London Fashion Week Fall '14 – Backstage at Tata Naka

Tata Naka is all about the bright and bold. Paisley prints in fire-egine red, periwinkle blue, orange, sunshine yellow – any color under the sun you can imagine. So how does that translate into the makeup look? Identical twins Tamara and Natasha Surguladze used the inspiration of Matisse paintings for their Autumn/Winter 2014 ready-to-wear collection. Set at the Royal Academy, the bright colors felt right at home against the majesty and richness of the structure. The many textiles paired and layered with sleek silhouettes look both classic and modern. Head MAC Artist Cher Webb created the look for this kaleidoscopic collection. “The collection is all about layers, which we’ve echoed in the makeup,” Webb said.

“This girl is a soft, angelic and sophisticated lady,” Webb said. “And the collection has a lot of brights: lingerie, petticoats, scarves, hats… So what we’ve done with the makeup is really layered up. We have a matte texture with a gloss on top and a shine on top of that. Just to build it all up.”

“We used a signature, unique shade of blue, something that you would find on a cutlery set,” Webb said. “This equates to something close to a cornflower blue. That’s the only color we have in the show. Everything else is peaches, creams and beige, like lingerie colors.” Although the pieces are filled with colors, you won’t find much of it on the face. Besides the eyes, the face is kept very natural. “The face is matte but we have really glossy highlights with cream-colored base on the cheeks. And for the cupid’s bow and nose panel, we have some light shimmer to shine through.” Keeping the look of Matisse in mind, the eyeshadow is dusted on in almost something similar to a cornflower blue. “It’s the one pop we have, and it’s almost like a half-moon shape to fit in with the eye shape and a brush of powder acting as mascara to keep them groomed.”

To finish off the makeup, the lips are touched off with the classic flesh-colored beige shade of MAC. “The lips are topped with Siss Lipstick. Siss is an old MAC classic we’ve had for years that they’re reinvented. It was a big one in the 90s and they’ve kind of brought it back out again. “I want the makeup to look like a whisper, nothing graphic, to complement everything,” Webb noted. “We don’t want to overtake the other colors [in the collection].” For the hair, Toni & Guy added a classic hairdo to finish off this angelic look. The hair was first parted in the middle, making sure that the hair down the center is smooth. Hair was then moussed before being twisted anti-clockwise, and pinned as then went along. That hair was then braided and then tucked under.