Monthly Archives: September 2011

The team from Gorgeous Cosmetics are still on a high after their week backstage at this year’s Mercedes-Benz Fashion Festival Sydney. As Official Makeup Sponsor for the Festival, members of the Gorgeous Cosmetics Elite Artist Team spent the week transforming the faces of Australia’s top models into designer creations.

With the Festival coming to a close on Saturday, critics are still talking about the nightly fashion spectacle, ‘A Review of Australian Fashion Week’, which featured highlights from over 40 designers. More than just a showcase of the latest looks from Australian fashion designers Alex Perry, Lover, Rachel Gilbert and many more, the hour-long Review show displayed some key makeup looks from Gorgeous Cosmetics which are set to appear on the faces of women everywhere in the week’s to come.

Creative Director for Gorgeous Cosmetics, Tiarna Leeson, headed the team of 15 Makeup Artists backstage, who were responsible for executing the high-fashion, runway makeup looks for all 16 fashion shows at the Festival. Each look was specifically created to complement the designer’s garments and the feel of their show. The nightly Review show required a makeup look that was complementary to more than 40 designers and more than 250 garments. Leeson’s design was all about keeping things simple and taking it ‘back to basics’, with fresh, dewy complexions and a pop of colour on the cheeks, eyes or lips. Leeson said, “The makeup trend for Spring/Summer is certainly one that all women can feel confident and comfortable wearing. The Gorgeous Cosmetics range of products has always been about making women feel confident in their makeup, so it’s great to be here at Fashion Festival demonstrating that on the runway.”

The Gorgeous team used these techniques to achieve their ‘back to basics’ makeup look seen on the runway:

• First we applied Gorgeous Cosmetics First Base Primer to the entire face followed by a smooth coating of Base Perfect Liquid Foundation. This created a flawless complexion, which is the most important part of any look, as it enhances the rest of the makeup.
• We used Endless Summer Bronzer to give the models a SS11/12 sun-kissed look!
• Next, we applied Gorgeous’ brand new Cheek Crème Cream Blush to the apples of the cheeks.
• We coated the lashes with lots of black Glamalash Mascara
• And applied our white Eye Pencil, Highlight, to the inner rim of the eyes. White eyeliner opens up the eyes, so it’s always a must-have for backstage.
• We finished with a burst of colour on the lips, using a secret Makeup Artist trick to get the perfect colour and texture. First we lined the lips with our red Lip Pencil, Moulin. Then we dabbed Color Pro Eye Shadow in Orange over the lips for a bold burst of colour that lasts. This trend will be hot for summer, so look out for lip shades in fuchsia, bright orange or red!

The most talked about feature of the makeup applied by Gorgeous had to be the radiant, glossy cheeks that gave the model’s faces a fresh, summery sheen, unlike any other. Leeson explained, “We applied our clear Lip Lacquer, H2O, to the cheeks. This gave a whole new meaning to the term ‘dewy complexion’! Models and designers were asking us ‘What have you used on her skin? It looks so glowy! Can you make my skin look that good?’ I call these sorts of things ‘reverse makeup’- because we used lip gloss on the cheeks and the eyes, and eye shadow on the lips!”

Other standout makeup looks included that seen on the models in the Speedo show. The Gorgeous team created a beautiful bronzed makeup with highlights and illuminated complexions, which had a natural look that was enhanced by the use of copper and bronze Color Pro Eye Shadows, such as Golden Kiss, Antique Gold and Burnt Copper, and also by sculpting the faces with Endless Summer Bronzer. The Camilla ‘Labyrinth’ show saw Gorgeous create mystical, colourful ‘masks’ across the eyes, using Shimmer Dust shadesAntique Pink, Purple Berry and Aqua. These shades not only complimented the beautiful Camilla prints and designs, but also matched the soft hues of the cropped wigs the models we wearing.

The Gorgeous cosmetics being used backstage were an absolute hit, with models wanting to take products home with them after falling in love with items during the show preparations. The Gorgeous Cosmetics store in Oxford Street, Paddington, has already had several models in to purchase their favorite products used on them during the Festival, which included Base Perfect Liquid Foundation and Golden Kiss Color Pro Eye Shadow.

For the duration of Sydney’s Fashion Festival, the Lower Town Hall became The Festival Hub, a fun and glamorous attraction for VIP ticket-holders to escape, relax, explore and be pampered. The Gorgeous Cosmetics Pamper Station located near the entry to the Hubfeatured makeup demos as well as touch-ups, false lash applications and the chance to test out the Gorgeous product range. Each night of the Festival, Gorgeous Cosmetics and Redken put on a live Styling Session to show guests how to get that ‘straight off the runway’ hair and makeup look. The highlight, though, of the Gorgeous Cosmetics Pamper Station was their complimentary applications of their revolutionary Airspire Airbrush Foundation System. Ladies queued up to be ‘Airspired’, with everyone wanted to know what it was and how it worked. This has since resulted in huge sales of the Airspire Unit in Gorgeous Cosmetics stores, and generated a lot of buzz around the system, which is the only way to achieve a truly flawless, runway complexion. The Makeup Artists working in the Festival Hub were interviewed by a variety of media outlets, including TV, Magazine and Online.

After their 5 days of glitz, glam and glossy cheeks, the Gorgeous Cosmetics Makeup Artist team will be remembered for their daring creativity, professionalism and true talent. The team are looking forward to doing it all over again. Leeson concluded, “Seeing and hearing the positive feedback from the audience and event organisers in response to the makeup looks we created is the best feeling in the world!” Gorgeous are now planning their next backstage venture in the big, bad world of fashion.