Gwyneth Paltrow at the 2011 Oscars. Photo: J. Graylock/jpistudios.com
Before Oscars presenters hit the stage and when winners walk off clutching their beloved trophies, lead makeup artist Bruce Grayson and his tireless team touch them up.
With so many comings and goings, changing looks and countless awards, we had to get the skinny on how the man behind the makeup brush keeps everything running smoothly in the beauty department.
StyleList: How do you think Oscars beauty has changed over the years? What defines Hollywood glamour in terms of red carpet beauty now?
Bruce Grayson: We saw a really great dichotomy of different makeup looks. We saw some great smoky eyes, which I thought were brilliant. Mila Kunis looked absolutely gorgeous with her smoky eyes. Then we saw some hard lines with dramatic shimmery shadows. Anne Hathaway did this very well against a bold lip. The common thread running through the night was that all of the makeup was on great, great skin, which means taking care of dark circles underneath the eyes and concealing them.
SL: What are your favorite tips or tricks for quick backstage touch-ups before a star hits the stage?
B.G.: It is really important to smooth out concealer underneath the eye to ensure the finished look is blended and clean; cleaning up the lip line with a nude color lip liner pencil or using concealer to sharpen the lips; powder, but only in places where you need it like above the brows, inner cheeks or slightly underneath the eyes, but leave the rest of the face aglow, and that's about it!
SL: Which celebrity look did you love at Oscars 2011?
B.G.: My favorite look was Gwyneth Paltrow. She just had really beautiful polished bronze eyes against a nude pink lip. It was really simplistic, but it looked great. She was very natural with the hair parted down the middle -- it was gorgeous.