The Cannes Film Festival has wrapped and while most of the world has their eyes on Best Film Winner, Blue is the Warmest Colour, I bet you're still flipping through galleries full of red carpet hair and makeup looks, which, of course is also why you're here. Eleven days of red carpet glamour filled the streets of Cannes, France and I got the scoop from L'Oreal Makeup Artist, Karim Rahman, who owned the red carpet, day and night.
What do you keep on hand in your Cannes makeup kit?
I always travel with 2 suitcases full of products. When I fly, I have to check all my stuff because of the liquids. But my brushes are too precious for me, so I always travel with them in my carry-on bags, so that I'm sure they don't get lost.
Who have you worked with so far?
Tais Araujo, Leila Bekhti, Inès de la Fressange, Barbara Palvin, Megan Gale, Isabelli Fontana, Bianca Balti and Tilda Swinton.
What do you do differently for day red carpet makeup vs night red carpet makeup?
The L'Oréal Paris L'Or sunset collection (created specifically for Cannes and not available in the US) is perfect to design a day look with its transparent glitters in the eye shadows and lipsticks. After that, it is super easy to add another coat of the Golden Black mascara to make it more intense and add gold glitters and to create in a few minutes a real night and red carpet statement.
How do you work with your clients to decide on a makeup look?
I always start with a conversation with her, talking about her dress, her hair and above all, how she feels and what she has in mind. It is really a team work. The most important part for me is to respect her identity and what she needs. For instance, this week we created a beautiful daring look with Barbara Palvin. She wore this amazing black tuxedo – very feminine and boyish at the same time. It was all about a 70's feeling in my mind, I was thinking about Romy Schneider. So we focused and worked a lot on the eyes, with Voluminous False Lashes Mascara on the top and the bottom, a sophisticated line of Superliner Silkissime eye liner [The Super Slim Liner by Infallible] and a touch of Color Riche Les Ombres eye shadows [Colour Riche Shadow Quad]. And we also reinforced the eye brows lines.
How long does it take to complete each look?
In my dream it would be 1 hour but unfortunately we have only 30 minutes... The crazy rhythm of the Cannes Film Festival!
How do the celebs handle touch ups throughout the day and night?
I try to follow the girls until the end, that is to say until the moment they get in the car to walk down the red carpet. But I always give them a little beauty kit: the lipstick or the powder I applied, so that they can have a quick touch up in the car.
What's one makeup tip you swear by?
The best tip I could give you is to enhance your own beauty. And a little piece of advice: focus on one point, do not always play eyes and lips at the same time, to avoid over make-up. Sophisticated smoky eyes or red glamorous lips are the timeless statements for red carpet beauties.
