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| The DIY Lace & Sparkle Mask: A Makeup Masquerade, done by Jason Hoffman |
One of my biggest joys is having to create something with very little time and whatever you've got on hand -- and if the final product turns out well, hey, then it's even better. But really, it's about the process of getting there. I get a ton of gratification out of this. It's challenging and super fun for me. And when I get to do it with other innovative people, or even watch someone in their creative process, it's truly thrilling.
Yesterday for New Year's Eve, I had to go to an event. The catch was that it required that I wear a mask, and I didn't know that until the last minute. My good friend and make-up artist
Jason Hoffman was doing my makeup for the occasion and I was at his residence. I asked him if he had a mask I could borrow. He paused momentarily and stood still -- then said with a smile, "Wait. I have an idea. Hold on, while I go grab some things."
He then went to retrieve a couple of your standard, artistic pro make-up artist storage boxes. If you don't know what these are, I'll fill you in. They're magical because they're chock full of fake lashes, colored make-up face creams, paillettes, and powders galore. You name it, you want it, it's probably in there!
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| Makeup Artist Jason Hoffman cutting a lace glove for "Makeup Masquerade" |
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The next thing I knew, he had pulled out an arm's length kelly green lace glove (think
Material Girl), which he promptly started cutting up. And I then I started grinning like a little girl who'd just found she was getting a huge unexpected present, quickly realizing what was going on:
"Hey, are you making me a 'mask' there Jason?" This was going to be my kind of excellent!
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| Jason cuts out individual flowers in the lace |
"Exactly, Nuy! If I don't have a mask for you to take, we're going to make one up right on your face," he stated.
And so for the next hour, he literally "masked" me by painting me (with eyeshadow), applying lace pieces (with spirit gum), sequins (with lash glue) -- the final touch being false eyelashes. For the application of the sequins, he had me lie down
Kevyn Aucoin-style (he famously had his models lie down for their makeup), since the pieces were so tiny and required such precision.
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| The "Makeup Masquerade" ingredients: Luxe lashes by Shu Uemura, cut lace, sequins. |
The great thing about this "mask," was that during the New Year's event, I never had to slide it off and on because it wasn't impairing my vision, it didn't make me hot and sweaty -- it was just a part of my face! And it was full of color, sparkle, and lace. What kind of gal can't glory in that, new year's eve or not?
Thanks Jason!
DIY Make-up Lace / Sparkle Mask
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| Made up and masked, and sparkling! You can do it too! |
You can create a similar mask at home with big paillettes and/or sequins and some lace. The trick is to keep the general shape of the mask simple. You can even start by drawing an outline of what you want to do with a light colored eyeliner. And you can do just one side of your face, like Jason did. He essentially cut out the flowers in the lace and then arranged them around my right eye, filling the space in between with sequins, and some make-up.
Supplies needed:
1) Lace -- you can go to your local fabric or craft store and buy
lace ribbon, or look in your drawers or closet to see if there is an old slip or piece of clothing with lace trim that you can use.
2) Sequins or paillettes. The bigger the pieces, the easier it will be to get them on your face.
3) Spirit gum for the lace. Tip: apply the gum directly onto your face first, then apply the lace.
4) Eyelash glue for the paillettes.
5) False lashes if you'd like.
--N.C.
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