[What's New] Getting Backstage With M.A.C's Romero Jennings

Hi Huneybees,

Everyone couldn't stop praising Guo Pei for her awesome fashion show at FIDé Fashion Weeks 2013. She has won my heart over when I caught her show last year and this year I knew I had to get backstage and get the lowdown of it all.

All thanks to M.A.C Cosmetics for the invite, I got to see their Key Artist - Romero Jennings, Director of Makeup Artistry, North America, at work. After a short chat with him, he was down to crunch hour, preparing for Guo Pei's show.

Backstage was nicely lit up as though a a shoot!

Romero was an amazing person, friendly and patient, in fact, I've not seen anyone handle crunch hour that beautifully. But before I go on showing you more pictures from backstage, here's a short interview with him...

Could you elaborate more on the concept for the looks for Guo Pei's show?

Inspiration from makeup comes from the dramatic embellished fantastic clothing. It's every girl's dream to look like a princess and it's Guo Pei's personal style to have intricate details. No two pieces of her clothings look the same, so every model will get a different look.

With metallic colours, lashes and fantasy style, it's simply every makeup artist's dream to do this show.

What's some of the special products of techniques used for this show?

We are using the Liquid mixing medium from M.A.C to create the liquid gold and silver when mixed with the M.A.C pigments.And for the lips we are using the M.A.C's Retro Matte lipsticks for the strong and powerful, neon-like lips. Tto shape the faces, we are using the light and dark colours, highlighting and contouring to make them 3 dimensional, standing out against the clothings.

I see you holding these interesting brushes. What are they used for?

These are the Masterclass Brushes, and they are super soft. Each hair is super fine to attract the shadows not magnetically, but kinda in that way. It's shaped this way for easy handling, so that you can apply makeup on yourself easily, they are so luxurious, a patent that only M.A.C has, it's my recommended must haves.

What are some of the must-haves in your makeup kit?

The Face & Body Foundation as it's being used for everything as well as the new Matchmaster Concealer if you want that natural looking skin with coverage. It is buildable and although quite creamy it will dry down once it's set to last.

So what's the latest beauty trend for Spring Summer 2014?

Having travelled to New York, Milan, Paris as well as Singapore for the fashion shows, the nude look is catching on. I call it the Emperor's New Clothes. With the right tools, creams, nuance, layering and transparency, it will look as though you are not wearing any makeup at all.

One of my favourite is the Prep and Prime Skin Refine Zone. It's a clear tube of clear cream that helps in mattify the face and to prime face for foundation or even use after foundation. It's perfect for Spring like a liquid powder. You have to go really neutral playing with matte and shiny and the factor to having the matte face without looking powdery or cakey is in that tube.

Every M.A.C makeup artists were working very fast, it was challenging as every single model had a different look and all they could work with are images printed out from Guo Pei's previous show. If it was me, I might have just fainted from all these rushing around...

When I went backstage, the team were preparing for the Michael Cinco's show. The smokey eyes look was very intriguing as I was told that only 2 shades were used and it was all a test of skills and blending to get that look. If you have oily eyelids or want the smokey eyes to last longer, you definitely must have the Prep and Prime Skin Refine Zone as primer!

After every makeup artist is done, they have to consult with Romero to add his finishing touches...

Actually in between looks, there are also the VIPs that the M.A.C artists have to help with their makeup. And seen here, MCM Singapore owner Emily Hwang was dropping by to get her look ready before she make an entrance to the shows at the runway. it's amazing how the whole team work so well together and sharing the load...

Ok, so here's a closer look at the models before head out for Guo Pei's show. I'm so inspired by the looks, my hands were getting so itchy I almost wanted to go "help out". I was definitely like what Romero said, it was every makeup artist (or in my case, makeup fanatic) dream!

In comes Guo Pei to get the models's look explained to the makeup artists.

Romero checking out the final details.

The gorgeous Sofia Wakabayashi.

Romero painstakingly dabbed glitter on the model's lashes using lash glue to hold them on. Nifty trick and he mentioned that if he had time, he would have made appliques where he can have the glitter lashes all in one piece. Oh dang, there goes my chance of seeing the master at work.

Even Guo Pei was busy getting her look done.

One look that I got to see the full process has got to be the Japanese geisha look. What started out as a plain white face, actually involved much more contouring, different shading techniques and to hide the model's original brows were in fact a skill of its own!

From just a thin piece of paper, Romero made thin red lashes to add to the end of the model's eyes. Ain't his fingers just amazing?

Isn't she a beauty?

Neville, the amazing people behind the model's hair behind FIDé Fashion Weeks, invited me over to their room to snap introduce me to their crew as well as check out the fantastic hairstyling process. Not only did I get to see the hair accessories for Guo Pei's show upclose, I also sneak peeked a little on how the buns on the model's head were done.

Did you know they charge $1,500 for just a normal hair wash n blow? It was absolute honour to be able to see the crew at work!

I would love some braids too! :)

Ok! Hair and makeup for the models are almost done and I was glad I could get such close shots. Sometimes, it's just so difficult to see the details on the runway...