Vogue’s Beauty Blog called this show look “strange beauty”. Kay told me she aimed for a “polished and perfected look with a subtle edge.”
Foundation: MyFace Mymix foundation
Powder: MAC Prep and Prime powder
Eyes: Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner in Black Ink. No mascara “as it gives a certain oddness which is interesting”, Kay said.
Lips: MAC Prince Noir lipstick applied to the innermost centre of the lips and smudged outward with a finger, creating a black cherry stain which was both sensual and innocent.
Report by Celine Bopp | Makeup Director Sam Bryant
Sponsored by MAC
The girls at Richard had very defined eyebrows, with a ‘finished and sporty’ glow, dewy and alive, but always cool.
Skin
The skin was perfected and kept cool toned using MAC Studio Sculpt foundation.
Eyebrows
Squared off and elongated using MAC Eyebrow Pencils in Fling, Lingering, Spiked and Stud (depending on the model’s colouring).
Contouring
Using three tones on the cheeks, MAC Cream Colour Base in SandBrown to create the cheek bone, Cheek Matt low on the cheeks, with a touch of Ginger Cream Blush in the middle, all beautifully blended together. Divine.
Highlights
Beautiful highlights were placed on the cheekbones, bridge of nose, inner eyes, Cupid’s bow and chin using Vaseline and MAC Silver Dusk powder
Lips
Just buffed off with cotton bud and left au naturel.
The theme of this show was a dancer, just come out of dance class, fresh faced and innocent. Beautiful.
Skin
MAC Face & Body foundation for a very sheer base, and only if the model needed it. Super fresh skin.
Eyebrows
Brushed up using MAC Eyebrow Gel
Eye
A tiny line blended into the socket line of MAC Evil eye shadow, barely there, just enough to see as she blinks her eye.
Cheek
A flushed cheek, using a mixture of MAC Lilicent and So SweetSoEasycream blushes to make it look like she’d been working out.
Lip
The natural colour of the lips was brought out by mixing either MAC Lip pencils in either Beet, Dervish or Spice, with a little Vaseline, and then blotted to take out any glossiness.
Report by Celine Bopp | Makeup Director – Sam Bryant
Inspiration
This season the John Rocha girls were just on their way to Glastonbury to work on the circus, a bit grungy fresh, with a conceptual lip. Feral eyebrows.
Skin
Fresh skin was the look, using MAC Face and Body foundation a fraction paler than their skin tone, so that the skin felt real on the girls.
Becca Shimmering Skin Pefector was used for highlighting nose, chin, cheeks and a wash over the eyelid.
Cheek
A fleshy coloured cream colour (MAC Uncommon Blush Crème) was placed just at the low front part of the cheek, just a suggestion, not heavy.
Eyebrows
Real hair was finely chopped and added into the girls brows to make them big and ‘feral’!
Lip
MAC Vino Pencil was used to create the strong v-shaped lip, top lip sharp with a softened lower lip, giving it a grungy but not too grungy feel.
MAC Silver pigment and MAC Mixing Medium was used to acccentuate the cupids bow.
Finally a light dusting of Ben Nye Translucent powder, not too heavy, just to take off the shine.
Well not actually me in person if you haven’t guessed, but the Mole has her spies everywhere! This time around my superspy superstar backstage makeup artist is Celine Bopp, one of my oldest and dearest London makeup friends. Celine was first assistant to major makeup artist Sam Bryant for over three years, where she worked constantly with photographers like Tim Walker and celebs like Natalie Portman. She has also assisted Alex Box and Kay Montano on a regular basis for a number of years, and is a fabulous makeup artist in her own right, now working independently on jobs like Hugo Boss and McQ by Alexander McQueen.
For London Fashion Week this year she was on Sam Bryant and Alex Box’s team – here she shares with us the look at Betty Jackson (one of my favourite shows to work on. Great girls, great clothes and great makeup – what more could a girl ask?)
BETTY JACKSON
Makeup Director Sam Bryant
Sponsored by MAC
Inspiration
Think Patti Smith grunge, smokes a lot of fags and doesn’t pluck her eyebrows. Tobacco stained girls with a touch of Violet from the Incredibles. Amazing.
Foundation
Pale skin using MAC Studio Sculpt foundation
Brows
Thick elongated brows with MAC Eyebrow Pencils in Fling, Lingering, Stud and Spiked (an MM favourite!)
Eyes
Tobacco eye – Like a nicotine wash over the whole lid, slightly squared off at the brow, buffing in MAC Pro Sculpting Cream in Malaysia
Cheeks
MAC Pro Sculpting Cream in Malaysia was used as the lighter colour, and Pro Sculpting Cream in Sand Brown was used at the back of cheekbone to create the contoured intensity
Lips
Lip are nude by paling them down with MAC Lip Erase in Dim
Accents and Highlights
MAC Polished Ivory Paint Stick was used to create this, no shimmer!
Powder
Finished with a light dusting of Powder with either MAC Shimmering White or Translucent
I have to confess to not being a fan of Valentine’s Day generally – well not the sickly sweet chocolates and teddy bears version (unless you’re five, when it’s therefore age-appropriate and OK). Otherwise, really the flying cupids draped in red velvet and the love hearts on everything are just twee and make me feel vaguely ill.
