Paul Venoit transforms an average Joe into Jude Law
Paul Venoit stops the meltdown
By :Katherine Flemming
2009-07-24
Beauty Mark: Staking out fashion and beauty’s territory in television
If you’re sick of applying electric blue (the ‘80s are back!) liner before breakfast only to see it bow out by noon, Look-A-Like makeup artist Paul Venoit has your back.
During a break from shooting the second season of the show that makes everyday women and men look like celebrities, Venoit lent us his favourite summer products, explained a fun way to dip into colour, and revealed the mistake that every woman makes when applying makeup in the heat.
TVGuide.ca: Where do you source inspiration for each look?
Paul Venoit: The stylist [on the show], Alicia Marciano, pulls Wire Image photos and from that we create and build the various looks. There is always a photo for inspiration. You can be pretty much guaranteed that the Olsen girls [Mary-Kate and Ashley, the inspiration for the shoot he was working on] will give you something to work with.
TVG: What are some of the challenges you, as a makeup artist, face in the summer?
PV: The biggest challenge I face as a makeup artist is being able to apply makeup that is going to have long-lasting results. Long-wear becomes essential — if you put too much makeup on your face, it’s just going to sweat off. You have to be able to use products that work. I always recommend a concealer but not heavy cream foundations because they’ll just be absorbed by the skin and sun.
Lip stains are great for long-wear instead of a lipgloss, which tends to get eaten off quite quickly. A stained cheek will help keep some colour on the face without being absorbed by the skin, as well. It comes down to choosing the right products that are going to work with your situation.
Reapplying powder all day to your face, which tends to get oilier during the summer months, just looks like you’ve applied more powder to your face. I recommend an oil-free moisturizer and choose a foundation that would be a powder or mainly just for spot work, with a concealer, or just blot to remove excess oil.
TVG: So you could carry those throughout the day so you don’t have to use powder?
PV: Exactly. Sometimes powder can create a build-up on your skin, especially in summer.
TVG: You’ve mentioned a few already, but what are your summer must-haves?
PV: A moisturizer with an SPF of 30. Anything above 30 is not necessary.
TVG: Why?
PV: Because if you think about it, for the hours in a day you are exposed to the sun, an SPF 30 will take you throughout the hours of the day that you’re outside. Whether you do it in your moisturizer or you do it independent of your moisturizer, it’s a definite must. Lip stains are wonderful because they give you a hint of colour and they won’t run.
TVG: How long do those usually last?
PV: They can last a few hours — different products have different claims. But my experience has been depending on the colour you choose, you can get a few hours out of them. Waterproof mascara is a wonderful complement to any look during the summer, because in the heat, mascara can run and smudge. Liquid eyeliners tend to have a stronger pigment and they stay in place much longer, rather than worrying about a cream pencil that’s going to run and smudge in the heat.
TVG: Does the liquid have to be waterproof?
PV: Most of the liquids, I don’t know if they’re waterproof, but they usually don’t move. Put them on, they’re there to stay. Another must-have would be oil-absorbing papers. If you’re going to reapply powder throughout the day, go for a blotting powder, which tends to not deposit on the skin, it just absorbs oil. Blotting powders tend to be very sheer and they give you a nice beautiful coverage minimizing the look of oil while giving you a matte finish.
TVG: And the cheek?
PV: Cheek gels. A gel-formulated blush tends to stay in place longer because they put a stain on the skin.TVG: And eyebrows?
PV: A powder, definitely. Go for a pencil or powder pencil to fill in the brows. But the cream in the heat is going to shift.TVG: If you had to choose two products as set essentials, what would they be?
PV: A moisturizer with an SPF because a moisturizer, not only does it act to hydrate and balance the skin, but it acts as a beautiful base for your foundation. It also plumps up the skin, so it acts as a primer as well. Moisturizers are great in a pinch, too. If your hair is feeling a little dry, you can take a touch of moisturizer and work it through the tips of your hair. The second would be mascara. It can bring a lot of life to your face.
TVG: What mistakes are women making when applying makeup in the heat?
PV: It’s a seasonal mistake — they forget to change their shades. In winter, your skin is going to be lighter than it is in the summer. If you don’t mix it up and go to a darker palette with a darker foundation and a darker concealer, what happens is your face starts to lose its colour and looks chalky. Instead of looking vibrant and luminescent, it begins to take on a sallow, more grey appearance.
TVG: So should women be going out and buying new colours?
