Flapper Makeup for the Holidays? Why Not?

So I have been working 2 days a week (now that I am no longer able to pull 70 hour weeks, thank you, Arthur!) and have been frequently pitching in working for my friend Persefone over at the soon to air show Smash (debuting post-Superbowl, Feb 6 on NBC). Its a show about the real life drama in putting together a Broadway smash hit and it has SUCH fun makeup. Working there has been like a continuing education course in stylized makeup. Every week it is something fun and dramatic from Flapper makeups to Drag. This week I'll focus on the Flapper Look we achieved for the dancers in one of the show-within-the-show's musical numbers.

Persefone designed these makeups to look authentically of the period but they came out so beautifully that it got me thinking that they were the perfect starting point to think about holiday party looks as well. What is most stunning about this particular makeup is not only the use of dramatic color but the specificity of shape for the eyes and lips. The eyes were deep, plummy greys that had a soft glossiness (but not sparkle) and a super round eyebrow. The key to the look is the shape of the shadow. Instead of a contemporary smoky eye, we didn't follow the natural contour of the dancers lids but instead created an almost horizontal teardrop shape which imparts a sleepy, pouty look. Try Mac Carbon layered with Blackberry and then use a light shimmery grey like Crystal to smudge and blend it out. I pretty much did the whole look with one domed contour brush and my fingers. Then tons of mascara and a strip of lashes if you've got 'em. It screams "Damn Prohibition! Get me a gin cocktail!"

The skin is flawless and contoured (my latest favorite as discovered by my friend Dina, is the Kevin Aucoin Pure Powder in Natura) but without any serious blush and the lips are a deep, vampy plum or red. Try Mac Seeds of Desire Mattene Lipstick with Absolutely It liner. The key to these lips is that the line doesn't extend all the way out to the corners of the mouth but instead comes up in an almost heart shape to create that Clara Bow lip. The combo of the sweetness of the shape with the drama of the color is striking and easy to recreate. Add the wig, headpiece and costume and the result is a transportive, gorgeous 20's flapper.

Now, if you take the makeup apart and just do the eye with a glossy nude lip or the stylized lipline with just blush and mascara, throw on one of the MANY sequined tops or dresses I've been seeing around and forgo the feathered headdress, you can reinterpret the look for a modern update and just in time for all the holiday parties I'm sure Pigment readers are headed out to. Have fun and stick a flask in your garter for me!