Bright, bold colors are in

By MARCELA ISAZA

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — This summer’s beauty trend is bold and bright, yet simple and playful. From the runways in New York to the red carpets in Hollywood, ladies are sporting bright shades of lipstick and messy updos as buns or flirty braids.

Celebrity makeup artist Matt Rezaiyan insists the new lip color trend works on all ages: If it’s bright pink, orange or red on younger women, just use a lighter version in the same bold color family on more mature ladies.

“This summer’s makeup trend is all about color which makes doing makeup even more fun, so, do not be afraid of going bold with the eyes and if you are more of a lip kind of girl, no problem, just tone down the eyes and maximize on the lips. Try colors you have never done before like a bright pink, a coral, a tangerine orange, anything that you thought you never could get away with, you totally can this summer,” says Rezaiyan. “We have seen celebrities like Jennifer Lopez, Scarlett Johansson and Rooney Mara even wearing these pops of color, so definitely don’t go shy on that.”

“Gossip Girl” Leighton Meester wore an orange-red lip color to the MTV Movie Awards that complemented her reddish- brown hair.

“I think I like to do a strong lip and a little bit of an eye but not too much. Clean skin,” says Meester. “I like to … not have to worry about wiping creases and worrying about things running.”

Kim Kardashian puts her color elsewhere, often blending different shades for a smoky-eye effect accompanied by a nude lip shade. If this is your preference, Rezaiyan says the perfect smoky look for this summer is based in blue.

“The best way to do it honestly is to get yourself some cream shadow, work that on the lid, just smoke it out, take a powder shadow that has a blue tint to it with a different brush and just kind of go over it again in the same area. That will kind of give it that blue tint,” he says.

Jet-setter Paris Hilton usually vacations during the summer months and prefers to keep her look natural.

“In the summer I am always in Saint-Tropez and Ibiza so I don’t really wear any makeup, I just wear lip gloss, a little mascara,” says Hilton. “I like to wear my hair in braids because you can just easily take it out, it has that pretty wave to it. You are always swimming on the ocean, you are always out, so it’s not really good to blow-dry and flatiron your hair during the summer.”

Renowned hair stylist Jose Eber is taking cues from New York Fashion Week, which had many runways with an undone vibe. Eber says this summer is all about texture, messy dos and pastel color rinses.

“There is a freedom of hair, let’s put it this way,” says Eber. “Women are allowed to wear their hair quite on the messy side. You have seen it on celebrities, you have seen it on models, you see it obviously all over the magazines, you see messy buns, you see messy braids. It almost looks as if everybody does their own hair which is not the case all the time.”

Where else to make a statement? Nails.

TV personality and fashion designer Whitney Port sported short dark, rounded nails with her thumb colored half-silver and half-gold. “Yeah, I think nails are just a fun way to accessorize an outfit, like they are the new accessory. It’s fun to funk it up a little bit.”

Bellacures nail salon founder Samira Asemanfar says neon nails can give your spirits a lift.

“I’ve always been a big fan of bright colors because I think that when you look down at your nails during the day, having a fun color that pops really brightens up your mood especially if you are working nine to five you are usually just kind of typing and you are like, ‘Yay, pink, pink!’” says Asemanfar.

Songwriter and performer Bonnie McKee’s manicure had four different nail colors with different glitter designs.

“My friend has a Pinterest site for nails and so I just go on and pick something and pick out my own color and say ‘do that’ and they can do anything, I swear,” says McKee.

Pop artist Ke$ha had black diamond-shaped nails with gold borders. “I was kind of going for like sexy witch or naughty flower child.”

But before you can go there, you need the right canvas — and that goes for nails, hair and skin.

Those bases need to be healthy, the experts say, recommending lots of water, SPF and moisturizers.