I recently had the opportunity to meet with and talk to Victor Cembellin, Senior MAC Cosmetics Pro Artist with 15 years experience in the industry and makeup artist to the stars. You know how intimidating it was to talk to him?! 😛 Fortunately, he is a darling and so easy to talk to even though he probably had to answer the same question many times posed by other (more serious) journalists!
What I’d like to do is to tell you what Fall/Autumn 2010 trends MAC has predicted and tips on how we, women of warm tropical Malaysia/Asia can apply these trends while sharing some more makeup tips with you further down. Ready? Read on!
Trend #1 : Red Lips for Fall
Fall is all about red lips this year according to MAC and it need not be straight on red, slicked straight from the tube. You could go for a deep red, burgandy red, or even a sheer stain of red. Keep your pout looking luxurious with a touch of shimmer. Try the upcoming Dare to Wear Lipglass for a shimmery pigmented red. I love this trend. Needless to say really since I embrace the red lip look already 😀
Victor’s Tip: If you are afraid of wearing red lips or are new to wearing red lips, start with patting some colour on your lips, like a lip stain. Then build it up from there. This is easier for us in tropical countries too because full on red can be quite “heavy” in hot weather. In the alternative, you can wear a brighter shade of red and blend in a deeper colour around the edges of the lips, for dimension. This tip I shared previously illustrates what he means 🙂
Trend #2 : Defined Eyes with Eyeliner
Focus is on the eyes with strong defined eyeliner. MAC has an upcoming SuperSlick eyeliner with a velvet tip coming out with Fabulous Felines that I’m eyeing. There are a few colours but the silver is amazing! Shiny, strong and pigmented with an almost patent leather sheen.
Victor’s Tip: You can keep your eyes “blank” with just a neutral colour but define it with strong eyeliner for emphasis. Try playing with eyeliner looks e.g. Silver eyeliner sandwiched between black eyeliner. Its interesting. Not quite for everyday, but interesting nonetheless.
Trend #3 : Shadowed Voile Veil smokey eyes to the fore
The look on the runways had a haunting quality to them. Women with a story to tell on their faces. Skin is highlighted and eye makeup was strong. The upcoming eyeshadows of Venomous Villains and Rodarte will see this trend run up till next year. Look out also for the eyeshadow quad in Burmese Beauty in the Fabulous Felines collection and the mineralize eyeshadows like My Dark Magic from Venomous Villains – Victor’s fave items from those 2 collections!
Victor’s Tip: For women living where its Summer all year round, going all out smokey may not be something every one likes. You can keep your light spring and summer colours on the eyes and just add on a touch of Fall colours like deep brown, plum or black at the edges of your eyes, and then line with eyeliner. It transitions your look into a Fall look without going all out smokey.
Trend #4 : Cashmink – Cashmere and Mink texture for the skin
Foundation takes on an “almost there” luxurious quality with a sheen to the skin made possible by the use of the upcoming beauty powders. Apply and blend in your foundation so you do not look like you are wearing a mask, but have your natural skin… just better. Watch out for the launch of the MAC Prolongwear Foundation next year. It offers 15 hours of wear and is water and sweat resistent and won’t rub off. Interesting!
Victor’s Tip: In a hot humid climate like that in Malaysia, women are going to love the ProLongWear foundation. When applying contour powders to your face, do not forget the highlighter. Many women use bronzer to create contours but they forget their highlighters which give a more seamless application to your makeup without making it look too stark or harsh.
Tips for Malaysian Women to combat our hot humid weather
I asked Victor how we might be able to combat the effects of our hot humid weather. So many of us complain of our makeup running and melting throughout the day. Here are Victor’s Pro Artist Tips:-
- Do not wait to blot and touch up. If you wait till you are an oil slick or until your makeup is all melted away before you blot and touch up, its too late. What you should do is blot and touch up as you go along. Waiting till you get back from lunch might be too late. So remember that prevention is better than cure because your only cure might be to remove and start over.
- Use a mattifying product like MAC Prep + Prime Skin Refined Zone Victor swears by this one for TV makeup where shine is not flattering at all! This product helps control shine and mattifies the skin so you have less to wrestle with.
- Use a water resistent and longwearing foundation like the upcoming MAC Prolongwear foundation. Victor’s very excited about this product which seems to be made just for women living in hot humid climates i.e us!
What are the top 3 things from MAC Victor likes and we should try
This might be a toughie but Victor was quick to tell us his Top 3 MAC products:-
- MAC Prep + Prime Skin Refined Zone – mattifies and is perfect for controlling shine on TV – hey imagine what it can do for real life!
- MAC Prolongwear Foundation – 15 hours of foundation that adheres to your skin like second skin. Intriguing!
- MAC SuperSlick Liquid Eyeliner – Strong, dark, pigmented colour with an almost patent leather finish that lasts.
