Direct from the Runway: Davidelfin Spring 2010 with M.A.C Senior Makeup Artist Gregory Arlt

Whenever I have the opportunity to interview the amazingly talented and fabulous Senior Makeup Artist Gregory Arlt from M.A.C, I jump right on it. We're total "Twesties" (term coined by Gregory) and he's just the most entertaining person you could ever hope to meet at Fashion Week. Not to mention he comes up with phrase after phrase that one could only hope make it into colloquial language. (A random sampling? "From the runway to the freeway!" -- used to describe taking a runway look to reality.)

But I digress. Gregory was on hand to create an absolutely stunning look for the Davidelfin Spring 2010 show this morning, and I got the inside scoop. (There he is above, demonstrating the look during the early morning makeup test.) Check out all of the 70's David Bowie-inspired fabulosity after the jump.



Gregory used mainly M.A.C PRO products to create the look for the show. "We were inspired by David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust Life on Mars era," Gregory told me as he prepped the beautiful model Jules before the show. "We made it a little bit more real and wearable by using really bright colors. I was really into this neon blue because all of [Davidelfin's] clothes are really green. We thought, "Let's do this juxtaposition, it doesn't have to be such a literal translation of makeup to clothes." Here are the steps to recreating the look.

1) Paint Stick in Clear Sky Blue: "One of my favorites!" Gregory told me. He applied this all over the eyelid and then swept a bit underneath the lower lashline with the M.A.C 249 Brush. "I use a synthetic brush because I want to make sure it really goes on nicely," he said.

2) "The real trick is to set it with Pigment," Gregory said. Using Clear Sky Blue Pigment ("the first time I have ever used this in my history of life!"), he set the Paint Stick while at the same time transforming it into more of a neon hue so it would really jump out. "It's like, BAM!" he said. He then used Pigment to set the crease with the M.A.C 224 brush, his absolute favorite. "I like that it's got that tapered quality, it does the work for you. I call it the idiot proof brush!"

3) M.A.C PRO Sky Blue Eyeshadow: Gregory applied this over the Paint Stick to set the color and at the same time make the shade pop. "It's seriously three layers of blue to make it just go bright and neon and a little bit on the greener side," he said. "It's like many different roads to mecca!"

4) M.A.C Sky Blue Eyeshadow: Gregory applied this right up to the crease, making it a bit darker -- "which I like," he said, "because it brings some definition to the eye.It was important for us to keep it a little centralized, so it doesn’t wing out. We wanted the shape to be a little bit more doll-like –- a David Bowie doll!"

5) M.A.C Electric Eel Eyeshadow: "We heart this color!" Gregory said of both him and me as he applied it. Using the tip of the 224 brush and starting at the corner, he swept it all the way to the deeper crease of the eye to create the look of a socket. "I love this because it just adds the depth, but we stay in the color family of all those blues. It’s so rad, I love that. Yes, I said rad!"

6) M.A.C White Pigment: Gregory used this on the inner corners only to really make the eyes pop.

7) M.A.C PRO Long Lash Mascara: After curling the lashes slightly, Gregory applied this mascara -- his self-acclaimed favorite! He started at the outer corners at a diagonal, then toward the center of the lash, and then toward the bridge of the nose to really make the lashes look feathery. He also applied just a touch of mascara to the bottom lashes.

8) Foundation: "It’s really weird for me because I’m always obsessed with foundation being the same color [as the model's skin]," Gregory told me. But for this show, he actually went one shade lighter with M.A.C Face and Body, adding one drop of White Face and Body to brighten up the color a bit. "We wanted the girls to look a little bit more porcelain, a little bit more doll-like. It’s sort of a spring/summer anti-tan," he said.

9) Pale Yellow Pencil: Gregory applied this along the lower inner rim to cancel out redness and make the eye look more open.

10) M.A.C Feline Pencil: This is one of Gregory's all-time favorite products! After sweeping the liner onto a brush, he applied it right onto the top and bottom lashlines with very faint, thin strokes, creating a stain-like effect that almost looked like dark blue eyeshadow.

11) The Lips: Gregory used Face and Body to tone down the lips and then went over them with Oak Pencil. He really wanted to keep the focus on the eyes. But instead of using the pencil directly, he used a brush.

Stay tuned for a future installment of my tips from Gregory ... you'll be surprised at how much more there is to come!