The life of a fashion and makeup model can take its toll on the skin. Not only does it have to stand the agony of applying and removing tons of different makeup products during one day, but even worse is the stress factor that comes with constant travelling, time management during a shoot and not to mention the hectic backstage- life during fashion week. But still, as a makeup artist it is vital that a fashion or makeup models´ skin looks their best for any job, so how can they possibly make this happen? – And if the guiding lines the fashion and makeup models live by works, would they not do absolutely wonders for us mere mortal girls? Here are the BEST 5 TIPS I have picked up from several fashion and makeup models during my time working with them.

• ONLY WEAR MAKEUP WHEN ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY
  When your skin is constantly exposed to heavy makeup and cleansing products, you really need to pick your battles when it comes to wearing makeup in private. But on the other side it is actually very refreshing to only wear makeup privately to those special occasions as the transformation will be bigger and you will feel more extraordinary in addition to letting your skin breath in the meantime. A great and classic fashion and makeup models trick is to only focus on one facial feature like just a red lip, just defined and darkened eyebrows or just smoky eyes.
• STICK TO YOUR CLEANSING AND MOISTURIZING ROUTINES
  It´s the simplest thing to do, yet so many of skip the sacred morning and night cleansing + moisturizing routine. But I promise you, if you use a professional skin care branded cleanser, moisturizer and eye cream every morning and night along with an exfoliater once a week, your skin will always look it´s best.
• LISTEN TO YOUR BODY
  Your body knows when it needs sleep, water and food so there is no use in fighting it as your body will fight you back. We must never forget that one of the primary purposes of the skin itself is to give us a signal if something is wrong internally i.e. your skin will look sick on the outside if it is not healthy on the inside. Go to sleep at a reasonable time and take an afternoon nap if needed, drink water throughout the day and eat when you´re hungry. It doesn´t get any clearer then that!
• YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT
  It´s not rocket science to figure out that fashion and makeup models have to watch what they eat, but much like an athlete it´s all about awareness when it comes to your diet and what the different food groups will do to you. It is never ok to cut out eating. Doing so will actually stress your skin and hair out and turn them into a dry and discolored disaster, but to be careful with fried food and carbohydrates is a nutrition rule we all can benefit from.
• BEWARE OF CIGARETTES AND POLLUTION
  The greatest enemy a fashion and makeup model has regarding their skin is definitely cigarettes and pollution. The fumes coming from a cigarette you smoke yourself or from someone sitting next to you will damage your skin- there is no question or doubt about that fact. If you smoke yourself it will firstly affect your lip and eye area with wrinkles, but it will also mess with your natural moisture level. Pollution from cities, clubbing and not to mention air planes can be prevented by using protection spray regularly. The best thing is to clean and moisturize your face immediately after returning home from a city walk or trip.

Fashion Makeup look # 4: “The innocent and the extravagant”

If there is one designer we can always count on to deliver sexy, sensual and strong women strutting confidently down the runway, it is definitely Roberto Cavalli. Even though his clothes demonstrated a slightly younger feel then usual and the loosely tossed hair did the same, the fashion makeup was 100 % grown up glamour. By all means, it’s a fashion makeup look that will suit most ages, but what it demonstrates is a woman who knows the tricks on how to play up an important feature with using very little; the eyes. The eyes are absolutely the key secret to this glamorous fashion makeup look and you don’t need much either! As long as you have eye shadows in the tones of coffee, taupe and strong gold pared up with a black eyeliner and a lush mascara, you’re all set! Apply the black eye liner along the whole of your eyelash line, preferably ending with a flick towards the ears at the outer edges. Keep the inner eye corners dazzling with gold, the rest of the lid soaked in taupe and in a feline shape, while the coffee color reinforces the intensity along the global, outer corners and under the eyes. Finish it all off with tons of black eyeliner on the inner eye rims and mascara. The skin needs to be super even, but still as natural as possible. This is best achieved by working with a stippling foundation brush and a water based foundation such as MACs Face + Body Foundation. Work the foundation up carefully and thinly until desired coverage is met. Finish up with a translucent setting powder and then a stroke of Wonder Powder from Makeup Store for a perfect illuminated face. The lips and eyebrows from this fashion makeup look can actually cope with most colors and shapes, so you don’t have to stick to the nude lips and ungroomed dark eyebrows if you don’t want to.

