This season’s backstage makeup also saw a shift from previous seasons, which was in line with the dressy and formal wear featured on the runways: matte textures that highlight soft skin stood out in the base makeup of male models, and the tone of the base makeup was generally light and clear so as to make it look almost bright or pale.

Hence, this has been seen as the season of pink, as the pink tone-on-tone makeup, which was mainly used in ready-to-wear collections for women, was found just as easily in the backstage of many menswear collections.

This edition of the makeup artist column will give a quick overview of some of the season's menswear fashion trends worth mentioning, while at the same time providing an outlook of the upcoming men’s grooming trends on the basis of the makeup seen on the backstage of this season’s menswear collections.

In the first column of the 2022 fall season ‘Inspiration #1 – Pink Spirits,’ we saw Valentino’s womenswear runway drenched in fuchsia pink, literally from head to toe, including hair, accessories and makeup. The monochromatic pink mood was again seen in this season’s menswear collection, with fuchsia pink, undoubtedly the trendiest color at the moment.

If you take a close look at this season's menswear collections, you'll notice that the pink-tone trend is not limited to just clothes. The color is used either from head to toe, or in small amounts, and is often matched with black or similar colors, to maintain that sense of chicness. Pink is seen throughout the eye-catching, rhythmical runways, from tailored coats, suits, and blazers to casual sweatshirts and knitwear.

That isn’t to say that the entire collection is tinted in pink. In most cases, only three or four outfits from a single designer's collection adopted pink. In other cases, like in the Versace collection, pink is mixed and matched with purple or orange to add a dynamic variation here and there.

Also standing out in this season’s menswear collection was the color red. As with fuchsia pink, red was seen in formal ensembles like suits and blazers as well as in casual outfits as a way of adding a colorful touch to emphasize a sense of sexuality and intensity. Red was used in casual pieces like knitwear or sweatpants in dramatic contrast with achromatic colors like gray and black, as can be seen on the runways of Loewe and of Hermès, for elevated sensuality and sophisticated-ness.

Many runways featured power shoulders that have been reimagined as wider or rather unique shoulder lines, as if to give kudos to the oversized silhouette that continues to stay in trend.

Another key element that accompanied the wide shoulder line and peaked lapels were double breasted jackets. The added formality works well with wide shoulders and is in keeping with the general ‘formal look’ trend in men’s apparel.

Kim Jones, the art director at Dior Homme, introduced romantic tailoring by balancing traditionally feminine details like flowers and appliqués with masculine elegance. At the backstage of the Dior Men collection, models in dapper attire were seen wearing cosmetics that took men's grooming to a new level. As seen in the Resort collection, clean, firm base makeup that helps bring out the natural curves and edges of the face seemed to be the trend. Much like the S/S Dior Men collection, the skin looked blurred and flawless as if it had been dusted with HD powder, and that vivid pink hue that was sprinkled over the overall milky skin added a touch of liveliness.

The current trend in makeup is using sufficient skincare products to smooth out the surface of the skin, then applying, from the center of the face towards the outside, a multi-primer that fills in wide pores and protects the skin from UV rays. As more people are choosing small tools to apply their makeup, a spatula could be used for a more even application with less quantity.

Everything from the model's face and eye makeup to the attire and lip color creates a cohesive, pastel-hued look that is both gentle and stylish. To complete the look, a light pink lip color with a velvety touch was applied to complement the lips' natural hue.

The makeup that was paired with the relaxed, gender-neutral collections that employed one-of-a-kind fabrics and silhouettes opted for a fresh and moist finish rather than a matte one. Bringing out the freshness of a natural, dewy skin tone with a vibrant shade of pink, the makeup technique offers a borderless, vivid, and natural finish, while letting the natural skin or lip color shine through. 

Robyn Lynch's collection, which is making waves based on its fresh aesthetic and cutting-edge materials, featured delicate makeup that balanced the warm, cozy styling shown with vibrant blue and yellow outerwear. The key in this look is in applying a light-texture foundation to the face and body to create uniform and flawless skin, thereby revealing its natural glow.

The Kaushik Velendra collection featured a new dimension of makeup using a shimmering satin sheen, in line with this season's signature drapery colors and patterns of green, gold, and silver. The eyebrows are combed to follow the texture as naturally as possible, with the contour sharply drawn, and the eyes, cheeks, and lips all colored in the same tone for an overall clean and restrained three-dimensional curvature. Seen on the Rains runway were models with subtly glowy skin with a powdery finish on their cheekbones and eyebrows, emphasizing their facial features.

Applying typical female makeup looks on male models is a hallmark of the gender-neutral makeup trend. Starting with this season, the menswear collections seem to be making a strong statement that the color pink is not just for girls or ladies.

The skin tone is highlighted using extra gloss to the eye and the lip makeup. A red-pink colored hybrid satin glow with as little tint of yellow as possible was seen on these runways. The recently dropped multi-stick products and lip glosses are examples of multi-functional glossy cosmetics that take into account not only the makeup effect but also the health of the skin.

In the past, the trend was bright and shimmery makeup that made the entire face look radiant. In this season, however, we are seeing a lot of smooth satin sheens that follow the contours of the face. It's good to use a brush to get the most out of the glossy finish, but because the bristles may soak up the product, tapping it with your palms may help bring out the shine. Where to apply the gloss is also an important question: apply the product to the curved areas between protruding features where light lands first, for that extra soft look.

Do you recall the grunge eyes from last year's column? Men's eye makeup is constantly changing, and it’s now changing more boldly than ever, even compared to last year’s 22 S/S makeup trend.

Last year in the S/S collections, makeup artists focused on the area around the eyes, but for the 22 F/W collections, they attempted to create a smoky effect that extended to the eyelids for truly smoky eyes. This smudge technique seems to imply inner masculine tenderness, alongside the overall clean-cut formal and dapper attire, the gender-neutral outfits and hair, for a neutrally novel look.

The VTMNTS collection blurs the lines between genders, widening the concept of genderless or even gender equality in the same way that gender-neutral colors and styles have done for the fashion and beauty industries. The fatigue-mood makeup featured in this collection was created to make the models appear fatigued, with hairstyles using short buzz cuts, faces covered in scars and puffy eyes drawn purposefully on the faces, which was evenly toned with foundation.

These ‘wounds’ are staged by removing any shine by applying powder on top of foundation, using derma wax, a special-effect makeup ingredient, to give the impression of uneven, three-dimensional skin, as if it were healing from a wound, then putting on some crimson liquid lipstick or artificial blood. This special makeup look, combined with the designer’s hip yet daring designs, create a synergistic effect.