I was part of Terry Barber’s make-up team for MAC Cosmetics as an undercover artist. This meant that I got to see the entire process first hand and work alongside the MAC team to get the models ready.
Here’s how the day went…
First, we watched Terry’s demonstration of the look he had created on one of our models. He described this make-up as ‘mood make-up’ because more so than anything it was meant to look cold and invoke a temperature.
I had the loveliest model called Alexandra.
We started by prepping the skin with Strobe Cream in Silverlite, then mixed this in equal parts with some Studio Waterweight foundation. He used this foundation in particular because “this looks the most skin-like. When it’s on it looks like moisturised skin; it doesn’t alter the surface texture. It’s just like a beautiful second skin.”
Next we applied concealer where needed around the eyes and then took a white liner in Polar Ice through the water line. Brows were brushed right up with a clear brow wand, and eyes were topped with a clear Studio Eye Gloss.
The blush technique was where the temperature really shone through. Terry was clear that we should use cool tones and pinks in this look; anything warm or peachy would negate the coldness.
First, we took Pink Swoon all over the cheek. Crucially, this had to go right down to the jawline. As Terry put it, he “didn’t want it looking too bridal.” It wasn’t supposed to be neat; it was supposed to look a little bit flushed and angry.
Next, we intensified the centre of the blush using Desert Rose. This is slightly deeper and really intensified the blush finish. By using two blushers, we gave the cheeks a multi-dimensional finish.
Finally, we needed a cold lip to finish everything off. You know when your lips are cold and a tiny bit swollen, you get that slightly blurred pink edge? This was what we wanted to create. By applying a lip shade from this Pro Lip Palette using the ring finger (the top left), we blotted this in and ever so slightly smudged it over the edge of the lip. This was a very subtle spill-over, not meant to look too dramatic but equally being noticeable.
This is Rachel, one of the MAC Senior Artists. She was looking after me for the day and helping me whenever I needed support or had any questions.
Lucky for me, Claire was also in the team. I am obsessed with Claire. She and Dom looked after me last season when I worked with the team on the Marques’ Almeida show and I now enjoy hanging onto them like a barnacle whenever I can.
Once all of our models were finished, we took Strobe Cream over any bare limbs. They wore a real mixture of outfits so this meant perfecting anything from chest to arms or legs. There are various different shades in Strobe Cream now, so for fairer skins we used Silverlite and on black skin we used Redlite.
Just before the presentation started, I created a super quick glowing make-up for Zezi Ifore. She was taking over Sophia’s Instagram story and presenting live from the show. She was a really lovely girl and I loved doing her make-up. We used Studio Waterweight mixed with Strobe Cream, lots of Mineralise shades to set, add shape and bronze the skin, and also took a peachy powder through the eyes.
After all of the work put into the pre-show, I went to see the presentation. This is how my model, Alexandra, looked by the time her nails, hair and make-up were complete.
Sophia had created a winter wonderland, enchanting and cool. It was like a quirky, high fashion version of Frozen and I loved it.
And the lady herself of course. When I first came in she was sat having her hair and make-up done and I just thought she was so naturally pretty. She was sewn into her cute, colourful dress for the presentation like a living doll.
While I was with the team I just had to spend some time with Terry. I asked him a few questions that all make-up artists will love to read – you can see my interview with him here.
To Jordana, Harriet, Steph P, Steph Mc, Rachel, Claire, Terry and everyone who made my day with MAC so special… thank you for having me and I can’t wait to come again!
You scream, I scream, we all scream for Ice Queens… <3
[…] created an in-depth discussion of Terry’s make-up look in a separate post which you can see here as I was actually on the make-up team for this show! In short, this is mood make-up designed to […]