The Makeup Mole

Thursday’s fashion parade for Myer’s Spring/Summer collections was all glitter and mayhem backstage, with 22 makeup artists, 75 models, 7 manicurists and a veritable fleet of hairdressers all working their creative magic to make the girls look breathtaking.

New makeup kid on the block, Illamasqua, just arrived from the UK and selling like the proverbial hotcakes at Myer, was sponsoring the show so we were using all of their products to create the looks. We were also fortunate enough to have the Illamasqua creative director, Alex Box, here to direct the show, which is a rare treat.

I’ve assisted Alex in London and Paris for a long time so I was heading up the Ready to Wear section of the parade whilst she was looking after the Avant Garde Gold section. Dressed in the season’s hottest trend of nude dresses the models literally looked like they’d swum out of a golden, glittery sea. Genius hairdresser Brad Ngata did an amazing job on the hair, which was either loose, gorgeous and sexy hair for the Ready to Wear models, or for the golden girls slicked back with gold leaf through it.

We were lucky to get some of Sydney’s top makeup artists to work on the show as many of them are fans of Alex’s editorial work, so backstage it was lovely to see some of our major makeup stars working side by side.

Illamasqua very kindly gave every artist a full set of Illamasqua brushes so we were all getting into those, particularly the Contour and Buffing Brushes. I love the feel as they are made of synthetic fibres so they are cruelty free, super soft and easy to clean. This was big makeup so we put those bad boys to work!

Both the looks were heavily contoured so we used cream foundation to perfect their skin, and then spent quite a bit of time buffing in contouring and highlighting powders (key to both looks was the layering of products). Here is a breakdown for Alex Box’s Gold Avant Garde Goddesses.

Illamasqua Avant Garde Gold
All products are by Illamasqua

Face

• Flatten brows against the skin using soap and a toothbrush to create an exaggerated bushy shape
• Illamasqua Satin Primer all over face
• Using Illamasqua cream foundation about two shades darker than their natural skintone, start bronzing the skin with the Foundation brush.
• Contour the skin using Illamasqua Rumour powder blush (a grey tone) then work into the same area with Disobey Powder blush, a biscuit colour, using the Blush Brush 2 over the brow, up into the temples, under the chin and down in to the neck. The combination of colours is what brings dimension to the face.
• Using Illamasqua Bronzer duo in Glint/Burnish, dust the dark side of the bronzing duo over the same contoured area again.
• Use the lighter side of the Bronze duo Glint/Burnish, fill in the areas of the face that weren’t covered with the contour/bronzer to start bringing radiance to the centre of the face.
• Using Create blush, go over the chin, forehead, neck, ears and cheek area using wide, sweeping motions and a Blush Brush 1 brush, but avoiding the nose.
• Take Marvel pigment and a Blush Brush 1 brush to go over the whole face, but adding more gold through the centre of the face. Work gradually to build the colour.

Eyes

• Illamasqua Wolf Powder shadow is used first to get the shape of the eye, creating a strong contour shape up into the crease and over the lid. Take the Wolf shadow quite high on the crease, and use an Eyeshadow Brush to smudge underneath eye to make a dramatic round shaped eye.
• Using Gimp shadow, a matte black, go over the whole lid and up into the crease, with the Eyeshadow Brush, and under the eye as well. Make sure it is stronger on the outer 2/3rds and up into the crease area for extra drama. Soften the outer edges with a Blend Brush 1 underneath so it blends in with the gold on the cheeks.
• Line waterline with black Sophie pencil and smudge all around eye. Blend in well with the Gimp shadow.
• Spatter Solstice Liquid Metal (Gold) on inner eye corners and tear ducts using fingers and a Lip Brush. It should cover the inner 1/3 of the eye, and look quite organic. Take under the inner eye corner as well with the Lip Brush.
• Gold Marvel pigment goes over this, with the same Lip Brush.
• Harness mascara (black) top and bottom lashes
• No 13 lash is applied to top lashes.
• Use Gimp shadow with Eyeshadow brush along the upper lashline to make sure there are no gaps in the black
• Illamasqua Android pigment goes on the outer corner of the lid, just up to where it meets the gold on the inner corners, with Eyeshadow Brush
• Solstice Liquid Metal is painted all over neck, body and ears with Foundation brush.
• Spatter large craft glitter in gold randomly over hairline and neck and shoulders

