Thanks to new technology that has made colored lenses look more natural, people have been changing their eye color to match their makeup and outfits. Now Alcon is making it easier than ever to switch up your eye look with DAILIES® COLORS, its newest line of daily, disposable contact lenses. To show how seamlessly colored contacts can fit into your beauty routine, Alcon tapped makeup artist Patrick Ta to craft looks based on its four colors — Mystic Blue, Mystic Gray, Mystic Hazel and Mystic Green — as well as its AIROPTIX® COLORS line. The Daily caught up with Ta to find out how he uses colored lenses in looks for his clients, and what beauty trend really needs to go away.
Have you ever changed you eyes with contact lenses?
I did it earlier today. I do it for Halloween.
How did you get involved with Alcon?
I have been doing makeup now for seven years, and doing everything in Los Angeles for six years now. With social media, that’s how I got my start doing glamorous, exaggerated makeup. I feel like those are the girls [on Instagram] that usually change their eye colors. The world’s changing. Everything is acceptable with contacts and everything. It’s so much more common to see people changing their eye colors. It’s so much more acceptable. A lot of my clients are always changing their eye looks for red carpets and photoshoots. It’s just fun. It was fun to be able to partner up and create different looks for them.
Which of your clients like to change their eye color looks the most?
Shay Mitchell changes her eye color a lot. She loves making her eyes look hazel, or a nice little grey so they look really natural. She finds colors that are a little bit lighter than what she already has.
How can colored contact lenses enhance a makeup look?
If you’re doing a really dramatic eye by lightening your eyes with a hazel, grey, or a blue, it’s really going to make the overall look pop. Whether it’s in person or in pictures, it brings lightness into everything.
What are some tips for pairing eyeshadow colors to eye colors?
I love monochromatic eyes. If you have a little bit of green, or a little bit of brown… whatever colors that you see in your eyes will look great with the same undertones of that color.
Tell me about the looks that you came up with for Alcon!
I did more to change the eye shapes. A lot of the looks you’ll see are all within the same color family except for a few, depending on the girl’s natural eye color. But I really wanted looks that were more about enhancing and making everything glamorous but still wearable. So I chose colors that you could still wear every single day, nothing too out there.
What’s the weirdest way you’ve used a beauty product?
I use my lipstick as blush a lot. Again I like monochromatic looks, so I use my lipstick. If it’s a cream I’ll mix a little bit into the foundation that I’ll apply on the foundation so it all looks cohesive.
Do you ever look back on makeup trends and cringe?
I do that all the time. Even looks a year ago that I thought were so amazing, I look back at it like, oh my god I wish that I did this or that. Every single year you learn and you grow. What you think looks good back then changes every year.
Are there any beauty trends that you’d really like to see go away?
Blush on the temples of the face. Unless it’s an editorial or something. But I don’t think it’s a wearable everyday thing.
What’s an underrated beauty look or trend that you’d like to see more?
Weird eye shapes. Instead of blending colors, [having more] super sharp round eyes, or extended eyeshadows.
Alcon’s DAILIES® COLORS will be available starting June 17.
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