On Friday Birmingham will host
The Clothes Show Live! Last year’s clothes show was a lot of fun (post). I
saved some juicy posts to publish in the run up to The Clothes Show Live
2013. Here I interview
Rachel Wood, head makeup artist, about fashion shows, makeup, how to forge a
career as a makeup artist, tips, tricks, what products she uses.. oh and male
models….
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The gorgeous and talented Rachel wood (L) chatting to me! |
Firstly
congratulations on the live catwalk show.
It was really vibrant, colourful and entertaining. I personally loved the Sicily photo
shoot section. How do you come up
with the ideas and looks for the show?
What are the challenges?
Thank you! I loved the Sicily part
too! We have a really great
team. Karl (Willett) is the stylist
and works with an amazing production team. They come up with some concept themes and then email them to
me so I can come up with some ideas.
It’s a very interesting show to design for as they try to have models
and dancers who look like everyone- pale, blonde, tall, darker skinned, red
hair, every type of nationality so they can cover all bases. Obviously they are all beautiful! The dancers bodies are amazing!
It’s not like a fashion show where you are
designing for one designer’s collection.
There are 10 different scenes, models of all different nationalities and
complexions, and you have to find something, which goes with it all. Plus the fact the fashion theatre fits
6000 people so it has to be stage makeup but then there are huge screens of
their faces, so it has to look good up close. It has to look fashiony, it has
to look current- and because it is Christmas we always have to have a little be
of sparkle! A touch of
glitter. (CG: I remember the amazing
glitter lips of 2011!) I don’t use
makeup glitter. There is a an
amazing art store in New York called Pearl Paint (http://www.pearlpaint.com/) and I buy
craft glitter from there. It’s the
kind that people use for artwork.
It’s great because the glitter is chunkier- little glitter wouldn’t pick
up as well. I attach it with
eyelash glue.
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Rachel at work (Photo credits to her website) |
Its important that the people in the front tier
can see just as well as the person in the back tier. I always go to the back and do a makeup check to see if they
have enough glitter on.
What
is it like backstage? Do you have
a routine?
It is very busy! This is my 6th Clothes Show Live. I have 11 assistants backstage. We get here everyday at 7am and all the
models, dancers, celebrities, boybands, presenters are all under my care. This can work out between 60 to 80
people per day through the makeup chair.
(Rachel wakes up at 5:45 every day and leaves the hotel at 6:45- allegedly
fuelled by coffee on IV drip!) I
like to be ready to start at 7 and I’m nuts about time. I have various assistants who run
different things- one team does the model side, one the dancers side. I have different artists that will go
out the style stage and make sure the presenters are touched up. Also I go to the stage a few times and
do some demos, give out goodie bags, pull people out the audience and talk
about what we do backstage…. (pauses and grins) moisturising the male models and putting
glitter on them mainly- (CG: A very tough job!)
What
are your go to winter trends?
I really love a metallic smokey eyes. It’s so sexy. I love movie references- Metropolis black and white
underworld kinda feel. I love
bronzes and crushed golds, and there is a colour by benefit that Ive been using
on Grace Woodward- Skinny Jeans creaseless cream shadow (link). (CG: I have that too-
I love it) I like to press a bit
of glitter on the top of it to add dimension. I love makeup that looks like you went out partying, fell
asleep with it on and then woke up the next day, touched it up and went to
brunch!
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Benefit Creasless Cream eyeshadow in Skinny Jeans. A go-to winter staple for Rachel |
What
winter look would look good on me?
A berry, wine red lip. You have great super pale skin, long
flowy hair, light eyes- a very pre-Raphaelite look. Makeup Forever and Chanel have some gorgeous dark lip
colours. Mac Burgendy lip pencil
over your whole lip. Lots of
mascara, curl your lashes, deep wine lips. Nicole Ritchie wears this look quite a lot. Cheryl Cole too. A great winter red carpet look
especially when worn with lace.
Coppery shimmer pencil and rub it over the eye. Interesting but simple way to do
makeup.