Lips

• Gold highlight lip using Solstice Liquid Metal on cupid’s bow and Lipliner Brush.
• Add Brilliant clear gloss with Marvel pigment in it with fingers in the centre of lips.

I loved this show – incredible clothes (what we have come to expect from Alber Elbaz), and I found the aesthetic to be really interesting. This season the Lanvin team were playing with the idea that everybody is starting to look the same, which I think we can all attest to – the incredible rise in plastic surgery creating a veritable army of clone-like female “beauty”. By giving the models the same hair and a robotic black eye, Elbaz eloquently makes the point that fashion should also be about diversity. It might be beautiful, but surely we don’t want everyone to look the same? Nice to see a really interesting ethos behind a show. Hats off to Elbaz, Guido on hair and the redoubtable Pat McGrath on makeup (who, quite frankly, does it again).

For those viewers at home who would like to take this look for a spin, I would recommend:

• Bobbi Brown Black Ink Gel Eyeliner plus MAC Smolder pencil and MAC Carbon shadow to create the black structure to the eye
• MAC Pro glitter in Gold and Reflects Antique Gold for golden shine on the lid
• Benefit Hoola bronzer for contour under the cheekbones (no blush)
• Estee Lauder Vanilla Truffle lipstick for an expensive beige mouth, and Estee Lauder Clear Gloss for shine

Last Thursday was the Hugo Boss Black show which is the biggest show I’ve ever worked on. A total of 35 models (both men and women) walked the extra-long runway in a gigantic museum in Berlin as the snow fell outside.

Kay Montano was the makeup artist and the amazing British hairdresser Sam McKnight and his team worked their magic on the models’ hair. A total of  22 hair and makeup artists worked for 6 hours to get everybody perfect for the show (which ran a little late as Hilary Swank was chatting to reporters outside.)

It was the Scottish designer Graeme Black’s first season designing with Hugo Boss and the resulting collection was absolutely immaculate – androgynous Austrian model Iris Strubegger stole the show in a thigh high pair of suede boots and intricately beaded minidress.

The makeup concept according to Kay was “vintage Catherine Denevue via Kevyn Aucoin heavy natural, with noughties rock eyeliner”. Lips were classic beige courtesy of  NARS Belle de Jour, and it was the first outing for the new Max Factor Lash Extension mascara, which is my new must-have product.

Our final report of the week comes from Richard Nicholl’s show – predictably another standout show from the Aussie designer.

The makeup from Sam Bryant’s team was either a wash or purple or a wash of orange on the eyes. These were created using a mixture of textures – creams, shimmer powders, and pigment mixed with MAC Mixing Medium.

The show was sponsored by MAC.

Purple and Orange Eyes

Base – MAC Studio Sculpt foundation, with MAC Pearl Cream Color Base as a highlight

Eyes – Purple

Apply a  color wash of purple crème all over eyelid, from lash line to browbone

Mix MAC Fuchsia pigment with MAC Makeup mixer and apply to outer corners for intensity

MAC Swish Frost eyeshadow

Eyes – Orange

MAC Dusty Coral Paint Stick washed all over eye

MAC Basic Red Paint Stick blended and washed into the Dusty Coral

Blush – Powder blush blended right into the temples and hairline (the product used was a Mineralize duo that’s not yet available)

Lips – Dab crème colors over lips with fingertip and blend

Niamh Kavanagh was on Miranda Joyce’s team yesterday, for TopShop Unique, where the inspiration for the show was none other than Pamela Anderson, who is rapidly gaining a living icon status.