Come on, we’re all grown ups, right? So in the spirit of Valentine’s Day in the raciest sense of the word, I bring you an Agent Provocateur video I worked on a couple of years ago, with the unbelievable Rosie Huntington-Whiteley playing the woman scorned. Fabulous director Greg Williams wrote and directed it, Kay Montano was on makeup, and Johnnie Sapong (one of my favourite hairdressers) was on hair. The set was closed (you’ll see why when you watch it!) and the AP underwear – well it speaks for itself.
Here’s my beauty recipe for a dangerous Valentine’s day – the kind you’re really looking forward to…
For a touchable body I’m loving Liz Earle’s delicious new Energising Body Lotion with Damask Rose Flower Water and Sweet Orange Oil (this is as sweet as this recipe gets).
For a sultry gaze, mix up MAC Smolder and Coffee eye khols and add a little bit of grease like Vaseline or Elizabeth Arden’s 8 Hour Cream. Not loads but enough to give it that just-been rumpled look. Add lots of Lancome Hypnose mascara for some serious bedroom eyes.
Cheeks should be softly blushed – I like a good cream blush. Becca make a fab selection of cream blushes that look amazing on – particular faves are Geranium, Turkish Rose, Wild Orchid and Amaryllis.
To gild your body I like Illamasqua’s Ether Powdered Metal, which provides a golden glow for fair skins whilst Powdered Metal in Thalia is beautiful on darker skins.
Nails also must be Illamasqua this Valentine’s as they have the best polishes around – I’ll be using Throb, a deep blood red, or Load, which is well, a gorgeous creamy, milky colour.
No Valentine’s day would be complete without a kiss! Dab on Myface Gigabyte Lipstick in Strawberry Fields or Cherry Bomb, and add a touch of their Lip Pop gloss in 136 for lips that would give Rosie a run for her money.
I’m sorry to devastate you all, but I heard a rumour swirling around on Twitter yesterday, and checked it on the website today – and it’s true! MAC’s amazing Blushcremes are no more.
Devastation is not the word! What shall I do without them? I have almost all of them and was planning to breeze into MAC at some point for the last couple I don’t own, only to find out they’ve gone to the great Makeup Box in the Sky. Oh Ladyblush, Pleasureful and Posey, what shall I do without you? Not to mention Cheery, Cherche and Laid Back. My clients’ cheeks will never be the same. If you have them I suggest you guard them jealously (because if I find out their location, I could well be coming over to do a midnight raid on your makeup stash. You have been warned).
Because this is the site with no shame, and because I haven’t had any cheesily fabulous 80’s music on here for awhile, here’s some Spandau Ballet to ease you into this season’s hottest trend for holiday parties – Gold.
Now that I’ve blown your mind with some feathered hair and ostentatious guitar chord playing (check around the 1.23 mark if you’re into that sort of thing), it’s time to get down to business, how to shimmer like a star this Christmas.
The best way to wear golds is generally on the eyes – although this season there are some ace gold nailpolishes around too (but more on them later).
Gold suits every eye colour and in fact every skintone, and metallics in general are huge this season.
My fave way to wear gold on the eyes is to layer a cream with a powder, and for full-on Midas eyes you can’t really go past Illamasqua’s Solstice Liquid Metal with Pure Pigment in Marvel. This is what Alex Box used to create the Golden Goddess look for the Myer show in Sydney this year, and I can attest to its – well, golden-ness. I love these because the gold isn’t too yellow and fake looking, and they have a burnished quality when they catch the light (golds that are too fake and yellow looking make me feel, quite frankly, ill. So cheap and nasty!)
If you fancy something a little less full-on, Laura Mercier does a lovely gold metallic crème eyeshadow in, aptly enough, Gold, and Chanel do a beautiful gold powder eyeshadow. It’s also, funnily enough, called Gold.
There are a few tricks to making metallics work. Firstly you need to apply your shadow, then line your eyes right at the base of the top lashes with a black liquid liner or gel eyeliner. This defines the eye and makes it much more party-worthy. Black or brown pencil liner on the inner rims is optional, depending on whether you really want to get your sexy on. I like MAC’s Boot Black liquid and Bobbi Brown’s Black Ink gel liner for this purpose. You can either just do a wash of gold on the lids, or you can use a nice matte brown shadow to wash into the crease to give some good depth and definition (I’m currently loving NARS Bengali as a great all round chocolate brown eyeshadow). Two coats of your favourite mascara (my current fave mazzie is L’Oreal’s Volume Million Lashes mascara for a party lash), and false lashes are optional but always a winner for parties. MAC and Shu Uemura are great for expensive ones, Ardell if you’re saving your pennies.
You can keep the rest of the face simple by using the minimum of foundation and powder, some bronzer and keep the lip a delicious nude. I love YSL Rouge Pur in 132 a gorgeous golden pinky beige. Golden-beige gloss on top, something like Chanel’s Beige Guitare.
Nails
Nails are also a key place to go for gold. Myface L’il Bling is an amazing new range of metallic polish, and their gold polish is particularly lovely (it’s called Gilt-y). For the ultimate gold nail though you should check out Nail Rock. Nail Rock are individual nail wraps in different patterns, including metallics, that you heat up with a hair dryer onto the nail. They do take a bit of getting used to, but for a true Midas touch, you can’t go past these. They are the creation of London manicurist Zoe Pocock and they last up to 7 days on nails and 8 weeks on the toes, plus they are inexpensive (£6.50 per set), so there’s no excuse for not going for gold. (Feathered hair and ostentatious guitar playing are optional).
Report by Celine Bopp | Makeup Director Sam Bryant
