Fashion briefs

Wake up, and apply the caffeine on your face

Sleepy eyes can bypass coffee and cola and get their dose of caffeine on the spot, now that cosmetic companies are using a powdered form of the stimulant in beauty products.

“Our aim is to put ingredients in products that people understand, things from our everyday lives,” says Tara Cohen, director of product development for MAC cosmetics. MAC is putting caffeine into several of its skin and eye creams.

“It’s like ingesting caffeine into the body. It gives you a boost of energy and it speeds the metabolism,” Cohen explains.

The results, she says, is a reduction in puffiness around the eyes and firmer, toned skin. And by helping skin cells contract, caffeine also has anti-irritant properties beneficial to dry skin with poor barriers that allow harmful environmental factors in and moisture out, Cohen adds.

Caffeine in MAC products is in a powder form that is used in combination with emollient humectants, and well-known skin nutrients such as vitamins A and E and lavender oil.

Another everyday ingredient waking up tired eyes is menthol.

Shiseido Eye Soother uses a delivery system for its moisturizers that also holds a mild form of menthol. The menthol is released slowly for a prolonged cooling sensation.

But the active ingredient in the Shiseido product to reduce swelling around the eyes is houttuynia cordata extract, a botanical.

Sunglasses take on new look in the fall

Sunglasses, which can protect eyes from ultraviolet light, are not seasonal items but the top looks still change with the seasons.

According to Sunglass Hut, these new styles will match fall’s fashion trends:

Clear sunglass lenses complement the Nordic folkloric designs, the mix of natural ethnic textures and soft alabaster tones.

Black metal-framed glasses can be worn with both modern Gothic and Edwardian-inspired garments.

Aerodynamic frames with soft color fade lenses can balance ornamental clothing.

Gold accessories are a must-have item, and sunglasses count. A flat metal frame that sits behind the lenses offers a discreet shine.

Scarfs, purple makeup make fall fashion list

Fall clothes are beginning to fill stores, and the editors of Lucky have put together their shopping list.

A colorful and cozy striped scarf is the No. 1 must-have item, according to the September issue of the shopper’s magazine.

Other favorites are purple makeup and elegant, sparkling and affordable eveningwear, including a black shift dress, a double strand of faux pearls, a brocade frame bag and strappy satin sandals. The version of the outfit featured in the magazine costs $250.

Also on the Lucky list are high-heeled ankle boots, a shrunken jacket and lip gloss in flattering, mostly sheer colors.

Eye makeup touchups require a little time

Lipstick is easy to touch up on the go but eye shadow and liner require more time and effort. To make your morning makeup last longer, skip eye cream on the eyelid, says makeup artist Bobbi Brown. (It’s OK, though, to put eye cream under eyes as a base for concealer, she adds.)

Brown also suggests using a pale yellow powder on lids, applied with a powder puff, before any other product to take away moisture and set makeup.

These two steps are effective toward combatting humidity and the natural moisture from the eyelid to keep color cosmetics in place, says Brown.

Toddler fashions take on trendy slant

The biggest news in children’s clothes in the past decade has been that they don’t look much like children’s clothes. Think as trendy and fashionable as those of older sisters and brothers.

It’s an evolving cycle in that children want to look like teens and teens want to dress like young Hollywood celebrities. Now the copycat idea has filtered all the way down to toddlers and infants, whose so-called baby clothes have a decided sophistication. Look for boot pants, parkas and denim.

Consider, for instance, the Santa Fe style that returns in Absorba’s faux suede pantsuit for girls, trimmed in burnt-orange rickrack. It’s $58 and available at Saks Fifth Avenue.

Suspenders get a nod

GQ magazine’s style guru scores one for the braces.

It’s not just about Larry King and his omnipresent suspenders. It is about keeping the trousers in place with something unconventional and distinctive. Plus, as writer Katrina Szish claims, wrapping a strap (or belt) around the midsection cuts you in half and probably cuts off circulation.

They are, of course, old old school. During the French Revolution, gentlemen traded “knee breeches” for trousers and needed something to keep them up. Victorian women presented their fiances with hand-embroidered suspenders, designer Alan Flusser says. Gary Cooper carried them off nonchalantly in 1931.

GQ says there are rules: The material should be a sturdy box cloth. They require leather tabs and buttons. And above all, do not wear a belt.