Hair was by the ever- amazing hair wiz Paul Hanlon and featured totally disheveled ponytails gripped with neon-pink bows.

Sponsored by MAC

Neon Pink Pumped up Lips

Base – MAC Studio Sculpt foundation, really minimal, only where needed

Lips – MAC Magenta Madness pigment, with Pink Shock Cream Color Base

The breakdowns continue! Niamh Kavanagh was on Charlotte Tilbury’s team yesterday afternoon for the Jenny Packham show, where the reference was grunge muse, Courtney Love.

This season MAC seem to have dialed down their ubiquitous presence at the shows, however even without sponsorship it seems no catwalk look is complete without a healthy dose of MAC. It leaves the playing field wide open for other companies – like NARS, Lancome and Illamasqua to sponsor shows, as the PR that follows is great for brand exposure.

Courtney Love Beautiful Grunge look – Charlotte Tilbury

Base – Very pale, using MyFace Fair foundation and MyFace Pressed Powder in Fair (which Niamh tells me is amazing!) all over face, down neck and onto arms for a Seattle moon-glow.

Eyes – Elizabeth Arden Smoky Eyes Powder Pencil in Smoky Black along the upper lash line, with no blending, and no winging at the outer corners.

MyFace Black mascara on top lashes, and slightly on lower lashes

MAC Clear Gloss all over top lid, up to the browbone, with a bit of the Elizabeth Arden Smoky Eyes Smoky Black liner mixed in with it, to create a shiny grey wash.

Lips – MAC Brick lip liner all over entire lip, then a mixture of MAC Ruby Woo lipstick and MAC Black Lipmix was dabbed on top of this to create a burgundy stain.

The look for John Rocha was very antique dolls – Sam Bryant’s team on makeup, and Sam Hillerby on hair.

Base – MAC Face and Body in C1, to make the girls slightly paler than their natural color

Eyes – Illamasqua palette in Solstice over the entire lid up to the brow.

MAC Gold pigment dusted over lid and into the crease to really add definition, and also up into the brows, onto the temples and over the cheekbones.

Then to make the shape more Egyptian, MAC Mixing Medium was added to the Gold pigment and worked into the inner and outer eye corners to make a more unusual eye shape.

Cheeks – Ben Nye Orange and Pink cream blushes, mixed together applied in an upside down triangle shape to cheeks, then blended well

Lips – The same Ben Nye cheek colors were used on the lips.

So the madness begins! London Fashion Week has kicked off again and I can guarantee that right at this moment hundreds of hairdryers are being used, lips are getting stained in all sorts of colors and mascara is going on lovely curled lashes all over this fair city. I’ll be bringing you the beauty breakdowns as they happen – the clothes, the girls, but most importantly – what eyeliner are they wearing?

Our first backstage report comes courtesy of makeup artist Niamh Kavanagh who is quite the lady in demand this season. She has shows all over town on teams ranging from Sam Bryant’s to Charlotte Tilbury’s. Her first show was Eon Jeong, with key makeup artist, Polly Osmond.

Eon Jeong was held at Somerset House which is Fashion Base Camp this season, and the energy backstage was off the charts! Alain Pichon was rocking out crazy big hair which is already looking like becoming something of a trend this season, storming the runways of New York and now hopping the pond over to London.

The show was sponsored by Loreal Cosmetics. The makeup was icy white eyes with a very clean base.

Base – L’Oreal’s Studio Secrets foundation, all over to even skin tone

Eyes – Studio Secrets white eyeliner inside and around both upper and lower eyelids

Mascara – Using the white of the Double Extension Renewal mascara to add a ‘touch of white’ to the lashes, top and bottom

Lips – Finish off with Studio Secrets lip lacquer 410 by gently pressing in to the lip with tips of fingers