Douglas Does NY Fashion Week

From ‘80s club looks to bold red lips, we get the exclusive details.

Mary Douglas, one of The Wall Group’s emerging talents, worked the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Fall 2009 collections from Feb. 13-20 for designers Derek Lam, Michael Kors, Brian Reyes, Isaac Mizrahi and Ralph Lauren. Here she gives Make-Up Artist magazine an exclusive insider’s look at the make-up created for the different fashion shows. Douglas has worked for cosmetics brands including Yves Saint Laurent, M.A.C. and Stila, and her work has appeared in magazines such as Marie Claire and in ads for Jimmy Choo, among others.

Derek Lam
This show was all about luxury, with leathers, furs, silks and very rich materials. Throughout the season, there was an underlying ‘80s-‘90s club theme with textiles, colors, hair and make-up to match. The focus was relatively simple ... it was all about the eyes. A smoky lavender shimmer was applied heavily all around the eye, all the way up to the brow bone. Once that base was there, we removed some of the grey right at the top lash line, where liner would normally go. In its place, we added a stripe of tomato-red shadow and coated it with gold glitter. We finished the look with a bit of beige gloss. Shiseido sponsored Lam’s make-up look.

Photo: Don Ashby/Courtesy of style.com
Michael Kors
The Kors show had a Tough Luxe theme. The collection featured a lot of grey and black, but we didn’t lack color; there was a lot of it, in electric hues. The make-up had that tough ‘80s club vibe. With beautiful matte skin, we had a hard, smoky eye in black and gunmetal grey shades of Shiseido’s Lingerie, Slate and Tar, which will all be new for fall. The eyes were balanced with Almond Pink (a golden-beige contour for the cheeks) and a beige-mauve lip. Shiseido sponsored the Kors make-up look.

Photo: Patrick McMullan/Courtesy of nymag.com
Brian Reyes
Marble inspired the dramatic eye look at Brian Reyes. Givenchy’s Le Makeup team used a kohl black liner to create a strong base for this ‘80s-inspired eye. The lid was lightened with a beautiful beige shade, and khaki green was used to accentuate the outer crease. Givenchy’s Phenomen’Eyes Mascara created major lashes.

Photo: Patrick McMullan/Courtesy of nymag.com
Isaac Mizrahi
The Mizrahi collection had an easy sense of fun and luxury. There was liberal use of colors and textures; the make-up was chic and powerful. The theme was “Smile,” and what makes a woman feel more confident and happy than when she wears gorgeous red lipstick? To create the look, the skin was clean and matte, with bare eyes and cheeks. The focus was on the powerful lip color—a bright ruby-red lip color by Shiseido: Perfect Rouge Lipstick RD 415 (Valentine), topped off with Make Up For Ever Pure Pigments in Carmine to set it and give it an extreme matte texture.

Photo: Marcio Madeira/Courtesy of style.co
Ralph Lauren
As always, Ralph Lauren’s collections signify refinement and luxury. But the make-up is usually clean and natural, elegantly unfussy and not the least bit trendy. For this look, we used a simple coating of mascara for the eyes. We warmed up the face with M.A.C. Sculpting Powder in Bone Beige, M.A.C. Powder Blush in Fleur Power and M.A.C. Iridescent/Loose Powder in Silver Dusk as a highlight. For the lips, we used a sketching of pink nude liner with a topping of Smith’s Rosebud Salve.

Photo: Don Ashby/Courtesy of style.com
Mary Douglas