Makeup looks—on runways or on the street—are ever so dynamic, especially with every change in fashion seasons. But there are two looks that always seem to withstand any season or trend and are always a staple in fashion catwalks: the Au Naturel (no-makeup look) and the Vamp (smoky eyes and sexy pout).

Au Naturel

Nail the no-makeup look

Models on the Spring/Summer 09 runways looked as fresh as the ultra feminine and romantic clothes that they were wearing. The secret was in the makeup look, which actually looked like, well, nothing.

It may look like you’ve got nothing on and, therefore, it would seem like it’s easy to do, but the no-makeup look is actually quite difficult to achieve.

The art of applying makeup that looks natural on skin is not very easy. But it can be, especially if you have great skin. As any makeup artist would tell you: Great skin means less makeup—and less effort. [natural make up]

But if you’re in the middle of a skin breakout or if skin is actually looking dull or sallow these days, you can still fake perfect skin. Here’s how to get the no-makeup look:

But if you’re in the middle of a skin breakout or if skin is actually looking dull or sallow these days, you can still fake perfect skin. Here’s how to get the no-makeup look:

1. Cover up. Apply concealer on discolorations under eye circles, blemishes, etc—and not on the whole face. Foundation is too heavy and would result in a less natural-looking makeup. Most often than not, especially if you have good skin, concealer and loose powder are more than enough to even out skin tone or create a flawless-looking base.

2. Eye makeup: Smoky eyes are definitely not in the no-makeup look equation. For the eyes, try applying colored eye liner closest to the upper lash line. It gives a very subtle hint of color to the eyes.

You’ll actually leave people guessing if you are, indeed, wearing eye makeup. You can do away with mascaras and eye shadows with this nifty trick. But if you must highlight your eyelashes, go ahead. Just make sure to apply a single coat of mascara for a look that’s as close as possible to no eye makeup

3. For cheeks: Cheeks must look like they’re naturally flushed. The key here is to look for blush color that closely mimics your natural flush. Pay close attention to your skin tone. Those with darker skin tones would benefit from blushers with a hint of orange, while those with fair skin can go for pinks.

4. Apply blush: To keep the color in check, set with a high pigment loose powder. But never go overboard on the powder or you’ll risk ruining the effect you want to achieve. And remember to apply blush-on before the loose powder as this will help seal the deal, so to speak, and make blush look more natural.

5. For the lips: Again pay close attention to your lip tone. Nude lip shades may vary for each woman. Some need pink-nude shades to perfectly cop the look of nude lips, while some may need nude shades with more beige or brown tones. Choose the right nude lipstick shade for you and add a hint of gloss with no-color lip gloss.

The Vamp

Achieve perfect smoky eyes

The antithesis to the no-makeup look is smoky eyes. As with any eye makeup, achieving this sexy night time look entails perfect blending. People always equate smoky eyes with black and dark gray eye shadows; but this is not necessarily true.

You can use any color: Just opt for the darker shade of that color. So if you want to use green, opt for dark or emerald green to give your eyes more drama and depth.

There’s also one very important word to remember to achieve smoky eyes: smudge. You have to smudge the color around the rim of the eyes, then blend—from the outer corner of the eye going up till the fold or crease—until there’s a seamless mix of colors.

If you don’t have the time or tools for professional and foolproof eye makeup blending, there’s an infinitely easier way to achieve smoky eyes.

1. Apply a lighter tint of eye shadow on your lids as base, preferably something with shimmer.

2. Next, line the entire rim of eye with dark kohl liner and smudge the line with a cotton bud. The key thing here is to not create a perfectly drawn line: You want to look like you’re wearing eye shadow, and not just eyeliner. But you also have to make sure to smudge well and evenly because you also don’t want to be caught with an obvious, uneven line of black around your eyes.

3. Finish with two to three coats of mascara, and make sure to go for waterproof formulations applying mascara.

4. With smoky eyes, eyebrows should be understated but not obscure. You may simply groom them with eyebrow mascara in the same shade as your eyebrow hairs.

Get full, pouty, sexy lips

A sexy pout—something that would closely resemble Angelina Jolie’s or Megan Fox’s—is something everyone covets. Well, you don’t have to be Angelina or Megan to have sexy and gorgeous lips: It’s all in the application—where to apply and just how much to apply—of your favorite lipstick shade and gloss.

1. Moisturize lips. One important step that everyone almost always forgets is moisturizing lips. This is an important first step. After applying the lip moisturizer of your choice, wait two minutes then bite on a tissue to remove excess moisturizer on lips.

2. Apply lip liner. Lips can be extended a little to start creating the pout. But be careful not to extend the whole lips, maybe just slightly above your Cupid’s bow, or where the upper lip arches—or you might closely resemble, not Angelina or Megan, but the Joker. Lip liners should also match your lip tone, and not your lipstick or gloss.

3. Apply the lip color you want. Ideally, it should not be so different from your lip liner. One to two shades darker or lighter should be enough.

4. Top off lip gloss in a dark tint, avoiding the middle part. Apply another lip gloss color, this time in a lighter tint, on this middle part (the Cupid’s bow). This trick creates the illusion of fuller lips.

5. You may also try those lipsticks and lip glosses with lip-plumping ingredients and formulations (usually with cinnamon and ginger). They do give your lips a gorgeous bee-stung look—and trust me, you’ll also feel the difference.