From the New York Fashion Week runways to the Grammys stage, everything has gone political — even the makeup.
At Rosie Assoulin’s fall 2017 presentation, where red-carpet-ready stunners included a mustard yellow dress-over-pants combo, and a red ruffle ball skirt and nude top with shoulder corsage, makeup artist James Kaliardos created a uniquely messy matte red lip he refers to as “a loud, persistent mouth.” (Remind you of someone? Ahem, Elizabeth Warren, ahem.)
To achieve the look, Kaliardos first applied the new MAC retro matte liquid lipstick in crimson “Carnivorous” to deepen the center of the lips, before mixing in another retro matte color (called “Dance With Me”). Next, he used Q-tips to rub the lipstick around to “diffuse the edges so that it looks lived in,” said Kaliardos, adding, “like it’s been utilized.”
Kaliardos rounded out the lip using a slanted angle brush and MAC Cream Color Base in Pearl to edge out the top of the lip, around the philtrum, to create a more “more finished look,” while the rest of the mouth had more of a soft focus.
For the eyes, he lightly applied various shades from the MAC Trend Forecast Fall lip palette on the models’ lids with his fingers, starting at the center of the eye. “We edge the sides with darker tones and the center with a light tone,” Kaliardos said. No eyeliner or mascara was applied, although the lashes were curled.
Kaliardos finished the models’ faces with MAC’s sheer foundation, the Cream Color Base in Pearl as a highlighter, and concealer where needed. He also used the Trend Forecast Fall lip palette to dot some color on cheekbones to “give them a bit of health.” One’s got to stay healthy to keep persisting, after all.
