Backstage Notes: What the Makeup Artists Said

Backstage at a fashion show is a very particular kind of calm. There are forty people and twelve hairdryers, and somehow everyone is quiet. We spent three days among the mirrors, and the same words kept coming up.

Skin. Every artist we spoke to started with it. Hydrated, even, a little dewy; one told us she spent ninety percent of her time on the face before she touched a single product.

Cream. Almost every cheek, lip and lid was done in cream, applied with fingers. It melts into skin and looks like the person underneath, only better.

Brows. Brushed up and left alone. No pencilling, no drawing, no heavy colour.

Less. The refrain. “Half of what you put on in the morning,” one artist said, “does nothing, and the other half is doing it for the wrong reasons.”