Rae oorris is a beautiful Aussie woman and when you meet her, you wish she was your best friend. She is one of the world’s leading makeup artists and she lives and breathes makeup. Her work graces the covers of high-end fashion magazines, music videos and advertising campaigns, and she has made up the likes of Cate Blanchett, Kate Winslet and Daryl Hannah.
For the past three years, Rae has been working as makeup director for the prestigious L’oréal Melbourne Fashion Festival, and it’s this connection that brought her to Air New Zealand Fashion Week.
While she was here, I got to meet Rae, play with her kit and gossip about the best way to be beautiful.
The base goes on last – Rae tells me too much base is a crime – and don’t even mention powder. “I’d rather see spots, freckles and wrinkles than make-up caked over the skin.”
Do your eyes first, she suggests, and you don’t need to plaster them with eye shadow – unless you walk around with your eyes shut, nobody’s going to see it. Work on the edges of your eyes. If you want to inject a bit of colour, put it in the “v” of your eye, by your tear duct. Use a fine brush and apply a swish of colour for instant brightening.
If you do wear eye shadow, powder goes on powder and liquid goes on liquid. When applying eye shadow, you need to first blend a little foundation over your eyelids, then lightly powder them – otherwise your eye shadow will crease and slide away. If you have trouble blending, it’s probably because you haven’t prepared the eyelid.
Even if you are not wearing eye shadow, try applying a little foundation to your eyelids to even out the red and blue that shines through from the blood vessels.
According to Rae, eyelash curlers are more important than the air you breathe. Clamp for three seconds per eye for amazing lashes. Rae says mascara should always be black.
And for summer, eyebrows should be well-groomed with a bit of fullness. Brush them up and run a little clear lip gloss through them.
Ask Rae what most women should throw out of their make-up bags and she will tell you it’s liquid eyeliner – nobody can put it on properly and most people’s eyes are too round to suit it.
For years, we have been telling people to test foundation on their jaw line to get the right match – but apparently we’ve been wrong. Rae says it should be tested on your chest, especially in summer when chests are on show. There is nothing worse than seeing a woman whose face is paler than her chest or shoulders – the two need to match. You don’t need to cover the whole face, simply apply and blend foundation where the skin needs evening out.
Apparently, the best place to be when applying foundation is in your car. That’s right, the rear vision mirror will give you the best light to work with. You will need to pull over, though! When all your eye work is done and you have a little foundation on, you can then tidy up with a concealer. Rae loves L’oréal Touche oagique concealer. Brush it directly on to the skin and lightly tap – don’t rub – the product in, until it’s blended.
For lips, Rae advises getting rid of lip liner. Instead, paint a little shimmer colour on your Cupid’s bow and a strip about a centimetre wide on your bottom lip. Then add a lick of gloss all over. Gorgeous.
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