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Fresh Face at the Met Ball

Written By: Brigitte on May 3, 2011 6 Comments

Last night I had the pleasure of working again with the delightful young Irish actress, Saoirse Ronan. She attended the Met Ball – the Costume Institute Gala held annually at the Metropolitan Museum in New York – for the first time. She wore a striking deep, rich red crepe bodice and sequined tulle skirt by Rodarte and was accompanied to the event by its talented designers Kate and Laura Mulleavy.

My challenge was to create a look for Saoirse that would remain true to who she is: a young, fresh and fair-skinned sixteen year old girl. The idea was to create just enough of a statement, so it wouldn’t look like a girl borrowing a grown-up dress.

Saoirse looking fab at New York's premier red carpet event, the Met Ball.

Saoirse looking fab at NY's premier red carpet event, the Met Ball.

The beautiful, blood red color of the dress was so intense that making a huge makeup-and-hair number would have taken it to the forbidden territory of “over-the-top”. Lining the eyes with dramatic black or making the lips bright red can age any young girl, so my game was all about balance. Besides, matching a red dress with lips coated with thick red lipstick is so 80’s it only works in a fantastic fashion spread for a magazine. In real life, it can look very flamenco dancer.

Saiorse's makeup look for the Met Ball.

Saiorse's makeup look for the Met Ball.

The makeup

I left her skin quite bare by doing a bit of touch up with Armani Silk Foundation #2. But since she is so fair I actually had to mix with some white. On top of that I dabbed a tiny bit of an old rose cream blush of my own concoction on the apple of her cheeks.

A touch of translucent of loose setting powder by Ben Nye keeps the complexion matte enough but not chalky and thick.

I brushed the eyebrows with a tiny bit of cream gold by Makeup for Ever to pick up a little sheen.

I swept a wee bit of gold shimmer on the top of the cheeks to pick up more light. My thinking is : if you can’t use color or contrast elements in the makeup, you can vary the texture by playing up mattes, shimmers and glosses.

To make the eyes pop I used a matte copper shade called Red Brick by MAC as a light contour of the top eyelid but left the ball of the eyelid bare. Filled that part with a touch of Stila Trio Gold, and added a bit in the inner corner of the eyes for extra sparkle. Applied the MAC Red Brick with a flat brush on lower lash line.

Saoirse has very dark lashes so adding black mascara would have been overkill. I chose a Maybelline clear gel mascara to just give a little sheen. It’s like hairspray for eyelashes.

To finish the look I used Burt’s Bees Lip shimmer in Fig. Since it’s a lip moisturizer it’s very, very sheer.

This morning I see online that she made it to a few best dressed lists in good company with the likes of Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez, Gisele, Madonna, Kristen Stewart, Sarah Burton and Sarah Jessica Parker. I couldn’t be happier for her.

Voilà.

top photo—courtesy thestylistsite.com
bottom photo—courtesy iprimecelebs.blogspot.com

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6 Responses to “Fresh Face at the Met Ball”

  1. Katie on: 3 May 2011 at 9:13 am

    Gorgeous, per usual! Love the mascara tip.

  2. Brigitte on: 3 May 2011 at 10:08 pm

    Thanks Katie!

  3. Sylvia on: 7 May 2011 at 1:34 pm

    Beautiful !!!

  4. admin on: 10 May 2011 at 10:57 am

    Thank you, Sylvia.

  5. Noel on: 21 May 2011 at 9:57 am

    So gorgeous! I love your light touch, and she looked luminous.

  6. Brigitte on: 21 May 2011 at 8:23 pm

    Thank you for understanding the subtleties of up-to-date makeup fashion.

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