the past (Botox much more frequently) but for me the most amazing cosmetic enhancements are the ones which are undetectable. I don't meant that you can't see a difference personally in your face, but that people who don't know you should be able to look at your face and not be able to tell you've had something done. Not because it's taboo in any way or you shouldn't admit to doing it; as I say I love it and admit freely to it, but because the goal should be to look like yourself, only 'enhanced'. If you have thin lips either naturally or because they've thinned over the years, check out lip fillers but go to a qualified doctor and start very subtle.
Allure.com
Crazy Brows
To be fair, I'm not sure this was ever even a 'trend' and I appreciated the artistic value at the time but please no one ask me for wavy or braided brows, I promise this isn't a thing! I love naturally groomed looking brows; brows that have had some love and care but still look soft, fluffy and natural. I like to see texture, the odd gap between hairs and natural fullness. I love using a powder to softly fill in brows and then brush through with a clear brow gel to soften the powder and finish the look by giving the hairs a groomed feel.