PV: I think it’s a great time to mix if you have a brand loyalty, just have a darker shade for the summer and customize. Blend the two together depending on the colour of your skin at that point. I know on a Monday, after a weekend, I can come in and look all toasty and brown, but by Thursday, I look all grey and pasty. My makeup changes weekly, so I’m sure most women’s would as well.
Formulations also play a good role as well because during the winter the skin tends to be in a drier state and in the summer, with humidity, we need more oil-absorbing properties in the makeup. So while you might want to change colour, you might also want to consider changing formulation to adjust to your skin’s needs. If you’re wearing a moisturizing foundation in the summer with lots of humidity, your face is probably going to look really dewy and greasy.
TVG: When you’re comparing two experiences — doing makeup in the dead of winter and the thick of summer — can you get away with wearing less makeup in the summer?
PV: Absolutely because the skin tends to be more balanced during the summer months. However, as the seasons go by, we tend to see heavier makeup in the winter — the smokier eye, the darker lip. The winter tends to bring on more of a heavier makeup influence. But what we’ve seen this season is a lot of makeup, prominent eyes — smoky eyes are very big this season — as are a tinted mouth.
This summer, all the rules have sort of changed. We’re seeing influences from the ‘80s, and if we think back to the ‘80s, it was a real combination of colour and texture and that’s what we’re seeing this season. The only thing that’s really changing is the coverage you would see on the skin in the winter; it would probably be a bit heavier than what we see in the summer months.
TVG: So we can get away with bolder shades in the summer?
PV: Because of the ‘80s influence, we see splashes of colour come up during spring/summer and fall/winter. There’s a lot of colour. Usually we see brighter colours in the spring, but last fall we saw vibrant pink lips. Summer we’re seeing bold blue-red lips — usually in the summer, everything is much more clean and natural. There’s been a transition. It’s a real time for women to play with makeup and colour and be adventurous with their looks. There’s a lot going on right now with makeup application.
TVG: What’s a subtle way of introducing someone to wearing more colour?
PV: My recommendation is to always introduce the colour on the lid of the eye. That goes along the lash line to the crease of the eye — you don’t go above that. If you add a hint of colour — say, a turquoise, a bright orange or green — what you’ll find is you get a hint of colour through expression in the face. As long as you keep it concentrated in that area, you’ll find it will never look obscene.
TVG: What’s a subtle way of introducing someone to wearing more colour?
PV: My recommendation is to always introduce the colour on the lid of the eye. That goes along the lash line to the crease of the eye — you don’t go above that. If you add a hint of colour — say, a turquoise, a bright orange or green — what you’ll find is you get a hint of colour through expression in the face. As long as you keep it concentrated in that area, you’ll find it will never look obscene.
Colour only begins to look obvious if you try to create something like a cat eye, with a bright blue. If you keep it contained to the area on the lid, traditionally, it’s a great place to introduce colour into your beauty regime. Using a coloured pencil — whether it be eyeliner on the top of your eye along your lash liner, or on the inner part of your eye – that’s another part that you can introduce colour to. That often works in complementing one’s natural eye colour.
TVG: And should the lips be kept neutral?
PV: Usually that’s the rule. But this summer, with the influence of the ‘80s is that a lot of colour on the eye, and colour on the lips — blue-red lips, orange-red lips — it’s a real experiment in colour. All of the rules that we normally feature — that you choose one feature and you play it up — now it’s changed a bit.But for the woman who is trying to tap into the trend, instead of using a vibrant orange lipstick, go with a lipgloss that has a hint of the colour in it, which is a great way to introduce the trend without necessarily freaking out the office. I couldn’t imagine my mother coming in with Day-Glo orange lipstick, but I could imagine a light tint of orange on the lip which would be current with the trend but wouldn’t be overpowering.
TVG: One last question. Bronzer — do we all need to wear it?
PV: Does everyone need to use it? No. I think that bronzers are wonderful to create a bit of a sun-kissed look on the skin. A bronzer applied with a large powder brush will give you a natural, beautiful finish of luminous summer skin. It’s a great way to apply colour as long as it’s done in a light-handed fashion and can be very complementary. It’s great for people stuck in the office all day who want a litte bit of colour. I don’t think you can overlook tinted moisturizers, which can also help achieve that look. There’s also self-tanners. A nice, buildable self-tanner can give you the look of sun without exposing our skin to the harshness of what the sun has to offer. I love the sun, but … I love bronzers.TV: I know you do.
PV: [Laughs.] The last time you saw me, what colour was I? Nice and tan?
TVG: You were lovely and toasty … like you said, after a weekend [outside].