The fashion shows that gained the most attention during fashion week back in February 2010 (showing design for fall/winter 2010/2011) was Givenchy, Michael Kors, Chloé, Roberto Cavalli and Diane von Furstenberg. During this series of 5 articles, we will show you the most important trades of the fashion makeup look in hand and teach you how to transfer any extreme fashion makeup look into a night on the town look.

Fashion Makeup look # 1: “Makeup is for everyone!”

Michael Kors called in the world renowned makeup up artist (or painter as many calls him) Dick Page. The look is undoubtedly a classic, but it has simple and easy tricks that will spice up an otherwise demure and innocent look. The clue is to keep everything as peachy-orange as possible according to your own skin tone (you don´t want to end up looking like a Christmas orange either). The skin must of course be flawless and luminous, and the lips should be effortlessly nude. Leave the brows a bit messy, but defined by color. The secret is in the eye makeup; the same peachy-orange used on the cheeks takes up most of the space of the eye lid to make any eye color pop, but at the outer edges both on the top and lower lid there is a metallic blue smoke effect which brings this delicate look into a sultry evening fashion makeup.

Fashion Makeup look # 2: “Turn those reds upside down”

Givenchy gave us an amazing runway show for this season, and his play on classic lines, street lady-like, Goth and mountain prints really accumulated into a different yet perfectly directed fashion collection for fall/winter 2010/2011.

Backstage was the queen of all that is makeup, Pat McGrath. The designer of Givenchy, Riccardo Tisci had given her very direct requests on how the makeup should be, and of course she delivered with perfection to a tee.

As a fashion makeup look this design is absolutely amazing because it crosses between the fine line of beauty and ugly without falling over to either side. The bold, red, glossy and glittery lips are subtle enough not to steel attention from the beaded accessories, yet at the same time it gives you that magical feeling of something new and different. This is absolutely the perfect lip for any Christmas and New Year’s party this winter. When it comes to the skin, it was kept nude and pale, which also bows well with the fashion make up trends for this season. There is no problem in trying the same technique at home, as long as you never go more than ½ shade lighter then you actually are. Taking a closer look at the eyes, this is the part that will need some tweaking for most of us to feel comfortable. Any red tone is very hot for the eyes this year, and it does actually make your own eye color very intense and seducing. However, it can also make you look a bit sick as this is what we normally connect with red circled eyes. But there are of course tricks to get around this flaw. As long as you pare up your red tone with something dark brown, black or dark blue- the contrast of this second color will quiet down the impact of the red. Use it in a shape of an eyeliner, well marked eye brows, tons of mascara and/or eye shadow in the global and on the lower eye lid.

Fashion Makeup look # 5: “The lady is a vamp”

Diane von Furstenberg- fashions first lady and responsible for the wrap around dress. This is the lady that screams comfortable yet sexy, and organized yet vampy. Obviously, the fashion makeup displayed for fall/winter 2010/2011 had nothing less than that exact same description. The pale yet healthy skin and the slightly shaded bone stricter gives that “I have perfect skin but I don’t really care” look. Again, the definite key features to this fashion makeup are those extreme eyes. Those metallic denim-blue colored big eyes are definitely not for everyone, but a version of it should be easy enough to pull off. It’s all about fitting the size of the shape into your own features. Most will be able to use the exact same colors all over the lid and under the eyes, ending up in a fairly flat line along the global. Keep the tone of blue lighter around the inner eye corners, and gradually darker towards the outer edges. It’s absolutely crucial that the textures of the eye shadows are metallic. This will make this fashion makeup look pop in a funky way instead of just heaving your eyes down as a matt eye shadow would do. Use a black eyeliner pencil or of a liquid sort if preferred along the eyelash line from the outer edges of your eyes, but thin it out and fade it out when you get to the middle of your eyelash line. This will prevent the eyeliner from making your eyes look smaller which is very important with this type of fashion makeup. The lips should be kept nude, and the eyebrows are better of fairly groomed and naturally colored.

