Lady-like with an Edge

Carolina Herrera Winter ’10 Collection
By Angie W

The Inspiration: The makeup look, designed and executed by MAC artists, was created to resonate with Herrera’s rich and opulent collection. The look centered on rich wines and aubergines blended over the eye for a smoky purple eye. Artists referred to the look as a 70’s style, with a heavy application of several shades all over the eye, reminiscent of Biba’s palette of rich purples.

The Look:

Eyes: This look was ALL about the eyes. Five shades of purple were used to create the look. First, Night Moth (a lip pencil!) was applied all around the eye w/focus on the crease/lower orbit of the eye. Then Fig, Vibrant Gray, Indian Ink, and My Dark Magic were applied and blended.


Lips: The lips were kept very subdued so that the eyes took center stage. Subtle Romance Gloss was lightly applied.

How to Get the Look at Home:
Fatima Thomas, Senior Artist for the MAC Pro team, explained how to create a more user friendly look that readers can easily do at home. Instead of using Night Moth (which could irritate some people’s eyes since it’s a lip product w/red pigment) try using Prunella. Apply Prunella all around the eye (lining top and lower lids) and create a line that traces the upper eye socket, then blend it out so it’s diffused and barely there. Then use Sketch shadow and trace over where the Prunella pencil was applied. This adds richness and depth.

Next, use MAC pigment in Pink Opal to add a little sheen on the lids and also place it at the inner corner of the eye. Then use Zoom mascara in Fast Black because MAC’s blackest black is what’s needed to hold up against the strong, smoky purples. Then use Smolder pencil eye kohl in the water line of the eye to contrast w/any darkness that may be present under the eye. Finish the look off w/a sheer pink like Lust lipglass or barely a touch of Viva Glam II.

The Nails:
The nails were a ladylike camel color, Chocolate Milk, by Creative Nail Design. The gentle but sophisticated brown complemented the purple eye w/a subtle red undertone in the polish. This brown is a great neutral to wear with rich blues such as those shown in Herrera’s collection. Air Dry top coat was applied to give a sophisticated high shine to the nails. CND artists told us that Chocolate Milk is more an uptown brown than a downtown brown, perfect for the Herrera woman’s sophisticated look.

Credit: Angie W and Jessica M for Blogdorf Goodman