You all know by now that Zebra Square wasn’t my favourite place to be a fortnight ago but on the other hand, there was MAC Cosmetics who were sponsoring the make-up. So if it wasn’t for MAC, I would have spent a lot less time there. I couldn’t pass up the offer of observing the make-up magic backstage.
I had always imagined backstage at fashion shows to be a hive of activity, madness and mayhem. Well, backstage at MIFW was a hive of activity with MAC’s Artistic Team of up to 19 make-up artists including MAC Singapore’s Senior Artist, Beno Lim. However, it was far from being madness and mayhem as everything was well organised and under control.
Sure, there were models coming in and out of the room waiting their turn to be made over and having their make-up checked by Beno. Everyone, make-up artists and models were patient and calm even though they had a strict timetable to adhere to, for e.g. call time started at 7am everyday and the make-up artists would have to be at the venue by 6.30am to set up their make-up tables. They’d only be wrapping up at 10pm everyday so you can imagine how gruelling the days were. Fashion shows are not all glamour, look backstage and you’ll see how much hard work goes into preparing the models.
The names of the models for each show, the call times for hair and make-up were pasted on to the wall as well as the looks for each show and there could be as many as 4 shows per day which meant that the team had to be on standby all day as each show called for different looks.
Although the make-up room was spacious enough, the room was sweltering even with a large fan on. I was only there for about an hour each visit and I felt the atmosphere was too stuffy. It was a relief to be out of the room so I don’t envy the dedicated make-up artists who had to be cooped up in there for more than 12 hours everyday with short breaks.
I will leave the details of the make-up for the shows for another day. Being backstage was a very interesting experience and it made me realise how many talented make-up artists it takes to create the onstage glamour.
There were heaps of make-up, I think they had just about every shade of foundation and powder there. If it wasn’t for getting in the way of the make-up artists, I would have acted like a kid in a candy store as there was so much make-up there.
Joking aside, I went away with a profound respect for the make-up artists’ endurance and perseverance. All of them were the epitome of concentration as they worked on each of the models. True professionalism could be seen on every one of the make-up artists and it’s thanks to them that the models appeared so picture perfect for every show.
Thanks to MAC Cosmetics for this peek backstage. More to come on MAC’s backstage make-up.
