The makeup at Manning Cartell Resort 2017 Collection, which took place under the Harbour Bridge on Sydney’s North Shore, was messed-up and lived in, but skin was still beautifully pristine.
With a 4am call-time to the iconic location, models were surviving on coffee and the pampering skin treatments by Rationale to get them through.
“After so many shows, the models’ skin is really fatigued,” says Richard Parker, Founder and Formulating Chemist at Rationale. “Taking makeup on and off, their skin is dehydrated and sensitive so we have calmed their skin first by cleansing with the ProCeramide Emulsion Cleanser, which adds a layer of ceramides on the skin, which reflects light beautifully. Then we used Immunologist Niacinamide Serum, which is Vitamin B, which boosts their immunity and calms down sensitivity. Next thing we did was put on some antioxidants to protect their skin form the makeup then we put on PhotoDynamic Light Activating Day Cream SPF15, which takes the sunlight and re-emites it so that the skin looks really dewy. Then we finished them with Beautiful Skin, which is our new tinted moisturiser.
Despite the hour, after such good skincare, the models’ skin looks full of life. “The M.A.C team came in and said “we don’t need to do anything!” said Parker.
When it came to the makeup, making it look lived-in was key.
“Manning Cartell like to change their look each season – it’s never the same girl,” says Nicole Thompson, senior artist for M.A.C and lead makeup artist for the show, Nicole Thompson for M.A.C. “Last year the look was this army of glam girls with their red lips, it was very done and really beautiful. This year we are doing the next day, all-nighter girl. It’s messed up, it’s lived in, it’s slept in.”
What that means is young, ’90s matte skin: “the skin is not heavy at all; it’s just matting down what is on their skin and using concealer if needed,” says Thompson.
To keep skin looking luminous, Thompson enlisted sprays. “I’m not using a lot of moisturisers at the moment,” she says. “I’m using a lot of M.A.C Softening lotion and Fix Plus and Prep + Prime Oil to because they quickly absorb and keeps skin from looking over-glossed or over-done – it just looks way cooler.
M.A.C Waterweight Foundation was enlisted if needed because it is “literally like air on the skin” says Thompson, before adding a dusting of MAC Translucent Powder to have an “impact once the light hits it”.
But really it was the eyes that took centre stage for this makeup look, which essentially involved applying black eyeliner, then smudging it and messing it up for a super cool, slept-in vibe. “The eyes are totally mucked up,” says Thompson, who started creating the look in pitch darkness.
“I just looked at the girls in the light just to make sure they look as good in the light as they did at 4am in the dark – and we discovered that it looks even better when you can see the creases and lines.”
To get the look, Thompson applied a “heavy black liner on the waterline, under the eyes and blurred it down with the waterline,” says Thompson who enlisted Feline Eye Kohl then patted it down with M.A.C Carbon Eyeshadow “to make it really strong”.
Then to get that slept-in effect, Thompson and her team began to strip product away.
“We used the waxy Shine Mix in Medium with a lip brush to carve out some of the eye makeup,” says Thompson. “You can see through it, you can see the skin. It’s slept in.”
Models went sans mascara apart from a coating on the lower lashes to give a “spidery effect”. Instead, what gave the eyeliner pop was a vertical smudging of highlighter.
“It’s the first show of the day so we want the makeup to be like a shot of coffee to wake people up,”says Thompson. “The vertical highlight on the inner corners of the eyes is like she’s come straight from the party and has to go to work so she’s added a bit of highlighter.”
All that was left was brows (“brushed up “fashion brow”; it’s going nowhere”) and a slick of clear gloss. “Gloss them up and keep them going!” says Thompson.