Note: I was sick all weekend, so if any of my punchlines cause eyes to roll, chalk it up to the fever.
When I was growing up, we used to get these weekly book catalogs on newsprint at school. Occasionally, my parents would let us veer from the scholarly options and order something like brainteasers, "Wacky Mad Libs", or in one case, a "Saved By The Bell" behind the scenes pictorial.
I remember a photo of either Mark-Paul Gosselaar or Dustin Diamond getting ready to tape an episode, with a caption that exclaimed "Even the guys wear makeup!" While glam rockers like Justin Tranter, David Bowie and the fictitious Hedwig Schmidt have signature androgynous makeup looks and devoted Adam Lambert "fanberts" rename black khol pencils "guyliner," more humble gentlemen require just a bit of "grooming."
Cue makeup artists like Jodie Boland and Beau Nelson. This Fashion Week, I worked on the makeup teams lead by Jodie for GQ's Best New American Menswear Designer's, and Beau for Buckler. Jodie has worked with celebs like James Franco and Ed Westwick from Gossip Girl. Beau has worked with Iman and Blake Lively, and he has his own makeup line called Beauté.
The three most important things in doing men's makeup are knowing just how much makeup you really need, matching skin color exactly, and using great skincare. At the Buckler presentation, Clark's Botanicals proved really useful.
At the presentation, I got to meet the charming Francesco Clark who used to work for Harper's Bazaar and founded the plant based skincare line in 2005. The products have an incredibly silky feel, are antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and immuno-stimulating. They are all paraben free and specifically made not to clog your pores. Plus, a percent of the profits benefit the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation. You can buy them online at the Clarks' Botanicals website or at CO Bigelow.
The Anti-Puff Eye Cream I received at the show went straight into my kit and offered sweet relief to the irritated eyes of models suffering the effects of off-again on-again makeup all week. Now that Fashion Week has ended and I'm struggling to get over the traditional post-Fashion Week head cold, I think I'll reclaim Francesco Clark's tired eye essential for myself. We'll call it "Saved by the Balm."
Andrew Sotomayor is a celebrity makeup artist in New York. He has worked with Juliette Binoche, Kerry Washington, and Rose Byrne and appeared on Access Hollywood. He is a My Fashion Plate Trendsetter. See his work at DramaFreeMakeup.com.
