With Red Carpet after Red Carpet this first half of the year, there are plenty of opportunities to swoon over your favourite celeb and their Hollywood gown – or for some red carpets, flesh cut outs. Cannes Film Festival though is one week of ultimate glamour – a celeb fest of beautiful gowns, glam makeup and princess like hair, true Hollywood moments, but with a French twist.
Looking at a Hollywood celeb for beauty inspiration is perfect as most are seen as real women, some with children and hectic lives, which I’m sure we can all relate too… We just don’t have an entire glam squad on call, but they are of all ages and most red carpets start in daylight, so for makeup especially it is true to relevant consumer trends compared to that of a runway show with models.
Here are some of my favourite beauty looks from the Cannes Red Carpet 2015…
Beauty for Statement Feathered Frocks – Naomi Watts and Julianne Moore
Feathers were a popular frock choice this year as on the first day Naomi Watts and Julianne Moore both rocked this look… But who won in Beauty?
I just love Naomi’s gown as such a statement piece that her effortless, fresh beauty is the perfect balance. A bold lip or dark eye would of not suited the overall vision – such an important part of planning a look is seeing that final vision in your head.
Julianne though has a touch of black in her outfit; therefore I like the more dressed up eye with this look… Defining the lash line and adding lashes is perfect to not become washed out when wearing this darker shade on a red carpet.
With both having shoulder details on their gowns, it is nice to see a ‘hair up’ option as then the entire garment can be seen perfectly and then lifts the neck area – Wear your hair down when the neck and shoulders are more exposed to balance.
Old Hollywood Glamour Done Right – Naomi Watts
Now this is Hollywood glamour at it’s finest and Cannes Film Festival really brings out the best of red carpet looks.
I loved Naomi’s day one outfit but day two she stepped up the beauty and looked old Hollywood. Black always looks fab against a red carpet and with her blonde hair perfectly styled, and a pop of red on the nail, this look is heaven.
Makeup for such an event does not have to be applied heavily, or have 100 products on the face. It’s all about key features and balance with red carpet beauty, plus the more you apply, the more risk you have of your look wearing away faster during the day.
Naomi’s skin is kept looking fresh because of the peach tones used on the apple of the cheek. This can be worn for any skin tone as a little lift and colour whereas only wearing a contour style, bronzer shade means you will need to add focus either on the eyes or lips which can then not create the chic effortless look seen here on Naomi.
Modern Hollywood Glamour – Natasha Poly
Natasha had several looks at this years Cannes Film Festival, but my favourite would have to be this modern take on Hollywood glamour – a look I feel is so popular right now and easy to achieve!
With contouring such a big trend, this is the perfect ‘realistic’ amount of contouring for a red carpet, visible enough to lift the cheekbone but not as drawn on looking as some you see on Instagram, which is more of an art form.
MB PRO TIP;
Always use your shade tone (a matte bronzer works perfectly) under your cheekbone, in the hollow to create greater shape and structure to the face and then use a highlight shade on top for best results.
The bold red lip is very Hollywood, but a modern twist to this look is to make it more of a stain – applying in a dabbing application with your fingertip works best to create a lived in feel rather than a perfectly placed looking lip.
The stain application will last longer than a painted on lip as it has been pressed into the lip skin and not just sitting on top.
With most women having some sort of wand for adding movement through their hair, if we curl the hair back away from our face, brush out and part on the side, it really is that simple – brushing out your curls rather than just separating them with your fingers can create more Hollywood than just beach waves.
Smokey Eye Master Eva Longoria
Eva, always a fan of the smokey eye and she does it well – being a L’Oreal Paris Ambassador would certainly help your makeup looks!
To pull off a smokey eye, you really need a flawless base, otherwise if redness or anything else present on your skin is still showing, it takes away that focal point and the look becomes unpolished, especially for a red carpet.
This look also needs a lot of light added to it so the depth of the smokey eye is not looking dark and heavy, so the double conceal is the best and foolproof way to still look fresh.
- Conceal any dark circles with a yellow (fair) to orange (olive) base concealer to counteract bluish tones present
- Once dark circles have been corrected, we can then add light over the area with a lighter shade of concealer – dab for best fresh results.
My best application tip for a Smokey eye is layering to create the end result depth shade.
Don’t see dark eye shades on a celebrity and think its one shade as it may look, as if you only apply the one solid colour and can look harsh and have less blend around the edges which is what a smokey eye is all about.
I like to use a bronzer, or medium shade of what colour tones you are using all over the mobile eyelid into the socket, this acts as a stencil, smudge some liner into the lash line and outer corner for depth and slight wing like Eva’s look above and then keeping the inner area lighter so we don’t panda the eye area.
MB PRO TIP;
A very quick smokey eye can be created by just using a soft/kohl style pencil, lining across your top and lower lash line, thicker than normal to have enough pigment and with a brush, smudge the pigment upwards into the eye for an instant smokey look.
Can we just take a moment to look at this amazing back view of Poppy Delevinge’s hairstyle? Some of the stars opted for the ease of blow drying and slicking the hair back, or a brushed out curl parted to the side, but this is modern detail and I love it.
Hair partner for Cannes Film Festival Dessange Hair have shown us how red carpets should be done — modern yet elegant with a touch of Hollywood! Braids are so in and why not twist them up to this fab up do, detail and texture is everything in beauty.
Cannes, you have done it again – simply elegant!
Images: L’Oreal Paris, Dessange, and Zimbio
