Knock, knock! As part of my backstage tour of Istana Budaya recently, I stopped by Stephanie Van Driesen’s a.k.a. Betty of “The Secret Life Of Nora” dressing room where she was having her make-up done by M.A.C. Cosmetic’s Senior Makeup Artist, Haritha Shan.
Betty’s makeup remains the same throughout Act I & II with just a bit of glitter added to the eyelids for Act II when she has gone over to the villain’s J Hearts New New World Theatre. Haritha wants to maintain Betty’s nerdy, innocent and naive look.
As Betty’s character is young and sweet, Haritha’s look for her is pink lips and cheeks. Haritha doesn’t use any eye creams or moisturisers prior to applying makeup as these are emollient and will cause a makeup meltdown especially under the strong stage lighting. Applying such skincare products prior to applying makeup will also make makeup look messy and cakey.
To begin, Haritha sprays on Fix Plus followed by Studio Sculpt Foundation NC15, set with Prep + Prime Powder. Studio Sculpt Foundation in NC50 is used to contour the face. There are 4 primary eyeshadow colours used (please see pic above, marked by numbers 1-4):-
1) Red Brick
2) Vibrant Grape
3) Cranberry
4) Navel Blue
Haritha strikes a balance between the first 3 colours, I’d never think the 3 colours together would produce the kind of colour I saw on Betty’s eyelids. The 4th and darkest colour, Navel Blue is used only sparingly on the outer corners of the eyelids.
Black eyeliner is used on the outer corner of eyes to create a soft contour. The eyebrows reflect one of M.A.C.’s Fall Trends, Tough Love as they are so thick and manly. Haritha has used Fluidline Gel Eyeliner to create that effect.
On cheeks, Haritha used Dollymix blush (marked with *). On lips, she used Snob lipstick followed by Style Pack Glamglass. 7 & 33 lashes have been stuck together for the upper lids, no false lashes have been used on the lower lids.
Ah! The wonders of makeup. Stephanie looked so different from her “Cabaret” persona, Sally Bowles. The makeup may have made Betty look the part of a geek but it couldn’t mask Stephanie’s beauty.