As a
makeup artist you must love a good canvas. Do you have any insider skincare tips you could share?
I love the feeling of taking my makeup off
at night! Don’t overdo it on the
products. Everyone’s chemical
makeup is so different. A
lot of people really love one brand and stick to it. I consider myself a lab rat for beauty care as I am allergic
to everything. Your skin is a
reflection of what is going on inside so topical creams, moisturiser etc are
great but the best thing for your skin is water, water, water, no alcohol,
watch your salt, boring stuff like that!
Creams are nice, but its kind like putting a band aid on the problem. I really struggled with my skin last
year. I was suffering from really bad breakouts- which were hormonal, so I had
acupuncture and its helped by 95%.
It didn’t hurt- I'm a big fan.
Ive been on 60 something planes this year for work, and all the
different time zones, beds, foods, climates affect the body. I'm all about preventative measures-
vitamins, exercise, lots of water, alternative medicine. I don’t get sick. If you're sick, you don’t work. I cant afford to get ill! I also love Yoga to relax as I can do
the stretches in my hotel room.
What
are some of your beauty bug-bears?
People don’t clean their brushes and
sponges enough and then complain that they are breaking out. My other pet hate is when people wear
the wrong foundation colour and then complain that it worked in the summer- you
have summer clothes and winter clothes, sometimes you need a summer foundation
and a winter foundation!
You can put foundation on with your hands
first and then buff it in with a brush to avoid the Kabuki eating up all your
foundation. I hate it when people
use sponges for foundations. You
might as well throw half your foundation in the garbage because it eats it all
up. Put the foundation on your
skin and then use the sponge to blend.
Broken products! Here is a tip! If you ever have a product like a pressed
eyeshadow, powder compact or lipstick that breaks, then go to Muji and get a
few little jars. You can use them
as a loose powder or lipstick.
It’s still the same product!
Obviously
you really love and live your job.
Tell me about one aspect that you really like?
I'm a really big fan of teaching people
simple ways to do makeup. If
people hire me to do makeup, I'm going to bring a big box and create lots of
things. If I am going to teach
someone to do makeup I'm going to give them 4 things than they can do super
well. Their fingers as the most simplest
brush. There is nothing worse than
going to a store, buying something fabulous, and then it sits in your draw to
die! So many people don’t use
products because they aren’t sure how.
When you see things in a magazine you have
to remember that there is a stylist, hair dresser and makeup artist touching it
up every few minutes. I like
things that are nice but wearable (don’t take things straight out of the
magazine!) Its easy to make a
beautiful model look good, its more of an art to work with people who have oily
skin, a teenager with spotty skin, someone with scars, ageing skin. I see beauty in everyone and love
making people feel special.
That’s what I do on Plain Jane show on MTV. I love finding features in people’s faces to bring out and
make more of.
I
wasn’t planning on doing this, but I appear to have got my makeup bag out so shall we go through it?! Whats in my makeup bag? (With comments from Rachel Wood as I pulled things out!)
I love going through people’s stuff and
finding new things! Real Techniques brush. Samantha
Chapman- big friend of mine.
(Rachel has appeared in and written for TWO magazine several times). Mac eyebrow pencil, Mac Darkside,
Chanel Perfection Lumiere foundation Their illusion d’ombre
eye shadows are insane. I'm a big
fan of Chanel because they are one of the few luxury brands that make their
own products. A lot of other
luxury brands buys their makeup from someone else and put their stamp on
it. People who cant afford other
things from the range, buy the makeup thinking hey are getting the brand- when
they aren’t. I feel that Chanel
are amazing. YSL glossy stain I like their
lipsticks, but sometimes they don’t taste very nice. They need to sot that out!! Max Factor False Lash effect. They don’t sell that in the states
anymore, and I used to love the 2000 calorie mascara. Coralista blush I used that on Grace
Woodward today! Coralista is like
a more sheer Nars Orgasm! Daniel Sandler’s Peach Puff blush. Oh cool Ive
not seen this before. I love that
is is so cheap. Crown Kabuki. I love using a Kabuki
brush for my foundation. That is
how I put the foundation on the models.
