I had the honour and pleasure of doing makeup for Clair, my friend of 18 years. Herself a makeup junkie, the stakes were high. I realised she would be teaching me a thing or two, and I was right.
Makeup has to be us, not make us. I don’t put on a face on someone to make them someone else (although I can. My next gig is to make someone look like Nigella. That’s another blog for another day. This space, watch.) Usually, the brief is to make someone a more poised and polished version of herself. Clair has a enthusiastic, kind and generous spirit. It is full of warmth and sincerity. This comes out in her eyes and her complexion which is in great condition. To put a ‘cool tone foundation’ on her would sound and look wrong. I mean, just look at her styling. So her makeup needs to reflect all of this.
After we sat down for a glass of wine and a lovely dinner made by Simon, it was time to get prepping. Essentially the makeup is composed of two aspects – eye definition and contouring. As the owner of hooded eyes since birth, I am not aware of any obstacles regarding tackling hooded eye makeup. In fact, I love and embrace them. Hooded eyes are not confined to Asian Pacific eye shapes and ageing eyes. Some are indeed white and young (by Hollywood standards anyway), such as Renee Zellweger.
Originally, Clair was keen on plum and purply colours for eyes, but for this look I have stuck to neutrals and even black crease-cutting for heightened drama. I have used navy eyeliner instead of black to firstly, bring out her blue eyes, secondly to balance the intensity of the black cut crease and thirdly to flatter that hooded eye shape. For eyebrows I have chosen a colour usually associated with being too dark for her – dark brown mixed with dark grey. This was also to give the illusion of lifting the eye shape and the brow line. I think Clair was pleased with the results.
Thanks to Simon Butcher who provided dinner and photography: Simon Butcher
Zebu Design – design for print & internet http://www.zebu.co.uk
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