Direct from the Runway: M.A.C Senior Makeup Artist Gregory Arlt's Makeup Look for Georges Chakra Fall 2010

As my loyal followers know, M.A.C Senior Makeup Artist Gregory Arlt is my all-time favorite and Twestie (his coined term for "Twitter Bestie"). So anytime I get the chance to check out his goings-on backstage during Fashion Week, I jump at the chance. This time, I went backstage at Georges Chakra's Fall 2010 show to see what he created. And, as always, I was blown away!

"I was inspired by Russian aristocracy," Gregory told me. "It's a little vampiric -- they're wealthy, glamorous vampires. They're glampires!" Find out tons more after the jump.

"I’m more of an Anne Rice vampire fan. My vampires don’t get shiny when they walk outside, they burst into flames!" Gregory joked as he worked on a model backstage. He went on to say, "It's like a vampire who went to the red carpet." So what does this look entail? Gregory wanted the skin to look very cold, so he used Moisture Cover Concealer where necessary to take out redness. He recommends mixing concealer with moisturizer and apply with a foundation brush like the 191 Brush.



Gregory then used a combination of two pale eyesahdows -- Era and an as-yet-unnamed shadow (but the working name is China Doll), which is a frosted cream hue. He began by applying China Doll over the entire eye, all the way up to the eyebrow and toward the cheekbones, with the 225 Brush. He then used the 252 Brush, a stiffer brush, to get the color very close to the lashline and "really pack it on the eyelid," he said. Using one of his favorite brushes -- the 224 Brush, which he's coined the "idiot-proof brush" -- Gregory then applied Era under the lashline to open the eyes and give them a more diffused look. A touch of Maximum Coverage Concealer through the brows gave them a bleached look, which Gregory told me is a big trend coming up this spring and fall.


For the lashes, Gregory showed me a brand-new mascara coming out from M.A.C -- Opulash. He was really excited about this mascara, telling me, "We finally have our ginormous wand! Thank God ... this mascara is the bomb dot com!" It works to lengthen and thicken the lashes, and Gregory used it to give the models' lashes a feathery look. A touch of taupe blush on the cheekbones gave a sculpted finish.



To really bring in the vampiric feel, Gregory played with a mix of lip pencil and lipstick. He began by filling in the lips with Mahogany Lip Pencil and then went over them with Diva Lipstick to give them the look of dried blood. He used the 231 Brush to blend the pencil into the lip, and then used the same brush to apply Diva -- a bluish-red which he says every girl should own!

At the end, Gregory stepped back and said, "The combination is kind of fabulous!" I tend to agree.