When the Middle East is your number-one market, you don’t hesitate to fly in the experts for special events.
Such was the case when high-end fashion house Marc Jacobs sent its premiere global make-up artist, Gilbert Soliz, to Dubai to give a cosmetics masterclass.
While the American fashion designer has been in the business for 30 years, his cosmetics line is a more recent addition, which will celebrate its third anniversary in August.
Still, it has achieved great success in such a short time and is stocked internationally at Sephora stores, with regular seasonal collections of lipsticks, eye pencils, mascaras, and an impressive range of skincare products, created for colour correcting, contouring and strobing.
The masterclass is in a private suite at Kempinski Hotel Mall of the Emirates, which has been set up to resemble a professional make-up artistry atelier. Stark black personal vanity tables, complete with mirrors featuring Hollywood dressing room- style light bulbs, line the suite, so that guests can practise while Soliz demonstrates his techniques on a model at the front of the room.
Our instructor has a pleasant personality. With his manicured beard and all-black suit with a subtle checkered pattern, Soliz is about as far as you can get from the stereotype of a stuffy or arrogant fashion-industry snob. He has a freewheeling and fun-loving nature. “At the end of the day, it’s just make-up,” he tells us.
Then he shows us how he makes use of it.
He preps the model with the Under(cover) Coconut Face Primer – which can be used as a moisturiser even for very oily skin – and then uses the brand’s soon-to-launch Cover(t) Sticks to smooth over pores and colour imperfections.
The Glow Stick luminizer is then applied to add a dewy shine, which is a major glamour trend on red carpets, Soliz says.
Next comes the application of a single small dot of the Re (marc) able Full Cover Foundation, using a brush that has short, tough bristles for controlled tolerance. Only a tiny amount is needed, Soliz says, as the formula has twice the amount of pigment compared with other foundations.
For the eyes, the artist uses the Fineliner pen in Blacquer to line the inner upper lids, and then the white Fineliner on the inner lower lid.
“It’s a trick – an illusion that makes your eyes look bigger,” he says, extending the white into the inner tear duct for added drama.
Then, its back to Blacquer to line the outer lids, outside of the eyelashes.
“It’s like contouring, but for the eye,” he says, while finishing off with a slight flick of the wrist, and a feline wing.
Then, Soliz tackles the lashes. He uses the brand’s popular Velvet Noir Mascara to build up the eyelashes, adding two-to-three layers while the mascara remains moist – it’s difficult to mould the lashes once it dries, he says.
The Feather Noir, another mascara, is then used for the lower lashes, as the smaller wand allows you to “grip and grab” the thin lashes.
As a final touch, he adds a dash of gold glitter with the Lamé Noir in tribute to his boss – “Marc prefers it be applied carelessly”.
hlodi@thenational.ae