PRINGLE and MILA SCHON AW 09/10

Like we've seen at Pucci, the look for Pringle of Scotland was also "naturel"
David Jones, (Pat McGrath's main assistant) did the demo:
beautiful dewy skin thanks to "face and body" by Mac, a little sculpting under the cheekbones and a touch of vaseline on the lips. Only afterward David decided to add blusher and brown mascara, but it was still very very minimal.





It was again a very relaxed atmosphere..no dramas...only.. to add a lil' glama Miss Pixie Geldof turned up for le maquillage!



The Mila Schon show was a different story...Proper "delirio" on the backstage, like what you always imagined..from the screaming divas to the hours of delay..yelling here and there...the last minute models turning up with crazy big hair and fucsia eyes needing to be ready in 10 minutes for a a nude make up look and a chignon.
This is it, this is fashion week for you! ...(I might be more of a relaxed and no dramas show type..if I can chose..)
Anyways..the make up team was leaded by Cristine Dupuys, sponsored by Shu Uemura make up.
The look was "chic meets interesting":
a nice and transparent base with a dust of powder here and there. Eyes defined on the socket and bottom lashes line with a beigy brown eyeshadow. Soft mascara.
The eyebrows made the difference: with a brow brush deeped in thick concealer we pushed them upward, to give them the effect of disappearing. We draw the "new ones" with a light brown pencil: thin and straight with a minimal curving at the end.
Sculpted cheekbones, natural pink lips et voila' the look is done!

PUCCI AW 09/10

Fashion week has kicked in, lots of good energy around Milano.
My call time was 9:15 meeting the international MAC team for the PUCCI show, key make up artist LISA BUTLER, yippi! (I always wanted working with her).
The backstage was crowded with hairdressers and maquilleurs, brushes, hairdryers, hair extensions, crazy! It was very nice to find familiar faces: people I met during the London days, people met recently in Milan, people coming from America, Australia, Malasia met in the past fashion seasons, it was a great feeling!
Then Lisa arrives on her super high stilettos and it's time to play.
Lisa's assistants start distributing samples of make up that we re going to use, then it's demo time and we're all following every single details.
The make-up up look was meant to be very plain, since the clothes were quite full on they wanted the girls to look simple, almost boyish, yet fresh.
We applied first Strobe cream by Mac wich has a nice louminous, slightly shimmery finish and on top a thick-ish foundation. The trick was to apply the foundation gradually, layer on top of layer, tapping with the brush. In this way you get an even base, medium coverage without looking too heavy or mask-like.To set the foundation we used MAC mineral powder, great to seal the base. Very interesting way of doing the eyebrows: we kept the colour light or brown but not dark. We filled them in with a brush but instead of being a typical eyebrow brush we used a regular eyeshadow brush to achieve a soft stroke with little definition.
On the eyes only Strobe, brown mascara and a touch of brown eyeliner on the rim of the eyes. Strobe on the lips too.

MILAN FASHION WEEK READY TO WEAR AW 09/10

The September shows seem finished yesterday..I can still feel the vibe..and it's already happening again..it's February, it's Milan fashion week.
The worries concerning the crisis affecting the fashion industry generated terrible forecasts and a frightened mood between us "the backstagers" which reminded me of the panic on a child 's face when the parents break the news that the trip to the funfair is cancelled...
But fear not..the show must go on...the telephone starts ringing and everybody is running around Milan, suitecasing all over the place.
I've started my fashion journey with Versace, not the actual show..."only" a presentation, strictly Private, for Mrs A.Wintour!!!
I met up before the call time for a cappuccino with lovely Kristen, who I got to know one and a half years ago, on exactly the same circumstance. We then go to one of the Versace's villas...and meet the rest of the hair and make-up team. The vibe was unusually relaxed, no drama, everybody was lovely! we even had time to take a long lunch break.
The look we created was very natural and clean: Mac face and body for the skin, for a very transparent effect. On the eyes brown eyeliner pencil slightly smudged in the corner and brown mascara.A touch of Taupe (blusher) by Mac on the socket. Taupe again under the cheecks to contour and a touch of 8 hour cream on the lips.
Everything went pretty smooth...the presentation was a success and we were going to be rebooked. fab!

BUSINESS CARDS

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There you go: MOO is "the" company
They're super fast, good quality cards, at a very cheap price.
Bring it on!

MILAN FASHION WEEK MEN AW 2009-10

This Januray started out pretty well. One of the job (glamorous jobs actually) that I did was the men show for Belstaff in Milan. The make up was very minimal and simple(you know men don't really wear much of it, unless is some very creative project..) the real excitement consisted in being part of PAT MCGRATH team!!
Some pictures from the show to follow.

TRUCCO E PARRUCCO

Everyday is a new adventure!
Life of a Make up Artist in Milan is quite full on: most of the clients expect you to do both hair and make-up..and during credit crunch times like this you can't really afford to say no..So bring your hairstyling skills back and rock!

Here some backstage images from a couple of shoots where I did both trucco e parrucco.



GARIGLIO

Sabina

Sandro









INTIMO (UNDERWEAR)

Make up face charts

As a Make up Artist it is very important to be constantly updated with the trends, the music scene, fashion scene, different cultures. So part of the job is to buy or consult magazines, books, researching the internet,going to the library.
In London my favorite book shop is RD FRANKS ,you can find everything related to fashion and design!

Another interesting book shop is MAGMA

There are also lots of other book shops along Charing Cross Road, new ones and old ones where you can find real bargains.

Drawing sketches is another Make up Artist duty. It just helps to have an idea of the make up that you want to recreate. If you plan it on paper before, on the day of the job is going to be much easier. It also helps other members of the team (photographer, stylist, etc) to fully understand your idea, sometimes describing the image you have in mind can be hard and can generate misunderstanding.

At MAC cosmetics they have face charts on special paper (you can use eyeshadows on it)which are great for this purpose.

Here some examples of sketches I did for the Moroccan look that I designed for Taktik hair show.