(From top) Yana Gupta sports fringes and disconnected layers on her tresses; Aishwarya Rai shows off the no-make-up look; Swastika Mukherjee gets a metallic shimmery makeover for her eyes; Reshmi Ghosh has her eyes done up in vibrant multi hues

If only Jennifer Aniston’s hairstylist who “accidentally” used a razor in her hair could have predicted the impact. Overnight, the Friends’ superstar turned into a style icon and had her hair style mirrored by millions of fans, season after season. The ripples could be felt ? and seen ? as far as Calcutta too.

If Amisha Patel’s golden locks earned her a boo from the F-brigade, Bipasha Basu’s fringes found takers far and wide. Similarly with make-up, while some trends tasted instant success, others didn’t get to see a single ray of day ? or disco ? light.

Presenting the GoodLife trend picks that made their mark in 2005.

Mane magic

Relaxed, cool and funky ? Calcutta witnessed all of it this past year. While some did end up straightening their hair for sheer convenience, others definitely tried to add many more layers while playing with the texture.

“Calcutta moved away from the blow-dried look this year,” confirms hair expert June Tomkyns. “People experimented with the just-out-of-bed look, leaving their hair to take shape as naturally as possible.”

So, exit straight hair and enter loads of volume and layers, more specifically disconnected layers.

“People here usually love wearing their hair straight. But this year one saw lots of layers and textures,” echoes tress expert Adhuna Akhtar.

Another hair high this year was the comeback of the fringe. According to Adhuna, anyone with a great bone structure could carry it off well. This retro “Sadhana cut” was sported by style divas like Bipasha, Twinkle Khanna and Esha Deol. Soon, this rage had gone to the city’s head.

Fringes in various lengths, styles and colours were thus common sight. They were worn in the traditional way or personalised as per requirement. “A lot of girls wore the fringe at a pronounced angle making it look very chic,” says June.

Hot hues

While colours for the tresses saw quite a riot, the most popular choices, according to Adhuna, were the “brown family”. And why not? Perfect to complement the Indian skin tone and face structure, these warm shades of browns went down extremely well.

“Deep walnut and cinnamon did particularly well this year,” reveals June.

Another highlight, she says, is the thoughtful application of the colours.

“Instead of simply streaking the strands in a shade of gold or blonde, everyone was aware of customised colouring to suit the cut of their face.”

Hair and make-up expert Ambika Pillai saw a sharp switch in placements. “People ventured for funky styles. Something like a flaming orange or a deep red only on the tips or at the fringe,” she says.

Make-up too saw a wide variety of colours this year. The Mosaic collection from cosmetic major Lakme was a case in point. In fact, even the quintessentially deep black smoky look saw some colours being added to it.

“Instead of smudging some plain black shadow, people this year lightened their eyes with some shimmery coloured powder on the upper as well as the lower lids,” says Ambika.

70s shine

“Shimmer and shine of the 70s came back with a bang,” declares make-up expert Aniruddha Chakladar. “Very Zeenat Aman in both look and feel, people were seen sporting the gloss of yesteryear with panache.”

The twist in the tale, though, was the addition of a metallic touch to all the shimmer. “Along with regular gloss and shine, there was a definite inclusion of metallic hues like bronze and gold that crept into the palette,” adds Aniruddha.

Girlie glam

Think schoolgirl and think fresh and innocent face. And going by the day look of 2005, it sure seemed that many were thinking along the back-to-school lines. Clean and scrubbed faces and an almost nude no make-up look dominated the regular scene.

In fact, this simple, non-made-up look made for quite a statement in itself. “Many celebrities stepped out with beige eye-shadow and neutral lipstick, and the average Calcuttan, too, adopted this trend immediately,” says Aniruddha.

The light lips look quickly became the rage in the parties and at the college festivals.

“A pale, glossy mouth does really look hot, both when worn to downplay heavy kohl eyes or by itself,” says Ambika.