Trelise Cooper's young and fresh beauty look

M.A.C.'s Nicole Thompson applies finishing touches to the makeup test model for the Trelise Cooper show. Picture / Supplied.

There's no shortage of sequins in the Trelise Cooper workroom and they came in handy when cut up and applied to the models for her Fashion Week show. The glamorous eye look was achieved with a mix of the customised sequins, Swarovski crystals and silver glitter.

"We wanted it to be really young and fresh, like girls going to a party," said makeup director, M.A.C.'s Nicole Thompson. To help balance the sparkle, she kept skin soft and glowing.

Hair for the show stood high, but was also kept soft by the Bettjeman's team, thanks to a feathery feel, deliberately echoing the use of feathers in the collection. The extensive use of embellishment on garments, including collars and necklines, reminded team lead Sasha Lenski of his rich Russian heritage. It provided textural inspiration and also something of the lush look of the Tsarist court and romantic movie Dr Zhivago.

Grant Bettjeman explained that pre-prepared hair pieces were attached to a little bun on the crown of each model's head. Hair was kept off the face for a clean front-on look. The team had only a short time to attach the hair-pieces to 30 models, because for the preceding Cooper show, they had worn their hair in loose natural looking waves, supplemented with a few woven-in fabric braids.

Thompson was able to use the same makeup look throughout. The glitter matched both the youthful Cooper boho mood and the mainline glammed-up Trelise Cooper.

A tip for glitter bugs is it always falls, so apply it first, wipe away any excess, then apply foundation, otherwise it will stick to skin and undo the base work. To ground the glitter, Thompson smeared it onto Shine Mixing Medium, akin to a lip conditioner. First came M.A.C Pro silver glitter which she pressed in, then the cut-up sequins and crystals.

Face & Body was then used to provide a seamless light-weight skin base, with concealer applied only as needed. A mix of St Germain lipstick and Bamboo cream colour base was blended and applied to eyes, lips and cheeks, before a flush of peachy blush.

To balance the upward swing of silver, navy eyeliner was used on the upper lash line, extending out and up and a touch of gloss added to lids. The navy and silver eye combination was repeated in matte blue fingernails with a silver crescent detail at the cuticle, like a reversed French manicure.

- VIVA