Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Alexander McQueen Spring 2011 Inspired Makeup


The second look in my Alexander McQueen inspired series is the first show by Sarah Burton. This show was her first full collection for the house. Many people were quite excited to see what she would do because she worked with McQueen so closely, about 15 years. 

This collection was very much about lightening the brand and taking away a lot of the darkness that came with previous show and making it more feminine. Sarah said that she was inspired by nature and women losing their identities, "almost as if she's being taken aback by nature."

The show started quite strong suit like pieces, with slashed shoulders and light fabrics, then progressed into dresses with prints and string silhouettes. Leaf embroidery and applique progressed into woven sting and wheat dresses (quite literally) and then went into gowns with even more embroidery. 

My absolute favorite looks were a trio of dresses (image above) that looked like they had been woven from grass or something then appliqued with fronds of wheat. So that was where I took inspiration from for the makeup look I created.



So for the makeup look I kept the idea of very organic and earthy colors but making a bit of an impact. Really natural but still feel as though you're wearing makeup kind of feel.

I started by applying a deep hunter green eye shadow pigment all over the eyelid, but decided it was too much. So I took and gold and just brushed it over the top to diffuse the color a bit. I then took a chocolate brown color and popped it into the crease and then took an ivory and put it under the eyebrow. I then curled the eyelashes (SUPER WELL) and applied mascara. I also put in the orange in the inner corner for another favorite piece from the collection. A dress made of hand painted feathers made too look like butterflies.



I decided to keep with the traditional Alexander McQueen look of perfect skin for the face. I just applied a touch of peach blush and that was it!


For the lips I just concealed their natural color with foundation then applied a nude lip gloss on top. 

I really hope you enjoy this look and till next time! :)

For the full collection: http://www.style.com/fashion-shows/spring-2011-ready-to-wear/alexander-mcqueen
Or to learn more about the brand, look through their old shows or shop: Alexandermcqueen.com
Photos courtesy of Style.com

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

The Quintessential Alexander McQueen Look



One of my absolute favorite fashion houses in the one of Alexander McQueen. Although the original designer, Lee McQueen, died in February 2011, his understudy, Sarah Burton has been excelling and growing the house evermore. She has injected the DNA of the house, originally consisting of dark clothes with incredible tailoring and detail, and large production fashion shows where the models were always playing a character. She has added a much more feminine and lighter touch to the clothes but amping the level of craftsmanship and still keeping Lee’s incredible sense of history. Another thing she changed was the makeup!
Lee almost always had makeup artist Val Garland makeup the models according the inspiration of the collection. She painted then as creepy clowns (Fall 2001), space aliens (Spring 2010) and pasted feathers to models faces (Spring 2008). But since Sarah Burton has arrived the girls have been painted to look like blank canvases, so to speak. Very pale, perfect skin an that’s about it. No other “adornments”.
The look consists of not many steps or products at all. Keep reading to find out more.

So for McQueen shows these days Peter Philips does the makeup, for anyone who doesn't know him he is the creative director for the Chanel makeup line. What he does is he takes a sheer, matte, water based foundation and concealer in shades a bit paler than the models skin tone. He evens out the skin and covers any blemishes and covers the lips. He brushes through the brows, curls the lashes and dusts on a bit or translucent powder. And that’s it!

For my look I did exactly that. But don’t panic! You can absolutely do this in your everyday life but add little bits and bobs here and there. Keep reading for some tips.
- With this look you really should just do your foundation/concealer in your favorite foundation. Don’t change the shade or anything, the key to this look is just really perfect, gorgeous skin.
- You can absolutely fill in your brows, just take a a pencil, gel, whatever you use and fill in your brows lightly. Very lightly. You want to stay with the no makeup makeup feel of this look.
- I think in order to add a touch of life back into your face with blush. So after you do your base dust blush along your cheeks and this will help banish the starkness of this look.
- Put on a coat of brown mascara if you must. If you can’t live without mascara, add just a touch of brown to look natural.
- For the lips use tinted lip balm so you can get a touch of color and hydration. A full on bright color would overwhelm the subtlety of this look.

I really hope you enjoy this series and try some of the looks coming up! :)
You can also go to Alexandermcqueen.com or Style.com to learn more about the brand, view more shows or look through their online store.
Backstage photos courtesy of Style.com