Fashion Makeup look # 3: “The pretty side of the 70s”

Relying on Coffee, Taupe and Caramel pigments master makeup artist Charlotte Tillsburry helped designer Hannah MacGibbon to vamp up the classic 70s Chloé girl into a more sophisticated and glossy gal. For this look to work, it´s not enough to through on the color scheme mentioned and head out to a beige colored world. It is essential to use a lot of shading and contrasting techniques in order to not end up looking like a spotty camel. Apply foundation in the exact skin tone that you are and set with a translucent prep+prime powder from MAC to get a satin mat finish. Use shades in brown, beige and coffee tones under cheek bones, up over the temple and continue carefully along the hairline to create a perfectly sizzled face and bone structure. For the eyes a deep metal blue eye shadow is carefully brushed along the upper and lower eyelid. The shape should not be too edgy, but definitely makeup an illusion of a cat eye movement. In this fashion makeup look makeup artist Charlotte Tillsburry chose not to use any eyeliner on the inner eye rim, but for a sultrier and define look a dark brown or black pencil is very suitable. The lips should never be nude with this look as it will make for a very bland statement, but freckle toned lipstick like the one from MAC bearing the same name is the absolute perfect color. The eyebrows are left fairly light and ungroomed, but an opposite look with shaped and defined eyebrows will also work excellent with this fashion make up look from Chloé. This look is definitely easy, quick and beautiful as long the few guidelines of color and countering is met.

In the summer, when my brother in laws came to spend their vacations, we decided to make a “family album from 2009”, and in it we would put all the pictures of the most important events of the year. I already have the album almost finished, I only need a couple more pictures from Christmas, and having seen what I have seen, I am sure that this Christmas I will pay special attention to my makeup and poses to come out really good in the pictures.

You will need…

For this makeup you do not need many products and it is very likely that you already have them. Anyhow, even though we will do classic makeup, I’ve really wanted to give it an updated look, using a cream blush and a lipstick in color:

• Concealer: like always! This product is indeed a classic for any makeup. I am using the concealer illuminator by de la Praire, and I love it!
• Foundation: just as the concealer it is a must.
• Concealer powder: natural and totally matte. 
• Blush in an apricot color: if it is in cream and matte, even better.
• Eye shadow in a dark matte brown and Highlighter in a matte bone color. 
• Dark brown Eyeliner: you know I love the one by Chanel.
• Eyelash mascara: you know I love Colossal by Maybelline. 
• On the lips, dare for a bit of color and try an orange salmon lipstick.
• A lip gloss will give your lips a juicy touch.
• And finally: an illuminator powder in a light tone; if matte even better. 

Maria began her career as a makeup artist over six years ago and she specializes in the use of color and body painting.

She has worked for MAC Cosmetics for three years doing various publications for fashion, events and TV as well as giving classes in fashion and fantasy for ePro.  ¨I learned more from my students than in a whole year at school.  It has been an unforgettable experience¨ says Maria.

I worked to the makeup department in ZARA for two years in charge of image and design as well as running the art and makeup for the beauty campaigns with photographs by Alfonso Ohnur and Jean Marc Manson.

Currently I am working as a makeup artist for the company ePro as well as giving classes and seminars at ePro.

HOW TO GET THAT SOUGHT AFTER ´´NUDE´ LOOK!!!

What is the ´nude´ look in makeup?  How many times have we heard it this year and how many times will we hear it next year?  A new source of inspiration gives us the fragile woman look with a celestial look and a taste for the delicate and subtle.  In my opinion it is it is beauty in its purist state.

¨The skin shows off an immaculate aspect like the skin of an angel.¨

That being said, no pinks.  We return to the world of beiges, creams, bone, and ivory.  Before anything else, it is important to prepare, clean and moisturize the skin in order to get the ¨immaculate¨ look that we are looking for.

After moisturizing the skin, I use a primer (Max fix + from MAC cosmetics).  As well as helping the makeup last longer, it makes it easier to put on base makeup and in increases the transparent effect.  Try mixing it with a cream foundation.  The result will be incredible!

In order to achieve the skin of an angel look, I advise you to use satiny liquid foundation, never, matte, the effect is more transparent and the finish is more subtle.  Apply it with the tip of the finger to blend it so that it looks invisible.

Use a bit of transparent powder to shade the more dangerous zones: the nose, the chin, and the forehead.  The result will be impeccable!

