Patrick Ta Explains the Difference Between Blush Techniques in the U.S. and Japan

When sitting next to makeup artist Patrick Ta, you're simultaneously one degree of separation from the Hadid, Kardashian, and Jenner sisters. Name any Hollywood "It girl" — Ariana Grande, Kaia Gerber, Shay Mitchell, Joan Smalls, Olivia Munn, Blake Lively — and he has probably given her a sultry smoky eye or bold lip for a big event. (I could have kept going with that list, but I think you get the point.) Because of this, Ta has over a million Instagram followers to his name and was recently named the global color artist for Shiseido.

To say his resume is impressive is an understatement, but the looks he creates on his famous canvases speak for themselves. Ta's penchant for fun color pairings, glowing skin, and lush lashes reflect the makeup trends that everyone has been trying lately. When people ask me what's in, I direct them toward his Instagram account.

Instead of scrolling through his feed, I decided to go straight to the source to find out about the looks we're going to be seeing more of this fall. While he was recently visiting New York City from Los Angeles for a Shiseido pop-up event, I got to chat with Patrick Ta about the makeup he's loving at the moment. Keep scrolling to find about more about his top five go-to looks and products.

1. Orange Blush

After spending time in Tokyo about a month ago, Ta can confirm Pinterest's 2018 Global Beauty Report that orange blush reigns over pink in Japan. He noticed that a coral hue on the cheeks is typically paired with a "very, very shimmery eye" and dewy skin. He says you can replicate the look with the Shiseido Aura Dew.

The placement of blush was also different from what his clients in the U.S. typically ask for because it changes the vibe of the look. In Japan, people focus the color underneath their eyes and across their nose for a "drunken" look, Ta says. Alternately, he noticed attendees at a Shiseido event in Tokyo had blush swept on their temples. "It was very subtle," he says. Unlike the draped blush look that Rihanna helped popularize, "it didn't look editorial to me; it just looked like part of their everyday life," Ta adds. Overall, blush is all about looking cute and youthful.

In America, on the other hand, Ta's clients usually want to look sexy. To achieve that with blush, he concentrates the color on the highest points of the cheekbones to give the face dimension and a more angular shape. Ta recommends placing blush on the high points of the cheeks (instead of the apples) "if you want your face to look a bit more snatched."

2. Experimental Eye Shadow Shapes

After frequently doing colored-liner looks for his clients, Ta prefers to create fun, unexpected shapes with eye shadow these days. "I love when the eyes are really extended out," he says. "Eye shadow pulls them outward." He recently played with this feline-inspired shape on Gigi Hadid with the hot pink look above, which he said was put together "super-last-minute."

Rounded eye shadow shapes are also a current favorite of Ta's. To create it, eye shadow is brushed on in a purposefully circular way, he says. He compares it to a cut-off almond shape. You can check it out below on Shay Mitchell with an olive shade.

View on Instagram

3. Pink Eye Shadow

Pink seems to be Ta's buzzword when talking about eye makeup. If Hadid's look wasn't proof enough, it's his go-to eye shadow color for trying out the aforementioned shapes.

You're probably going to see more neon looks pop up on his Instagram feed soon, too. He says fluorescents are the next big color trend now that burgundy eye shadow has been done over and over again.

4. Colored Mascara

Up until a couple of weeks ago, Ta never used colored mascara before. (I was shocked to hear this, too.) After using it on a shoot, "I'm super into it now," he says. Plus, spotting it in the wild recently helped him gain a new appreciation for it. "I saw this girl walking down the street, and she had no makeup on but a little highlighter, a little lip balm, and blue mascara," Ta recalls. "She looked so dope. It’s very unexpected but minimal."

You can also do some color-blocking with colored mascara. Ta likes to pair blue lashes with orange lips, purple mascara with bright pink lipstick, and a green fringe with a burgundy stain. I definitely want to try the latter this fall.

5. Dome-Shaped Mascara Brushes

With so many mascaras dropping lately, Ta focuses more on brushes than formulas. "For mascara, the brush is the most important part," he says. "I can basically build whatever I want with a brush."

Obviously, the new Shiseido ImperialLash MascaraInk is at the top of his list right now. He points out that it's perfect for applying pigment to lower lashes. "It has a dome-shaped brush, which isn’t very big," he explains. To make sure every single little lash is evenly covered, he recommends wiggling only the tip of the brush back and forth along them. This is key to keeping your lashes from looking clumpy and spidery. "That brush is definitely a lifesaver," he adds.

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