Friday, December 7, 2001
Stars get pimples too
By STEPHANIE McGRATH AllPop
Sure, Reese Witherspoon may look practically perfect, but make-up artists know a lot of secrets.
"The stars worry about everything like real people do," says Alice Kilpatrick, who did Reese's look while she was promoting 'Pleasantville' at the Toronto film festival three years ago. "They worry about pimples all the time, no matter what age, that's their concern: 'Please cover it up'."
Chase Aston is the Body Shop's "Colourings " international make-up artist, based in the U.K. She's done make-up for Britney Spears, Emma Bunton, and Geri Halliwell, and he agrees wholeheartedly with Alice.
"Superstars have insecurities just like the rest of us," he wrote in an e-mail to AllPop, "but it can be harder for them to deal with it sometimes as they are constantly being scrutinized and are always in the public eye!"
So how do Alice and Chase make the stars feel confident and give them that polished look? Each of them has favourite methods and tricks, but both say that less is always more.
For Reese, Alice says she kept it "youthful. Literally [I] just covered up any imperfections, groomed her eyebrows, just put a little sparkle to the eye with minimal shadow, mascara and lip gloss. I promote that with young girls, big time."
Chase says he likes to lighten the mood first, especially if the star has a long day of photo shoots or video-taping ahead of him or her.
"There is a lot of stress involved when you are working with some top superstars as they are tired and are missing home and family, and the studio is usually where 'some' let off steam! hahaha!," he writes.
"The tricks of my trade to bring out the person's natural beauty is to talk to them, make them smile and laugh and see what is their strongest feature. I always believe in enhancing their features and not masking! So sometimes I will literally just apply mascara and lip gloss and shout 'ready'! I always talk to the person and see how they would like to see themselves, and if it works well with their personality, I just go for it!"
Imperfections and letting-off steam aside, by the time most superstars land on the cover of a magazine or step in front of a video camera, fans would have to stare long and hard before noticing anything less than perfect about them.
"A lot of the superstars are just like you and me," says Chase, "but when they are working, they have the advantages of pulling (out) all the stops to look their best!"
The only way you can achieve that image is by hiring a full-time designer, stylist, hairdresser, personal trainer, and make-up artist. There are, however, a few fun things you can try this holiday season to give you a bit of star power.
Alice recommends a red, shimmery lip gloss and a tiny bit of glitter down the centre of your nose. If you want to accentuate your eyes, you can also try applying individual faux eyelashes (which you can find at any drug store or
cosmetic counter) to the corners of your lids.
Chase says another popular trend is matte skin with a little bit of sheer berry colouring on the cheeks, matched with a complementary berry-coloured lip gloss.
So who would these two make-up experts love to try their skills on next? Alice says that Christina Aguilera is about due for a new look.
"She goes way too heavy," Alice says about Christina's make-up. "I've seen her on the red carpet and sometimes that's fun, but not for always. As (someone who's in the) spotlight, I think she should change her look, that's what people
love to look at."
Meanwhile, it sounds like Chase had so much fun working with Britney that he probably wouldn't mind working with her again.
"One of my most favourite shoots to do was a 'Cosmopolitan' cover on Britney Spears," he writes. "We had her literally for 2 hours to do hair-make-up,and 2 covers and 2 fashion shots plus an interview!!! But being the true professional that she is, she just got into it and we completed the whole shoot in record time and the cover looked amazing!"
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