When I saw celebrity makeup artist, Katey Denno announce via twitter that she was responsible for Olivia Wilde's dramatic eyes and matchy-matchy lips and cheeks at the Dianne Von Furstenberg Awards in NYC on Friday I immediately emailed her to find out what she used. Believe it or not, Denno used all eco-friendly cosmetics to create the city chic look. Here's the complete scoop.
Her overall look was very NYC chic. What was the collaboration process like to come up with it?
When I arrived she showed me the outfit that Kemal and Karla (her stylists, who I adore) had helped put together for her, and said: 'I was thinking we should play up my eyes'. I pulled out my ipad, where I'd collected a bunch of images of previous red carpet looks I liked on her, so we could have a starting point for discussion. We flipped through, noting things we liked, and things we didn't. Ultimately it took me zoning out for about a minute while giving her a face oil massage to figure out which of the 250 ideas in my head would be right for the overall look. I spoke to Renato, her hair stylist, about his vision, and suddenly the image of how I wanted her to look popped into my head. It usually works like that - if I can zone out on my client's face for about 20 seconds, I can visualize the entire completed look, and off I go!
Can you give me a rundown on the makeup look?
I'm very committed to using as many 'green' beauty products as I can. For this look, just about everything I used was green.
Lina Hanson Global Face Serum: An incredible scent with a fantastic viscosity
Kjaer Weis Eye Shadows: Onyx: a slight shimmer slate, and Divine: a matte smokey graphite gray.
W3LL People Hypnotist Eyeliner- Black: on the inner rim of top and bottom, as well as dotted in between lashes, and then smudged into the lash line on both bottom and top lid using a smudge brush.
Vapour Organic Beauty Atmosphere Foundation: used sparingly, applied with a foundation brush, starting in the center of her face, fading outward. I finished the texture by using a slightly damp beauty blender sponge and roll/pressing it into the skin.
RMS lip2cheek in Smile: I applied this creamy pinky /coral blush with a light whispy brush and then blend it with the beauty blender sponge so that it looks like it’s coming from within, mixed with a hint of the foundation left on the sponge.
Ilia lipstick: First I laid down a layer of ‘In My Room’ over her whole lip, then I blended the more nude shade of ‘Humble Me’ over the middle of the bottom and top lip. I finished with a light application of Vapour Organic Beauty Lip Gloss in ‘Discreet’, applied with my finger, just to the center of her lips.
Her eyes are hypnotizing. What's your secret for making the eyeliner so precise and making it last without moving?
The skin type and shape of the eye has a lot to do with how well a liner will stay put. I rarely use waterproof anything, because it's just not a technology that's arrived in the all-natural product world yet, so I generally discuss with my client how well liner stays put on them, and examine previous photos of them on red carpets. I've learned that an eyeliner on the inner rim on one person may stay put all night, while the same product on a woman with an eye shaped differently, and slightly more oil in her skin, can wind up a migrating mess. It's often just trial and error, to be honest! The preciseness, however, I can say has everything to do with making sure the liner is sharp when applying, and having the client blink hard, multiple times, to really set the product on both rims.
I like how her lip color matches her cheek color. What are the rules when finding coordinating shades?
I like generally go for a lip and cheek in a coordinating family - the exception is sometimes a true red lip with a pink cheek. In this case, I wanted to bring some spring-time life into her face since she was wearing all black, so I chose a rather nude lip, and a sheer, nude cheek in the same family, but with more of a pink/peach hue, so as to draw attention to the apples.
