Backstage with MAC - Preen

For my second full day of Fashion Week, I went backstage with MAC to the offsite Preen show. Luckily the weather lifted (like magic!), so I walked up 42nd Street from the Bryant Park tents to Espace, where the Preen show was being held, on a beautiful Sunday. I was whisked backstage through the clothes and the chaos to the key artist, James Kaliardos, who created a beautiful -- and totally wearable -- look for Preen.

James' theme for the look was "androgynous portraiture" -- considering each girl as a portrait, and enhancing her own look as she is versus trying to homogenize each girl into a robot. It was about bringing out the features of each girl versus projecting an identical look onto her, with particular emphasis on the eyes, brows, and bone structure.

The coverage was very light, allowing the skin to show through while covering up anything that needed covering. Some of the major players were the MAC Pro Blushcreme "Cherche" used on the eyes along with "Omega" eyeshadow (which everyone should have already, right? I'm pretty sure I do). Cheekbones were contoured with MAC Pro Sculpt, while the high planes of the cheekbones and the bridge of the nose were highlighted with Cream Color Base in Pearl (which, okay, I've been considering buying and might have to). All in all, it's a very natural and easy look.

I've also included the face chart here, buuuut since it wasn't included in the MAC face charts that have been hitting the interwebs, I'll give you a special exclusive treat: here it is -- bigger and better. Who loves you? I do! (Also, who loves her new digital camera with better megapixels? I do!)

I also managed to run into Gordon Espinet, the key artist from the Rosa Cha show, and I caught up with him a little on Rosa Cha (and we chatted about Twitter, of course.) So, from Gordon's Twitter, here are his thoughts on the Preen show:

Another day another lot of Fashion Shows. I am going to Preen. James K is doing the makeup. I always love to see theeir show. 06:27 AM September 07, 2008 from TwitterBerry
James K is doing the demo to show the team the look at Preen. Very soft and focused on skin. Very androgenous. 09:19 AM September 07, 2008 from TwitterBerry
colours like SCULPT, OMEGA, CHERCHE, PEARL and DIM lip erase a must for the Preen Look. 09:21 AM September 07, 2008 from TwitterBerry
Boy brow are back! 09:24 AM September 07, 2008 from TwitterBerry

As a brow girl myself, can't say I'm not glad that brows are back!

Thank you again to MAC Cosmetics, Gordon, and James for allowing me to pop my little head in, ask some questions, and have the wonderful experience of getting to see the masters at work! I had a great time at Fashion Week and hope to do it again soon!

images from periodicstyle.blogspot.com