MAKEUP LOOKS OF THE NEW YORK, MILAN AND PARIS RUNWAY COLLECTIONS
THE MAKEUP SHOW, West 18th Street, NYC- METROPOLIITAN PAVILION, MAY 17th, 2009
4PM
Words, Images Judith Ecochard
The engaging GORDON ESPINET-VP of MAC COSMETICS- was a keynote speaker at the latest The Makeup Show: New York…dishing all the hot looks for Autumn/Winter ‘09--as conjured up by the talented MAC team for select RTW shows.
With the philosophy that “…makeup is all about beauty and experimenting with different things…not to work to much with pre-conceived ideas of what it should be…”---Espinet et al -formulated four Autumnal themes,: LID VISCIOUS, WHO’S THAT GIRL, NEW ROMANTICS and the SCULPTURE CLUB.
All looks are easily translatable to reality and will…no doubt…last well into Spring 2010.
The themes were customized for each designer’s runway romp of course---while “adjusting the look for skin tone and model features.”
LID VISCIOUS
With oversized screens projecting model images, Espinet’s talk started off with a snapshot from the Italian designers D-Squared show. With eyes darkened and glistening via MAC V Line Pencils and Grease Paint Sticks… “This is for a woman that dares…a young Hollywood type that stays up all night.”
At Karl Langerfeld’s Fall 2009 show, the “Warrior Woman” face was one of “hyper perfect” with the product LIP ERASE ---used to do just that…accentuating strong lines around the eyes.
For Preen, model’s eyebrows were bleached (some have them that way anyway) for a “reverse smoke, manufactured hardened cyberistic “ vibe. And for a hard, androgynous rockabilly look, a white pencil rims the inside of eyes.
The Betty Boop visage that fluttered the Zac Posen outing came courtesy of MAC #35 eyelashes.
WHO’S THAT GIRL?
Inspired by 80’s fashion that blanketed the runways, 80’s poppin’ colors are “over the top and not afraid to be makeup.”
For a “Lady Danger” at Erdem…mouths stood out- “like fabric pasted on a face” …with individualized lipcolor stirred up from a mix up of foundation and neon pigments from the MAC PRO line.
At Emanuel Ungaro, a hyper-perfected makeup worked with groomed eyebrows, and bright lips (important!) using Morange lipstick shade.
Rose Petal graced the shiny kissers at Antonio Berandi while at Alberta Ferretti, a magenta pencil (Girl About Town) in combo with slightly tinted eyes ---kept the focus on the bold lips.
An ”imperfect innocence” (natural, perfect skin) at Giles and a MAC Pro’s purple “Emphasize” highlighted the lips...and at Luca Luca.
NEW ROMANTICS
This is a look for the young or Tilda Swinton’s amongst us. As Espinet noted, “this trend is like an airbrush effect…everything is soft…no hard edges.”
Metallic eyeshadows (liquidy glistening)…sometimes with the color washed all the way up to the brow (Ossie Clark) prevent this visage from being a snooze.
At Matthew Williamson an elegant sensuality came through in the smoky eye.
And the natural look at Missoni took TWO HOURS!!!!...”using products strategically for the no makeup look.”
Donna Karan saw the acclaimed Charlotte Tilbury employ a silver metal pigment…to a murmur of yeahs in the every seat taken, audience.
THE SCULPTURE CLUB
“There are eight areas of the face,” according to Espinet …so “it’s really about sculpturing the face…bone structure and shape…exaggerating it, not correcting.”
“This is my favorite trend.” OURS TOO.
Charlotte Tilbury once again worked her magic…this time at Chloe where “each model was given emphasis of what was there.” Lip Erase (again) kept the focus on the face’s planes.
At Giambattista Valli, an airbrush like, “fake natural” skin with “super harsh cheekbones” was striking with white inner rimmed eyes and exaggerated batwings/slashes of color up top. A similar technique at Allessandro Acqua rocked the “sexy, pumped and amped look.”
The ultimate bone structure also shined through at Blumarine with exaggerated eyebrows.
CONCLUSION:
Reiterating his mantra, “…don’t do what is expected and predictable ---“like a soft neutral warm eye” (yawn) …Espinet got us thinking We asked him about treatment type products…and his answer:
“We keep our MAC world on what we do best.” Remarking that some primer type products “have some treatment” Espinet was really big on the composition of makeup itself.
“Technology is really helping us…in the last ten years, makeup has moved fast.”
“Make sure you are out there touching and feeling… and keeping up with what’s going on in technology,” he told the rapt audience.
NEW: The gel based STUDIO SCULPT FOUNDATION, CONCEALERS, PRIMERS ---for medium to high coverage. We dabbed some on back of hands…and were impressed with the satiny texture (moist but not greasy), 'spreadability' and the color options.
INFO: MAC COSMETICS