Aaron de May talks Kate Moss and grunge references…
Major Paris fashion house Chloé presented their Fall/Winter 2017/18 ready-to-wear line at Paris Fashion Week this past Thursday, March 2. We were on the scene with MAC Cosmetics as part of the beauty team, getting a first hand look at what went into the creation of the stunning runway looks. The makeup artist at work was none other than Aaron de May, the New Zealander who’s regarded as one of the top beauty geniuses in the world. We spoke with de May about the people and themes that inspired his work for Chloé and also got a rundown of the products he was using, which include Studio Finish concealer, the Kohl Power eye pencil, Blacktrack Fluid Liner, and brushes #109 and #221.
The show took place at the Salon d’Honneur at the Grand Palais and was in attendance by Isabelle Huppert, Emma Roberts, and Solange, who gave a performance as part of the show.
Look below for further details on de May’s look.
Tell us about today’s look.
Aaron de Mey: It’s a little bit rock and roll, it’s a little bit Kurt and Courtney, it’s a little bit Kate Moss, and it’s a little bit more elevated. So it’s positive looking, it’s not grunge, but it has that feeling behind it. It’s a very black, black, black eye pencil that I’m rimming the entire inside of the eye with, then I’m really smudging it out around the edges. But I’m elongating the eyes, so I want the eyes to look tighter and wider, rather than too big, I want them to stretch across the face, the width of the face, rather than the length of the face. So we’re giving them a slight little cat eye at the end in a nod to Kate, that kind of style. It’s a little bit elevated. And then I’m wearing in all the edges and I’m putting a very sharp little cat eye in the very outside corner, just to solidify it. And then at the very end before the girls go on the runway we’re gonna put a load of gloss on top of the eyelids. So it’s a play on texture, a play on matte and shine, a play on darkness and light. It looks quite intense. It’s all through the eye area. Everything else is very simple; it’s very clean skin, it’s velvety, I’m just using concealer and primer, I’m keeping it very realistic looking. I don’t want them to look cosmetic, I want them to look like the girls have done the makeup themselves, I want it to look like makeup the girls wanna wear themselves, and it’s very direct.
How do you soften the edges?
de May: I soften the edges first by using a brush, and it’s much more forgiving rather than trying to do a true 60’s cat eye with the very sharp, graphic black. So I think it’s nice for a real woman to do – you apply it along the lash line, dotted along, sketch it in very roughly and then use a very soft long brush on it. And then I just blend it out and I give the shape to the eye that I want. And I use Q-tips to clean around it or to soften it even more, and then I go back in with the very sharp pointy brush. That’s when I use the gel liner and I just define it so it’s got this sharp point to it, but it’s got a murkiness or softness around it.
And you mention Kate Moss?
de May: Yeah, Kate Moss. And she does her own makeup, do you know what I mean? You know how she always does a little cat eye? It’s very simple. So yeah, Kate Moss, Kurt, Courtney, all our friends.
Photo credits: Elle.
