MAKEUP MARVELS: Bringing Beauty Bars to FATR race days

16th October 2018

A racing ensemble without a well-executed beauty look is like a salad without dressing, although it has a spot on the table, it’s going to be overlooked for a dish with more dazzle. While your at-home glam squad may be lacking Charlotte Tilbury to sculpt your cheekbones and Jen Atkin to fix your fly-aways, FATR is here to help you serve your best looks over the upcoming racing season in South Australia.

Media Makeup will be hosting a dedicated beauty marquee to keep your hair and makeup looking fine across five Fashion At The Races events this season. Putting their products and tools by MAKE UP FOR EVER, Cloud Nine and evo hair to use, you can have your face retouched and mane maintained throughout your race day. Because we all know the disastrous combination of a strong breeze and a fresh blow dry.

It is up to you to create your best base look prior to your arrival on the green carpet. Whether you elect to have your face painted by a professional the morning of, or you decide to go for it solo, good makeup comes down to research and planning. Pick your favourite products well ahead of your day at the track and find some inspiration for your look.

Just like racing fashion, racing beauty has a particular tone, mostly dictated by the presence of sunlight and headwear. Thinking primer and foundation first, it’s best to pick a finish that will work all day for your skin. Go for dewy if you are dry, or matte if your skin is prone to oily spots.

A satin finish is universally flattering and leaves scope for highlighter or a hydrating spritz to be added later to make the most of those rays. And if you are going to apply fake tan, have your foundation matched to that colour ahead of time. Once you have applied your concealer and set your base, it is time to play with pigment.

Paying a visit to our dear friend Instagram, there are clear patterns when it comes to racing makeup. Firstly, if your headpiece casts a shadow like Nadia Bartel’s Melissa Jackson Millinery wide-brimmed hat from Derby Day 2017, it’s best to keep things neutral. Nadia’s makeup artist Chantelle Baker, whose client list includes every A-lister from Pia Miller to Elyse Knowles, paired Nadia’s nude lip with matte shadows in mauve browns. Once the hat went on, Nadia’s eyes were subtly smoky.

Second, the neutral notion is adaptable to a smaller headpiece, where you can up the ante with a touch of bronze shadow, a stronger lip shade, contour and highlight for extra dimension. Think Rozalia Russian at last year’s Melbourne Cup. Once the sun shines on your cheekbones, you will be looking like the trophy.

Third, matching your lip to the statement colour in your ensemble is one of the fastest paths to impact. Anna Heinrich rocked this look at the 2016 Melbourne Cup, sporting a scarlet Cinq à Sept strapless dress and a Viktoria Novak headpiece. By keeping the eyes simple with a neutral shadow or cat-eye and an application of individual lashes, the focus stays on the pout. Remember, a bold red is always an option when wearing monochrome.

Finally, the races are a place to explore modern makeup looks. FATR Amabassador Lauren Dilena attended Oaks Day this May wearing a futuristic Mimi-Jane Millinery headpiece with white details, which was expertly matched with a geometric hollow white cat-eye liner look. Lauren’s makeup artist Nirvana Manly kept her lashes natural and finished her look with a generous application of highlighter and deep nude lips.

But race day beauty is not all about ladies. Gentlemen, do not be shy about priming your complexion for your best socials yet. From blemishes to bags, Media Makeup can transform your skin from sallow to superstar with just a few natural-finish products. Although if you do want to go in for the glam factor, we are absolutely here for it.