I love buffing in the foundation with that. Bourjois concealer. Those mini pencils
they do are amazing- the eye pencil they are great on a budget! Aveda inner light concealer. Very creamy!
What
brands do you like? What products
do you normally carry around in your handbag?
Benefit is fun
and for people who aren’t good with makeup, its easy to use- its not scary
makeup. Its not too heavy, too
coloured, so it’s more about making the natural you. you can pile it on and not
look too scary . Brands like Mac,
Illamasqua, Inglot are very heavy colourful which is great, but can be daunting
for some people. Chanel I love because
the products are just amazing,
I always have 2 bad gal lash mascara, short
or medium eye light false lashes and duo glue, eyelash curler from Shu Umera, black track MAC, Charles fox
angles eyeliner brush, Dark brown zing from benefit with 266 brush from mac, I'm
a 3 concealer type of girl! I use
Mac NW35 SPF35 concealer to cover
dark circles, then a couple of dots of benefit erase paste and then I finish
with a little YSL on the cheekbones to highlight. Chanel light pink blush and
bronzer, Nars bronzer and blush in
gina (peachy). I love blush and bronze.
I have olive skin so I can wear both.
I have MAC Embark on today. I love chocolate smokey browns. I normally just wear eye pencils/liner
to add colour but today I have a shadow on. I have benefit Hoola gloss- I’m obsessed with the texture
because they are not sticky. It
makes me feel like I am on a tropical holiday! I wear lots of lipsticks- chanel are good but Tom Ford is my
favourite. I have almost every
shade. They do break the bank but
if you want a lipstick, out of the brands, they are worth breaking the
bank. The texture, colour,
pigments are amazing. Lancome make
some really nice sheer ones, but I prefer more opaque satin and matte textures
and then added shimmer where I want it.
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Rachel's work- combing art and makeup. (Property of e http://www.rachelmakeup.co.uk/ |
Was
this a career you always wanted to do, or was it something you fell into?
I went to art school as a teenager in New
York. I was always very involved
in theatre, I liked painting, museums, singing music, movies, costumes, plays. I studied theatre at university and I
got really into the makeup side of it.
I went to performing arts camps in the summer where there were lots of Brits. I came to England to visit and found
out about all the great makeup schools here then ended up coming to makeup
school here. I stayed and ended up
assisting. I learnt a lot through
assisting.
There are a lot of shoots now that want you
to do hair, makeup, nails for free or for a low budget. I think it is very hard
to make a career out of it, but I was able to find my niche. If you don’t find your niche then you
can drown in the business. I was
lucky because I used to teach in makeup schools and met many people along the
way. I have such an amazing team
of assistants backstage here that are all so talented in their own right. They all work with celebrities. I have to have that here. I have to trust them 100%. I check everyone in the chair at the
end, but I teach the assistants the look perhaps once and they get it.
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Rachel's work in TWO Magazine. |
I love what I do and I feel so blessed and
lucky to be able to travel, and be creative, and meet amazing people and wake
up every day loving my job. No
matter how tired I am, I’ll never complain that my biggest problem over the
last few years is that I’m working too much and haven’t been home enough. That is a good problem to have in this
economy. I'm very lucky and I did
struggle for a long time. I
wouldn’t ask anyone to do what I didn’t do. Life is what happens when you are making plans for other
things.
If you had told me when I was younger that
this year I would have been to the Artic Circle, Morocco, Istanbul, LA, Miami,
and heading a show of 80 people- I would have laughed. I'm just a kid from NYC.
Finally
Rachel, out of all the places you have visited, are there any you would like to
go back to?
Tuscany- I stayed on a vineyard this year
and they put Chianti in all of our rooms!
I also liked Madrid.
Thank
you Rachel for being a great sport and answering all my questions! It was great chatting to you!
Rachel has a website http://www.rachelmakeup.com/, and a fab blog called Mascara Memories (link). Also she is on twitter and is happy for anyone to tweet her makeup questions (@rachelmakeup73) and she will do her best to answer!