Rae Morris’s Top Tips From IMATS

The International Make-up Artist Trade Show (IMATS), the makeup world’s biggest gathering, stopped in Sydney last weekend.

Thousands of MUAs and beauty enthusiasts gathered at The Royal Hall Of Industries in Moore Park.

Between the Chikuhodo (a cult-yet-hard-to-find Japanese brush brand) stall and Kryolan’s busy stand, attendees swatched shades, swiped plastic and mingled with like minds.

SPA+CLINIC’s highlight (no pun intended) was hearing celebrity MUA and author Rae Morris share her top tips for super-close-up editorial makeup – the kind where you might see every tiny hair or pore.

In a one hour demonstration she showed us her technique live, on bare-faced yet beautiful Chadwick’s models, Elodie Russell and Phoebe O’Hanlon.

“I’m known as the Macro lens girl,” Rae announced, as she hit the main stage.

“There’s a unique aesthetic to beauty editorial – it’s entirely different to the typical “style” of makeup you see on Instagram.

“It starts with questioning your work, asking: Is that something you’d see in a Vogue magazine?”

THE ART OF CLOSE-UP EDITORIAL WORK

After the makeovers were finished, Rae set up editorial lighting while a photographer snapped pictures. It highlighted the distinction between the way things appear in real life and how they change on camera.

• Don’t use false eyelashes in close-up editorial work. It looks 80s.
• It’s not about how long something lasts for macro, it’s about how good it looks.
• Go for glossy eyelids and don’t worry if they crease.
• Don’t use powder to “set” makeup. As longevity doesn’t matter, only use it to mattify.
• I wear macro lens glasses so I can see exactly what the camera does.
• Always use makeup on the body. You have to put foundation on the model’s hands too.
• Everything is retouched. You have to know what’s going to help a retoucher. When it comes to skin, less it’s more. It’s so much more effective to retouch than to cover a pimple with makeup.
• Unlike event makeup, there’s no time limit. It’s about skill. The slower you move your brush, the better the blending.
• Dewy, will not look oily in close up photos so embrace shine, go super light with foundation and mix it with illuminator.

LIGHTING CHANGES EVERYTHING

For editorial work, lighting is critical and can change a whole look:

• I get the model half ready, then I’ll do a light test. Light is unpredictable – it can make the shine look shinier, or completely flatten things out.
• Don’t set anything with powder until you’ve assessed what it looks like under the light. Leave it dewy until the eleventh hour.
• Know that downlighting is unflattering! It can make someone with perfect skin look like they have acne!
• Some park circles are not discolouration but deep ocular cavities that shadow in certain lights – no concealer will cover these.
• Frosty highlighter on top of powder looks artificial. You should only see highlights when the light hits it.

EGYPTIAN EYES

Rae says all women want their eyes lifted, “this is why women wear tight pony tails, and this is why I use facial tape on eyes for shoots.”

• With eyeshadow, start with a start at the bottom of the eye and don’t “round” it – keep it straight.
• Highlight higher than the eyelid crease, then join it up with the bottom.
• Highlight with a light eyeliner under the eyeball – this makes eyes look bigger.

ESSENTIAL PRODUCTS:

Rae used all Kryolan makeup in the demonstration.

• Lips should be plummy and natural like a baby’s. The shade Dahlia is my all time favourite.
• Kim Kardashian’s favourite concealer is Derma Colour and I love it too. It the most pigmented one you’ll find but it can be “sheered out” easily too with Makeup Blend.
• Supracolours are amazingly versatile eyeshadows. There’s no fallout. They can be made into a paint or made ultra glossy.

PERSONAL TIPS

• You need to wait 20 minutes before foundation “sets”, then you can see its “true light”, whether that’s matte or dewy.
• How do you get your work in Vogue? Make sure something is missing. Have no eyebrows. Have no lipstick. Have no hair. Take something away.
• Apply oil based products over water based ones. But make sure the water bases have completely set, otherwise it won’t work.
• Be selective with what you post on social media. Anything you post tells the world you think it’s beautiful.
• The model matters. Think carefully about the face you’re working on. Makeup legend Richard Sharah shot to fame with just one photo of Kate Moss. All he did was put a bit of shine in her eyebrows.