Spring makeup tips how to add colour

After a long, dark winter the arrival of spring heralds a new start, and this season in particular, a riot of colourful makeup vying for room in your makeup bag. Ranging from birds of paradise brights, to subtle shimmering pastels, the time has come to replace the familiar blacks and browns for something a little more vibrant. A few simple makeup swaps will have your beauty routine blooming in no time. Here's how.

Lighten your lashes
Black mascara will always have a place in our makeup armoury but for a simple spring time update, why not try coloured mascara in navy blue or, better still, plum? Estée Lauder's Sumptuous Extreme Lash Multiplying Volume Mascara in Extreme Violet offers all the length and volume of your usual black mascara, but the deep purple shade will instantly brighten the eye and work beautifully with this season's pastel eye shadows.

Sumptuous Extreme Lash Multiplying Volume Mascara in Extreme Violet, £22, Estée Lauder

Pop of pink
If there is one man that can tempt you to swap your natural lipstick for a bold pink this season, it's Tom Ford. His range of universally flattering lip colours are luxurious to apply and extremely wearable. When opting for a bold lip keep the rest of your makeup to minimum, a good base and a sweep of mascara is all you need. Let your lips do the talking.

Pure Pink, £35, Tom Ford Private Blend Lip Colour

Rose tinted
Heavy eyeliner is great for those dramatic winter looks but when spring rolls around switch your attention to harnessing the light from the sunnier days with a natural eye pencil. By running a lighter eye liner around the lower lids and taking the line right into the corners, the eye instantly appears brighter, creating a wide-awake gaze to face the day with. Lancôme's new pencil in Pink Ballerina is just the right shade of rose and will work well on all skin tones.

Le Crayon Khôl Natural Origin in Pink Ballerina, £15.50, Lancôme

Purple Haze
Purple is most definitely the colour to master this season and a simple way to incorporate its varying tones is by creating a smoky eye with deep violet shadows rather than coppers or browns. The Estée Lauder Five Colour Eye shadow palette is a subtle mix of warm, smoky ember and neutral shades with a powerful, shimmering deep plum at the centre. Create a subdued foundation using the outer shades and use the centre shade to define a strong lash-line for flawless glamour in playful purple.

Five Colour Eye shadow palette in Wild Violet, £34, Estée Lauder

Pastel-perfect cheeks
Choose warm flattering colours like peach, soft pink or coral and opt for a hard-working palette that does face sculpting for you! This Clarins compact combines two complementary shades of cheek colour - a matte shade to sculpt and an iridescent shade to highlight, all presented in a sleek gold compact with mirror and brush.

Blush Prodige Illuminating Cheek Colour in Soft Peach, £24, Clarins

Nail it
Still scared of colour? Take the easy route - use nail varnish! Be as bold as you dare and surprise yourself with unexpected shades such as burnt orange or forest green. Some of our favourite spring shades can be found in OPI's Texan range, not only are the colours fantastic but the varnishes are hard-wearing too.