Sometimes celebrity makeup looks are all you need to provide you with some inspiration. Lots of red carpet looks tend to be striking, yet equally subtle. This week, I invited an award winning make-up artist Eileen Kastner-Delago, to tell us how to achieve Natalie Portman’s red carpet looks from the 75th annual Venice Film Festival.
LOOK 1 / DAY
SKIN
It was so much fun to work with my client & friend Natalie again, this time in Venice once more. Natalie wore a DIOR dress for the pressday ( interviews and press conference) which was so elegant that I wanted to create a clean and sophisticated makeup look for her. Natalie had just finished filming her latest movie 3 days before arriving in Venice and the long working days showed on her skin. It was also very humid in Venice as it rained the days before, so I decided to do my usual little bespoke skincare treatment routine specifically for that one client at the moment before the make-up. I know Natalie’s skin very well and so I was able to put together a nice concoction of ingredients to prep her for the make-up.
After gently cleansing Nat’s skin I started with a mixture of Drunk Elephant BabyFacial exfoliant and Drunk Elephant LaLaRetro cream and left it on her face while her hair was blow-dried. After cleaning it off her face I used my beloved ZIIP device and used a mix of 2 treatment programs to help plump up Nat’s skin and give her a healthy sculpted glow. After that I applied some Drunk Elephant Virgin Marula Oil and gently sprayed Tatcha’s Luminous Dewy Skin Myst over her face without disturbing the beautiful blowout.
I then applied Charlotte Tilbury Wonder Glow as a primer and followed with an all natural, organic foundation, VAPOUR Atmosphere Soft Focus which is light reflective with buildable coverage followed by the Charlotte Tilbury Retoucher Pen where needed. The center of the face was set slightly with Dior Diorskin Forever & Ever Control Invisible Loose Setting Powder.
EYES
I wanted to keep Natalie’s eyes defined enough to face the photographer’s flashlights but still clean and naturally elegant so I primed the eyelids with Dior Backstage Eye Prime. Then I applied Laura Mercier’s Caviar Stick Eye Colour in Burnished Bronze all across the upper lid and lower lashline and smoked it out. To define the crease and outer lower lashline I added MAC eyeshadow in Mulch and then I washed MAC Gingersnap over the centre of the lid and on the outer corners of the eye as well as under the lowver lashline. I applied Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Waterproof Liner in Evening Sky on the inner upper lashline and MAC eye pencil in Powersurge on the lower lashline followed by Diorshow Mascara Pro Black on the top lashes and Diorshow Mascara Pro Blue on the lower lashes. The eyebrows I filled in with Anastasia Beverly Hills eyebrow pencil in Taupe and set the brows in place with Charlotte Tilbury Legendary Brows in Linda.
CHEEKS
For a healthy sunkissed glow and soft contour I used Dior Nude Tan Healthy Glow Enhancing Powder. When it comes to blusher I like to mix up a couple to create my own bespoke effect that fits that specific situation. I applied a bit of Dior Rouge Blush in 962 Poison Matte at the top of the cheeks, blending out towards the temple and over the brow arch and Dior Rosy Glow Awakening Blush as a very soft wash over it. And for a final touch I added some highlighter with across her upper cheekbones, above eyebrows, centre of nose and above the cupid’s bow.
LIPS
For the lips I used a soft layer of Dior Addict Lacquer Stick 577 Lacy – Mauve Rosewood.
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LOOK 2 / NIGHT
Natalie was wearing a very glamorous Gucci dress with a strong line for the red carpet and the premiere and so I wanted to create a look that complemented the dress in a very sculpted, strong and sophisticated way.
I freshened up Natalie’s look by removing the undereye makeup and spraying a thin layer of Tatcha’s Luminous Dewy Skin Myst over her face. Then I reapplied Charlotte Tilbury Retoucher Pen on the undereye area and set it very, very lightly with Dior Diorskin Forever & Ever Control Invisible Loose Setting Powder.
EYES
I strenghtened the eye makeup with adding Make Up Forever Aqua XL Eyepencil in black in the upper inner lashline and Aqua XL Eyepencil in purple in the lower inner lashline. Then I applied the “Pop shade” from Charlotte Tilbury La Dolce Vita eyepalette on the centre of the upper eyelid. And finally I added a few Ardell individual eyelashes in black.
CHEEKS
I emphasized the contour of Nat’s cheeks, forehead and jawline with Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Brone & Glow contour shade and emphasized the highlighter high on the cheeks with CT Bronze & Glow highlighter shade.
LIPS
For a lipcolour I chose Bobbi Brown Hibiscus Luxe Lip Color as the base and added a thin layer of Lancome L’absolu Lacquer Lipstick in Shine Manifesto in the center of the lip
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Eileen Kastner-Delago has done make-up for hundreds of international film stars, theatre actors, models and worked with directors like Steven Spielberg, Tim Burton, James Cameron, Roman Polanski, and Sofia Coppola. She has worked on films The Italian Job, Terminator, Cliffhanger, Jurassic Park, Batman and Thor. After creating illusions for the big screen and the beauty industry for many years, Eileen now build on her 30-year award winning Hollywood experience by putting her realistic know-how towards empowering women to make their own well informed decisions about their skincare and make-up product choices through a cutting edge signature approach called EKD Face Wardrobe.
