February 14, 2007
MAC Backstage Part IV
Better late than never, right?
Autumn/Winter 2007 Mercedes Benz Fashion Week is over, but thanks to MAC Cosmetics and photos from Style.com, here is the fourth and final (also? totally late!) installment of runway beauty trends.
Badgley Mischka:
This season marks the first ready-to-wear collection for the Boys of Bling. And the duo proved that they were just as masterful with suiting as they are with sequins. Because they were showing both groupings, makeup artist Tom Pecheux created a neutral daytime face that easily transitions into evening. “There’s nothing aggressive about this look,” he said. “It’s soft and elegant.” Pecheux started with matte skin on the pale side. No contour. No blush. He defined the brows, but didn’t go overboard. Next, he worked with nudes and shapers in hues of ivory, dark brown, taupe and tobacco to smoke out the eyes. He finished them with MAC Loud Lash Mascara in Noisy Black and white pencil on the inner rim. Lips stayed rather nude with a swipe of High Tea Lipstick. The finishing touches: black liquid liner and hair swept casually into a soft, looped bun. “It’s very classic. Very Audrey Hepburn,” Pecheux said.
Zac Posen:
“This season, I balanced femininity with structure,” said Zac Posen, “This collection is for a woman who’s real and who’s smart. She’s an eyebrow!” Charlotte Tilbury got the message. She created groomed arches filled in with MAC Lingering Eye Brows eye pencil. The eyes she kept neutral, applying Taupe Eye Shadow all around, curling lashes and coating them with Zoom Lash in Zoomblack. Lips were a bigger focus. Tilbury layered three hues: Laid Back Blushcreme, Ruby Woo Lipstick and Media Lipstick to effect a berry stain, which she also patted into cheeks. A swipe of Matte Bronze Bronzing Powder across the cheeks and then models were ready to jump into the Baltic ballgowns. “They look healthy,” Posen said, “I’m not interested in women looking like droids.”
Y & Kei:
For Max Delorme, the Y & Kei woman this season is “not cute.” But the French makeup artist did not mean anything negative by his comment. Au contraire. To counterbalance the tight ponytails and geometric collection at Y & Kei, he designed a face that was “dreamy but strong, not cute.” “The most important thing is the skin,” Delorme continued, “It needs to be somewhat matte, but also satiny and transparent.” To achieve these qualities, he took his time working in a dot of liquid foundation and melting it into the skin with the heat of his fingers. That was the hard part. The rest, as he put it, was “kid stuff.” With a large brush, Delorme swirled together three shades of Powder Blush- Harmony, Deep Plum and Dame- which he swept liberally across the mouth before concentrating it on the inner and outer corners of the eyes. He accented the outer corners of the eyes next with a black pencil. Finally, Delorme swiped a bit of black and gold powder on the center of the mouth before adding gloss to give the lips a sense of dimension and volume. “That’s it. It is just a soft wash of makeup,” he said. Definitely not cute.
Anne Klein:
Echoing the “couture haberdashery” in soft wood, blonde and camel tones that Isabel Toledo turned out for Anne Klein, makeup artist James Kaliardos went for “an exaggerated version of no-makeup makeup” by using beige tones to accentuate the natural architecture of the face. “It’s a neutral face,” he said, “but it’s a built face. It’s graphic, but minimal.” Kaliardos started with a base of foundation and then “carved out” the eye socket by brushing on Taupe Eye Shadow all around the eyes. Next, he lightly traced top lash lines with Fluidline in Blacktrack and applied Zoom Lash Mascara. A dash of Brow Set on arches, a touch of Medium Dark Blot Powder/Pressed on cheekbones, and a dab of Uncommon Blushcreme on the lips and models were good to go.
Daryl K:
At Daryl K, MAC makeup artist Bianca Alexander was channeling Bond girls. “She has to be ultra sexy, but not overly done-up. The Daryl K woman doesn’t try too hard.” To give eyes that downtown edge, Alexander lined the underside with Taupe Eye Pencil and Patina Eye Shadow. She dabbed Copper Sparkle Pigment on the lids and then also glossed them with Clear Lipglass. Strobe Cream, a sheer, iridescent moisturizer, was dabbed on to bring out cheekbones, and then this little rock chick was ready to roll.
Costello Tagliapietra:
Makeup artist Polly Osmond was in a Roxy Music mode. “There was a lot of deep metallic green in the clothes, and I started to think about a modern-day Jerry Hall type,” she said, “a glamorous girl who could grace Bryan Ferry’s albums today.” Again, eyes were the focus here. Osmond began by working Sumptuous Olive eye Shadow into the lids, highlighting the brow bones with Nylon Eye Shadow and working that into the inner corners. Next, she blended Deep Blue Green Pigment, a darker hue, into the center of the lids. She traced Smolder Eye Kohl along top lash lines and then blended Green Smoke Eye Shadow along the bottom. The rest of the face remained quite matte, but lips did get a boost of color. Osmond chose a shell-pink lipstick, which she layered with a peachy gloss for a mouthwatering effect.
Eye Tint in Baroque, a rich fleshy beige color, is an eye creme with a unique formulation that glides on as a creme and sets to a powder. Eye Tint glides on effortlessly for highly pigmented color and is long lasting, water-resistant and crease-resistant.
