Japanese makeup trends

Looking back in Japanese makeup history, it is amazing how much Japan has evolved in its use and its application of cosmetics. Over the years there were many Asian and Western influences that largely played a part in how makeup was applied. From the traditional Japanese makeup, geisha look, to Western looks, in the 90’s, the ganguro, and in the more recent years the “haafu kao make”, this just goes to show how versatile makeup can be and how trends really can influence one’s outer appearance.

This time, I wanted to introduce some of the newer makeup trends and looks that are coming out now, that became very popular due to two makeup artists: Shinobu Igari, and Yuji Kubo.

Shinobu Igari

Shinobu Igari has been gaining much popularity on Instagram with 188,000 followers, and is known for the “Ophero make” style.  “Ophero” was created from “oshare”, which means to be trendy, with the shortened word “pheromone,” in other words, sexy.
It is a trendy, classy, yet at the same time, sexy look. She is the origin of the blush trend under the eyes as I already presented in another tutorial post. This makeup technique has become popular for suiting everybody regardless of the shape of the face. She says being inspired by the face with freckles: when you have some colors under the eyes, you look sweet and charming.

So how to create this latest popular Japanese makeup look:

• Soft, dewy skin
• Line eyes with a dark brown pencil and smudge out.
• Place a blush focusing the color right below the eye and fading towards the corner of the mouth. Picture an inverted triangle shape.
• Use products with shimmer, rather than matte
• Use a lip color similar to the blush, over a gloss. This is to avoid overly glossy lips. You can use the same base for the lip color and blush.
• Highlight skin on the inner corner of the eye, around under your eyebrows, the top of your nose, and temples. This will help to brighten the eye area.

However for the coming season, blush won’t be the focus but the eyes. We will be seeing a lot of vivid colors such as navy, orange or grey, emphasizing the eyes, even for the eyelashes will be stressed with pink mascara.

Voce！ 2号まえだったかもしれない… 囲い目をこれから顏に取り入れるためには…って考えてての、ひとつのこれ。 ネイビー× つかったもの。。。 voceに全部乗ってるけど、手元にないから… でも、、、2号前とかなんだょなぁ…

A photo posted by Shinobu (@shinobuigari) on Jun 23, 2015 at 5:50am PDT

23日発売するのvoce HAIRがBEAUTRIUMの日高さんです すてき〜♡ makeも4つでてます あとあと、 東村アキコ先生のところにも出演させてもらいました

A photo posted by Shinobu (@shinobuigari) on Apr 19, 2016 at 4:56pm PDT

Yuji Kubo

Yuji Kubo is also a famous Japanese makeup artist from the salon AnZie, and has as many as 144,000 followers in their 20’s on Instagram.
He is also known for his creative naming and marketing for his trends. He’s famous for “nama makeup” meaning “raw makeup”, reflecting the effortless / natural looking base. Recently, he developed the “Puku-Line”, which is a technique to make the eyes look more “Western”.
To create the “Puku-line”

• Select a light pink, lip crayon or eyeshadow and line the bottom of your eye.
• The key is not to use a powder or shimmery formula, but a glossy formula
• Yuji Kubo recommends using the RMK lip crayon in #1 (2,376 yen + tax)

Kubo is also known for his “Chu-Lip” technique. The name is catchy in the way, it sounds cute like the flower tulip, but also “chu” is in Japanese the sound that you do when you kiss someone.
He is said to love the CANMAKE  Lip Tint Syrup I wrote about lately in a post.
To create this lip:

• Select CANMAKE Lip Tint Syrup in #1 and #2.
• Place the darker, reddish color (#2) on the bottom lip.
• Finish the top lip with the lighter, pink color (#1)

But what Yuji Kubo announced for the coming season, is his use of a “melon”, pinkish-orange color and the use of yellow shimmer and highlight to create a “healthy” look. You can create this look with a cheek color such as RMK Creamy Powder Cheek in #3, and a lip color such as Clinique Melon Drop Pop #5 (3,456 + tax).
In the same way as Igari, Kubo thinks of highlighting the eyes and eyebrows rather than the cheeks for summer makeup.

VOCE6月号見てくれましたか(^.^)♪♪ 今回はDiorさんのタイアップページでP162〜P165のヘアメイクやらせて頂きました^ ^！！ とってもお気に入りです☺︎☆ ヘアメイクのお仕事が少しづつ増えてきてとっても嬉しいです^ ^ 美容師ももちろんやってますので夏のイメチェンによかったらおまちしてます♪ #クボメイク #vocemagazine

A photo posted by 久保 雄司 (@kup000) on Apr 30, 2016 at 3:16am PDT

2016SSクボ推し色は【メロン色】【青み】【黄ラメ】♪ 301はメロン色に勝手に認定♪ KUBO Collection model 渡部麻衣 hair.make.photo 久保雄司 #クボコレ #クボメイク #メロン色 #ジューシーシェイカー

A photo posted by 久保 雄司 (@kup000) on Apr 22, 2016 at 9:30pm PDT

As you can see, both artists focus on a natural looking base, with vivid colors around the eyes for the summer.
They also are using more of a tinted lip, rather than a matte or overly glossy look. The products that they use are from Japanese popular makeup brands, and the ones that they use to create these looks such as the RMK blue gloss or the Canmake Lip Tint Syrop are all sold out and considered today as the best cosmetics in Japan!

I hope you can try out these looks and see how you like them!