Is Green the New Black?

In the December 2009 Vogue, there is a small beauty feature in which Dick Page, Makeup Artistic Director of Shiseido, declares that "green is the new black." Page is quoted as saying "I call it a replacement strategy." In other words, he substitutes an element of a familiar look with an unexpected new shade. For this new smokey-eyed look? Green!

I love green eye shadows - in all shades - but I'll admit they can be hard to work with. If you use a subtle green, it's as easy as taupe. If you want to use brighter shades, you have to be careful.

I asked Loyd Cassler, Armani Beauty expert and makeup artist extraordinaire at Saks, for his advice on wearing green on the eyes. Here are his tips - all good, I think.

• Remember your age. The older you are, the more careful you have to be in creating a green eye. I had to chuckle when he defined the cut-off at just north of 20 years of age.
  
• Consider green an accessory, not the theme, particularly if you are working with the brighter shades.
  
• Use green for pop in the middle of the eyelid, but don't take the color into the crease.
• Consider using it very close to your lashes or as a liner.
  
• Blend it with taupe or grey to tone it down and blur out the edges.

I find taupe- and olive-toned greens easiest to work with, even though Loyd thinks blue-eyed blonds are perfect candidates for teal and mint shades. That's why I found the Armani Beauty Top Coat for the holidays so perfect - it is bronze with an ever-so-subtle green cast. I also find bright greens totally stunning on dark brown and black skin, even though intuitively, the darker gals should be wearing warm shades! I guess I'm a rule breaker.

You can create Dick Page's elegant green eye with three products from the RICHROCKS Holiday 2009 Collection. The Luminizing Satin Eye Color ($25) Pyrite Crystal is a silver that's perfect for using with the liner and mascara from the collection or for blending with a green shadow you may already have (remember Loyd's tip to blend your green in with grey!). Perfect Mascara ($22) in Intense Teal is an inky teal green with a metallic gloss, much like the Armani Top Coat in effect - just a tad brighter. The Golden Green Smoothing Eyeliner Pencil ($20) - a burnished golden green - is simply gorgeous. It reminds me a bit of my favorite Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner in Stash.

I like this Shiseido Web page for an enlarged view of the RICHROCKS shades (shown to the right). You can purchase Shiseido products at Bloomingdale's and other Shiseido counters.

Wouldn't it be fun to experiment with the new black?

Photo courtesy of Shiseido