I was honest and told Victor that MAC was never quite high on my “like” list due to previous experiences, but some recent collections and items have caught my attention. My few recent MAC purchases must surely tell you the tide is turning… although I’m still not quite a MAC fanatic, I’m open to trying out an item or two 🙂
Did you find the tips useful? Which Fall trend will you be embracing? I already do smokey eyes and red lips on a regular basis so it’ll be quite easy to transition that into Fall. Also, I do use eyeliner, just perhaps not a very strong defined line and I might work on that. The flawless skin trend will be hard to mimic but I do have my secret weapon which isn’t from MAC that works for me 😉
How about you? 🙂
Paris B
Oh!! How envious!! Wish i could attend such an event too!! Hehehe!! 😀
I’m looking forward to checking out the unusually coloured glosses from the upcoming Fab Felines (FF) collection, as well as the Venomous Villians (VV) collection! 😀 Truth be told i’m not really into even half the colors from VV (more of the bright summery colours and nude lip kinda girl), but i’m buying for collection’s sake! 😉
I’m thankful that the Superslick liner will be permenant (or will it be over here??), that way i get to save more $$$ for LE stuff first!! 😀
You know me, I’m not a MAC fan but even I’m looking forward to the liners! I think that might be it for me. I love the idea of the Venomous Villains but cartoon packaging don’t do it for me 🙁
OOOOO love this post….. very useful info…. i can’t wait for the Disney Venomous Villains collection and the 15 hours foundation as i use make from morning till night hence it’s always melt and become cakey….
I always scared to wear red lipstick as i had a bad experienced way way back…. the tips that Victor gave, boost up my confident to try red!!!!
And it’s true what victor said, i tend to skip the highlight when i use bronzer to contours my face 😛
Oh gosh this post is really really useful!!! Thanks Paris for this lovely post and sharing the info with us!!!
I’m so happy you found the tips useful! There was so much to absorb I’m glad I managed to remember so much to share! 😀
Ohh i loveeeeee this entry so much! Anyway, i just bought a MAC limited edition eye shadows from their Groove collection but i’m not sure how to wear it! LOL.
Glad to know it’s useful for you! I didn’t get the shadows from In the Groove so I’m sorry I can’t help but which did you get? 🙂
I bought Fresh & Easy :p
PARIS YOU ARE EVIL!!!!
I just decided that I did not want them Looks in a Box (Eyeshadow, Blush, Beauty Powder, Mascara and Lipgloss for RM 250)… And now I have to rethink it over. Thanks for sharing the tips. Haih, you’re just soooo lucky. ^.^
Can’t wait for the new collections, if I can force meself to shell out money. 😀
Oh ya I saw pics on the box sets. Quite worth it actually 🙂
I saw the Fab Feline stuff on Muse’s blog, and fell in love with all the eyeliners (especially the greens) as well as the Russian Blue ES (Palace Pedigreed Quad) and the Burmese Beauty (Burmese Beauty Quad).
Extra loving this release as I’m a Fall-even-during-Summer gal hahahahha
High Five! I’m more of a Fall girl too. I do smokey looks nearly everyday! The Burmese Beauty quad looks good. There’s this silvery taupe shade that’s gorgeous!
Thanks for the great tips you are sharing with us here, Paris 🙂
Prolongwear Foundation! I like! But.. arghh…have to wait till next year? Gosh.. 🙁
Ya its only coming out next year I’m told. Will update if I get news k?
Okie dearie, thanks so much 😉
hey, you have moved into the kingdom of MAC. Congrats on meeting a famous makeup artist. though I am not boycotting MAC like some people, I am not really into MAC either. However, I enjoyed reading this post. You looked great too.
I am so happy for you to move up and onwards. I plan to stop blogging maybe at the age of 40. I am kind of tired. Well, it’s another story…
cheers,
Thanks Jojoba! Aww… Why stop at 40? It’ll be fun to see how we evolve as we all get older and perhaps wiser 🙂 hope things are good at your end 🙂
so glamorous! love your red top 😀 i am interested to see MAC SuperSlick Liquid Eyeliner, to see if it is as good as the description
Psst Dorothy Perkins 😛 I’m keen to see too! The liner does swatch very metallic and strong under stage lights so let’s see how the other colours fare
I love this entry ! Thank you so much Paris ! Ohh.. and I love MAC Prep + Prime Skin Refined Zone.. it’s my HG thingy – it hides pores and controls shines really well 😀
Really? Makes me want to take a look at this one. oh dear 😛
i dont think i can do red lips… i feel funny and find myself looked too dramatic… maybe i should start with some lip tint 1st.. but i do adore and admire those who can carry off red lips beautifully! look at Blair Waldorf, hahahha
Yes do try with a tint or a sheer lipgloss. As Victor C explained, our lips are already naturally a little pink so use a slightly darker or brighter shade to ease yourself into wearing red lips. You don’t have to go all out bright red – not many people like that! 😀
ParisB- It was such a pleasure to have met you last month in Malaysia- I really enjoyed your questions and it sounds like a lot of your followers really got some useful tips out of my presentation and answers! Congrats to you on this wonderful blog and I hope our paths cross again soon! Enjoy a wonderful fall full of red lips, liner, yummy skin and inspiration!!!! 🙂
Hi Victor! Thanks for dropping by 😀 hope to meet you again soon 🙂