Eye-shadow colors come down to earth

KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
To track the temper of these challenging times, you may find clues in an unlikely place.
Look at makeup trends.
That's the opinion of Gordon Espinet, MAC cosmetics director of makeup artistry. When times get tough, he says, face paint moves to a higher wattage.
"With all that is going on in the world, there has been a lot of negative. Fashion has always been an escape," he said in New York recently. "When things are dark, it's beautiful. When things are good, we are almost morbid."
He cites the boost in red lipstick sales following the Sept. 11 attacks. "Fashion does a really big effort to put people in a positive state."
After working backstage at many of the shows during the recent New York Fashion Week, Espinet was touting an eye shadow palette of neutral earth colors. It's a shift from many of the pale pastels in the spring. (Paint box green was everywhere.) Instead, think Leonardo da Vinci paintings.
Why? It's because of all the odd color mixes in clothes such as teal with burgundy or emerald green and hot pink. You don't want to compete.
Makeup is "all about a perception," he said. "A little bit of theater."