The ‘cat eye’ or winged eyeliner is not an essential makeup technique for most women…but it’s certainly iconic. Having enough skill and know-how to be able to apply iconic makeup styles can open you up to a whole new range of looks. One of the most recognisable and diverse looks that you can play around with is the cat eye. Very few looks and makeup styles are as fun, elegant, and multi-functional as Cleopatra’s signature eye makeup. This simple but intriguing style of makeup was first popularised in the 1940’s on the floors of swing dance halls. However, its widespread appeal only really exploded when Elizabeth Taylor wore it in the 1963 movie Cleopatra. Since then, it’s been worn and remixed into different iterations,  but all based on a single principle: stylishly extended eyeliner. Prep is Important… I advise you to make sure your foundation (and any layers under your eyemakeup) is not too creamy or dewey. A non-creamy or matte-finish foundation will be less likely to make the eyeliner fade, smear, and if you have hooded or deep-set eyes, transfer into your upper eyelids.   …But Eye-Shape Is Everything! My main warning with the iconic cat eye is that no amount […]

Back in 2009 as a eager, new makeup artist, I hounded Denny at the Creative Tauranga office to involve me in the makeup backstage at Tarnished Frocks and Divas at Baycourt Theatre.  ‘Divas Through The Decades’ was the third production of this bi-annual show that sees local women aged 40+ modelling revamped, retro fashion in a catwalk/music/theatre mash up. I was blown away by how gorgeous and fit the women were – many of whom had never modelled before!  The backstage experience was filled with fast-paced changes of out-there makeup and hair and costume, with the directors even cutting chunks out of the script for the second night as the first show was way too long…and each two years the TFAD shows have gotten bolder, more ambitious, more theatrical and technology-savvy. Here are a few images from my subsequent ‘TFAD’ experience. In early 2010 they held a small fundraising fashion show – Out of the Closet– at La De Da Boutique in Tauranga.  I did quick makeup and used some strange coloured plastic lashes on the models.  Hey, I was experimenting.  😉  The makeup was just a quickie to vamp up the models own makeup they were already wearing.  Here’s […]