Don´t abuse this product though, as it can diminish the natural shine of the skin.

Recommended products: gel makeup remover by Biosource Gelée Nettoyante Moussante, facial cleanser by Biosource, and lotion and moisturizer by Aquasource, everything by Biotherm, Face and Body, Blot powder, and Mac Fix +, and everything by MAC cosmetics.

“The color of the cheekbones is almost invisible”

Shading briefly with a cream blush using a few tones a bit darker than the base with give you a great finish.

If you want the upper cheek bone to stand out a bit, you can use a iluminador en crema,…

Recommended products: Blush Tantone and Cream color foundation, Pearl, everything from MAC cosmetics.

“A clean and celestial look”

Try a satiny eye showdown in a vanilla tone applied from the tear ducts to the temples and add a bit of white or cream pencil on the inner line between the eyelid and the eye lashes.

Never forget a good amount of mascara.  It will help you draw the expression of the eye and give a look of mystery.

The eyebrows, which are just as important, should not be noticeable.  A bit of clear gel with give them the optimum shine.

Recommended products: Eyeshadow Vanilla and Brown set clear, everything from MAC cosmetics, vanilla eye pencil from the Make Up store, and Dioreshow mascara. 

“Naked lips”

Our objective here is to make the natural rosyness of the lips disappear.  First and most important is to moisturize the lips.  This way you will avoid those unpleasant cracked lips that drive us makeup artists crazy.  To get this look, mix and apply a bit of foundation apply with the tip of the finger.  For a shinny effect, just add a bit of gloss in skin color.

 Recommended products:  Lip conditioner from MAC cosmetics, lip-gloss Underage from MAC cosmetics.

And that’s it!!!  You’ve got that ever sought after nude look!!

Skinny pants are back stronger than ever

In this article we’ll be talking about one of the classics from the 80s that is making a strong comeback: skinny pants.

Does anyone dare deny that skinny pants are not back in fashion, inspired in dark, rocker and punk styles? Skinny pants have returned, pushing bell-bottoms, Oxford legs and baggy fit pants aside.

– This season most designers have chosen the tightest model.
This year playing with volume is the latest trend. Combine them with XXL t-shirts and sweaters.

Skinny pants are best suited to casual styles. They work great with waistcoats, striped t-shirts and mini-dresses.

– If you enjoy long nights out, skinny pants are the best for being feminine while feeling comfortable. You can combine them with a basic white t-shirt and a maxi-necklace of circles, balls or chains, to give the set a party look. Remember gold is still the favorite color.

It’s good to remember this kind of trousers does not suit wide hips. If it’s your case, a good option is to conceal certain areas so you can wear them. Slim fit or skinny trousers stick to the skin closely, which is why they’re not suitable for all body shapes and can sometimes be difficult to wear.

THEY DON’T SUIT ALL, BUT…

The idea here is to avoid calling attention to your figure, by concealing your skinny pants down to the hips fashionably.

Nevertheless, this style does not suit all. But I’ll give you some advice to wear them in style. Height is one of the conditions this kind of trousers needs. If you wear them with heels, your figure will look more stylized. Heels are the perfect complement to your skinny pants. You should also choose low-cut ones if you can, as they draw attention to your hips. A basic companion to your pants is a top that displays a tight belly, which will call attention away.

As for length, there are strong differences in the world of fashion. You can find them either down to the ground or half way between trousers and capris. These will look better when worn with heels. The most popular way of wearing them this season is to cover them with trousers up to the knee with boots that can either be high or low, pointy or square-toed, but it’s important they cover the leg.

WHAT ABOUT DAYTIME?

In the daytime you can wear them with ballet flats and romantic, Victorian shirts, combined with, for example, a corset-style belt around the waist, which will make your figure even more stylized. By night, you can wear them with satin tops and maxi sweaters with wide v-necks in shiny materials, such as lurex.

Whether in denim, cotton or other materials, white, black, or colored, skinny trousers will inevitably take fashion by storm in all their different versions.

I hope my advice has given you some clues on how to wear the garment of the season. So now you know: take your skinny trousers out of the wardrobe and combine them with the clothes and complements that suit you best. If you haven’t bought ones yet, get them in black or blue: extremes are in.