Remember back in 2016 when we told you that Patrick Ta, a relative makeup industry newbie, was the celeb artist to watch? Two years and a little over a million Instagram followers later, not much has changed from our point of view — and he's still using his growing digital soapbox to propel his love of colourful experimentation.
Ta might not come up with all the trends he tries on the likes of Gigi Hadid, Rihanna, and Kaia Gerber — he finds inspiration from other artists on Instagram just like all of us — but his artistry and reach helped ensure things like upside-down liner and monochromatic makeup reached hundreds of thousands of in-the-know beauty fans. And that is how an IG trend becomes part of the mainstream beauty zeitgeist.
So what does he see as next for Autumn? And better yet, what is he loving right now? We sat down with the Shiseido Global Colour Artist about all of this, and more, ahead.
Trend: Inner Corner Strobing
Ta's been honing this look for a minute — and for good reason. "It's an easy way to add colour to your look if you're not used to wearing colour," he says. "Say you have a little colour in your outfit, you can play off that by putting that colour into your inner corners as a highlight and not have it anywhere else."
Application is a two-pronged approach. "I like to use a shadow colour, then I will find a highlighter that has the same undertone and put that on top to give it a little pop," he tells R29. "The reason why I base it is because I want it to really show up on camera."
Trend: Straight Brows
Like the fashion and beauty industries as a whole, Ta's influenced by the '80s and '90s right now. And nothing is more '80s than straight brows. (Well, besides teased bangs and Hammer pants.)
Luckily, recreating this look doesn't require the kind of extreme tweezing that led many of us to have thinner brows during the era of the skinny arch. Use an angled brush to fill in your natural arches, then slowly build this shape by adding colour as you need it. Pro tip: Wet your brush to be extra precise and opt for a colour lighter than you normally would (don't blow your cash on a new product, just use eyeshadow). Too dark can feel more like Groucho Marx than Brooke Shields.
Trend: Glossy Lids (Without The Gloss)
Glossy lids aren't new, but they are a pain in the ass to wear. "The longevity of a wet eye is not very long," he says. "It's more of a look for a photoshoot or, if you want to wear it on a carpet, you have to put it on right before they walk out."
You can pop on some eye gloss and hope for the best, or take Ta's suggestion: Shiseido's Aura Dew, a multipurpose shimmer with a sheer base that allows it to work well on all complexions. "It looks wet when you're in the sun or in direct light, but when you're not in light, it just looks like a shimmery glitter," he says. "Just place in on the centre of the lid."
Trend: Pink Shadow With White Liner
So this isn't so much a trend as it is a trending technique to make pink makeup more wearable. "It was something that I saw on Instagram and wanted to create it," he says about pairing pink shadow and white liner, which he did on both Shay Mitchell here and Gigi Hadid.
"White eyeliner makes eyes look bigger," he says, so if you already have a set of gorgeous, doe eyes, you might prefer a flesh tone, like Joan Smalls is wearing here. The liner really sets off the smize.
Trend: Dark Brown & Burgundy Lipsticks
"I really love browns and burgundies on the lips for fall," Ta says. "Burgundy can make a look so much more dramatic and elevated."
Ta gave model Jordyn Woods this monochromatic brown look for a Shiseido master class in Los Angeles using the brand's ModernMatte Powder Lipstick in Chocolate Red. "Brown is something that people wore two years ago, but in my opinion, it's coming back," Ta says. "It's an easy way to wear a darker lip that's still in an earth tone family."
Trend: Color Blocking
Here's the thing about this trend: We haven't really seen much of it from Ta yet, save for this bold look he created on Mitchell last summer. However, he says that it just might replace monochromatic makeup as the look everyone is embracing.
Instead of a play on multiple colours in the same family, this trend calls for intentional use of bold colours on different parts of the face. "People are going to start trying more combinations of colours," he told us. "It's not for every day, but for a look."
"Before you might just do a bold eye or lip alone," he adds. "But now that there are so many products out there [for bold colour], and because of Instagram, people are more experimental."
What you will see taking over Ta's page are looks that prime us for this bold trend, which he's easing his clients into. Pair a bright red lipstick or inky wine stain with a wash of colourful pigment on the eyes and voilà — colour-blocked makeup.
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