MAC Cosmetics’ lead makeup designer, Val Garland, talks the look for Vivienne Westwood’s show at Paris Fashion Week ’16!
What is the inspiration for the makeup today?
Val Garland: It’s all about Japanese punk couture. That is where the inspiration started from. The makeup today is very real and natural for a Vivienne Westwood show because normally she does a lot of color. At Westwood we are thinking sexercise, unisex realism. Basically the team at Westwood, would like the models to look like they have come as themselves; so in terms of make up the only color that I’m using is black. Of course I am doing the skin, perfecting the skin with concealer and foundation but in terms of art it is all about black.
Can you explain the makeup looks?
Val Garland: For the models today, we have two looks that we are doing. We will sometimes have no makeup with a bit of a strong brow, accentuating their own brows or we will have a clean face and only a black lip. This black lip might be a full black lip or it might be a black outline with gloss on it. We are also taking the hair line and drawing around the hairline in black or white (depending on the skin tone of the model).
Some of the products we are using today are: Black Track, Black lip mix, Black Pencil, Haughty But Naughty Mascara, Mac clear lip gloss, Brow Gel and if I need more color to fill in the lips then I’m using a paint stick. Also for the nails, which are a slight grey and black, we are using a mixture of the Midnight Sky and Snazy Hound.
Lipstick tends to bleed, how do you keep the lip stick in place?
Val Garland: You have to do your outline in a long wearing water proof liner. Also instead of doing a creamy lipstick on the lip, just use a liner to fill in the lip in addition the outline. That will cause the lipstick to stay on longer.
Do you think we are seeing a rise in the “quirky girl” this season.
Val Garland: Absolutely. It is all about diversity. Every ethnicity has a right to beauty. There isn’t a norm or stereotype, everyone is beautiful. You can be tall, small, skinny, or hefty; there is beauty everywhere. At least, I think that is what the cat walk is saying. I think there is so many more voices to be heard through social media, and I believe that is where it started. Also because of reality T.V. there is so much more realism so the diversity is what we want to see. When it is the mundane and ordinary, everyone is really interested. That is what people what to see, realism.
You can create this look at a local Mac Cosmetics Store.
Check out our exclusive photos from the Vivienne Westwood show at Paris Fashion Week below!
All photos are by the editor.
