Musings of a Makeup Mastermind is moving!

There is exciting news in the Kate O’Reilly Makeup headquarters today. This blog shall be no more! If you wish to continue reading my jibber jabber you may do so on the all new and improved kateoreillymakeup.com where I shall be sharing my inspirations, icons and how to tips with one and all! Hurrah!

Prada AW 2012 Makeup by Pat McGrath

Yesterday I told you to keep an eye on @patmcgrathreal ‘s twitter account and was I right or was I right? What a genius! Complete originality and precision execution, I’m in awe of Pat and her amazingly talented team, they must get to bed REALLY early.

Pictures from Vogue.co.uk and @patmcgrathreal

Gucci AW12 Makeup by Pat McGrath

Twitter was a STORM yesterday with pictures of the AW2012 Gucci show in Milan as the legendary Pat McGrath tweeted backstage photos of the makeup team at work (see below). The look was a drop dead gorgeous dark lip with petal soft matte skin and bleeched out eyebrows. Completely exquisite, no wonder Pat is considered one of the best makeup artists in the world! The entire team are clearly superstars as there wasn’t a single wonky lip line in sight.

Pat McGrath is creative director for COVERGIRL, Dolce & Gabbana The Makeup, and Max Factor, so you know where to head to recreate the look. My research suggests Pat used Dolce and Gabbana Lipstick in either Amethyst or Lust along with Dahlia Lip pencil to create this perfect vampy pout.

Pat has been tweeting throughout the fashion week season so follow her and be the first to see her next amazing creation @patmcgrathreal

Cara Delevigne at Burberry Prorsum AW12 LFW

What a magnificent way to open the Burberry Prorsum AW12 show at London Fashion Week. Cara Delevigne looked absolutely smoking hot, complete with my favorite fashion statement; the hair-in-jacket-do! Key makeup artist Wendy Rowe went for a striking and extremely wearable look that works beautifully with the chic understated mood of the collection. Simply stunning!

The gorgeous new Burberry makeup collection is available in:
Harrods in the UK
Nordstrom in the US
and the Online Burberry Store

After perusing the makeup collection online, I reckon Cara is wearing a combination of Eyeshadow in Gold Trench No4, Eyeliner in Midnight Brown No2, and Lip Cover in Nude Beige No1.

GET THE LOOK
1. Apply a matte foundation
2. Use a deep amber coloured eyeshadow under the eyes, all over lids and blend upwards. If you’re extra brave you can bring it right up to the brow.
3. Deepen the socket line with a darker brown shadow.
4. Define brows in a shade slightly darker than your hair. Remember to retain some texture in your eyebrows to avoid the dense “scouse-brow” that looks as though its been painted on with a sharpie pen! Using feathered strokes is the best way to achieve texture.
5. Finish with a cool nude lipstick.
6. To make this look a little more wearable, pop a little blush on your cheeks to liven up your skin tone. Alternatively, swap the cool nude lipstick for a soft peachy gloss. Burberry’s Lip Glow Sepia No3 looks like it would do the trick!

xK

Annie Leibovitz

I had the unbelievable honour of doing legendary photographer Annie Leibovitz’s makeup for some of her London engagements in December. I’m such a huge fan, her work is cinematic, painterly, humorous, generous and very distinctive yet there is always something fresh to grab you. Here are some of my favorite Annie Leibovitz images and boy was it hard to whittle the list down to these few.

Kate Moss and Johnny Depp circa 1994

Angelina Jolie and her little munchkin Maddox

Snarl gurl, SNARL! Her skin looks like an oil painting. Amazing post production!

Alice in Wonderland shoot for Vogue with a craaazy looking John Galliano.

Sean (P Diddy, Puff Daddy, Puffy) Combs in another editorial for Vogue.

Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe, perfection.

Topshop… Swoooooooon!

This showed up on my facebook stream today and I just had to share. Hannah Murray just ALWAYS gets it so right! Beautiful punk colour, glamorous, punchy AND not too heavy for this lovely teenage girl. LOVE IT!

Kathy Wyatt

I love a good makeup illustration, like these gorgeous eyes created for Max Factor by artist Kathy Wyatt. I’ve always loved art but I never really had the patience to practice and become really good at painting or drawing. I could sit in front of the mirror doodling on my face for hours but paper never really had the same appeal. One thing I did love to draw however was eyes, or more accurately the makeup on the eye.. these were not realistic anatomical illustrations but merely cartoon makeup. Even my attempt during life drawing class would consist mostly of eyeliner and a saucy arched eyebrow! Maybe these lovely watercolours will inspire me to master painting after all!

Ya-Chiao Rexy Sung

I recently shot an editorial with the wonderful Masatoshi Hamanoi in the beautiful woods of Bow Cemetary park. Stylist Ib Kamara used pieces from the recent London College of Fashion graduate show, including the jumpsuit pictured above which is designed by amazing new talent Ya-Chiao Rexy Sung. I feel in love with this Organza and rusty nail beaut and the blouse worn underneath. Below are some images of Rexy’s collection and the design development illustrating how the industrial revolution influenced the designs. Simply beautiful!

You can view more images of Ya-Chiao Rexy Sung’s graduate collection on the London College of Fashion Showcase website.

Makeup Memories: The Sun Blazoned Look

Image from @britneyspears twitter

Watch out Brit brit, that might not be such a good idea. I’m sure this memory is one of those unfortunate events that drove me to become a makeup artist from my overwhelming need to control the makeup! When I was about 8 years old my sister and her friend decided to do my makeup. I was extremely excited at the prospect; not only was I receiving unbridled attention from my older sister (instead of the usual “get out of my room, get out of my room…” song), I was going to be transformed into a glamorous grown up lady! So, while I patiently sat on my sister’s bed, she and her friend set to work. Blusher brushes flew around my face, lipstick was used in unconventional places, I think there was even some purple eyeshadow involved. I ran to the bathroom mirror to unveil the masterpiece amid cheers of delight from the two 12 year old artistes. Unfortunately I don’t have evidence of the traumatic vision that faced me in the mirror. Rachel’s rebuke “What? It’s the sun blazoned look!” should suffice as describtion enough…

1930′s Yearbook Photos

Image: ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com

Ladies, youz look only gorgeous and check out the middle parting water waves; inspired! It’s so nice to see how real people wore the extravagant hairstyles of times past instead of the glossy Hollywood images we’ve grown accustomed to. There are so many 1940′s wartime shows and movie, Mad Men is giving us a taste of “real life” 1950s/60s and Boardwalk Empire is taking care of the 1920s so fingers crossed a show set in the 1930s is in the pipeline somewhere. It’s arguably my favorite decade purely for the absurdity of it all! I vote they stick these babies up on Yearbook Yourself so we can try on the hairstyles!

Image: flappergirlcreations.wordpress.com

Image: http://bobbypinblog.blogspot.com