1 ) It’s The Skin, Silly

While it is fine and actually probably preferable to skip foundation on the day to day, it does not work to do so for Event makeup. Whenever photographs are going to be taken what is the predominant feature you see? The skin! Therefore care must be taken to ensure that the face is even, seamless, matte and flawless. Trust me a lot of the men of the red carpet are wearing a little sumthin’ sumthin’ as well. Did I mention matte? Yes. Sheen does not read well under lights. What might be a pretty in normal circumstances can turn to shine or even worse look sweaty under the bright lights. Any use of highlight/illuminzing must be well controlled for a successful Red Carpet look. Special Note; because of the way darker skin reflects light keeping things matte is particularly true for us deeper complexion gals. My complexion is somewhere around that of SAG Award winning actress Viola Davis. Her artist did a very good job of adding some subtle highlights in the cheeks but keeping the forehead, nose, and chin matte so her overall look is even and flawless. Congrats to Ms. Davis!

1 ) Kim Kardashian – No one is more surprised than myself to see Kim Kardashian at the top of my list, but I really thought her Emmy makeup and hair were impeccable. Ms. Kardashian is a beautiful woman with beautiful skin who usually – in my opinion – wears entirely too much OTT makeup. This makeup beautifully accentuated her skin and features but left her looking soft, feminine and PRETTY. And she is impossibly matte in every photo I saw of her. I’d love to know what her artist used on her. Fabulous job!

2 ) Glenn Close – Ms. Close is proof that a ) you don’t have to go into overkill mode to have a sharp, well defined look and b ) just because you have a fair complexion, you don’t have to disappear on the red carpet. Without going into a bronzer extravaganza or smokey eye overkill, Glenn’s makeup gives her skin a healthy glow with her eyes as the focal point of the look. Combined with a nice soft hair style, the overall look keeps her soft, feminine and youthful looking.

3 ) Amber Riley – I don’t know Amber Riley (not a Glee watcher) but I was very happy to see her looking fab on the red carpet. She looks chic, pulled together and sophisticated without looking old (I’m guessing she’s a young woman and younger women often end up looking tired in an attempt to look ‘sophisticated’ at formal events). I often say in my Awards Show coverages how fairer complexioned women look great when they wear color, and the reverse is often true for us deeper complexioned ladies. The white/bone colored dress – particularly with that neckline – brings all the focus to her pretty face. Just a kiss of blush, a pop of lip color, a little hit of smoke on the eye and a simple pulled back hairstyle was all that was needed to complete her look. And kudos to her artist for keeping her skin shine under control.

4 ) Heidi Klum – I agree with the masses on this one, I thought Ms. Klum looked fab for these Awards. She definitely went with a more “makeup” look than a lot of other attendees, but this is an example of how you can get away with more if you take the time to do it properly. She has just the right amount of smokey eye (accentuating the liner and the crease but not a solid heavy lid), the right amount of bronzer (gives glow while sculpting and contouring instead of one layer of bronzer all over the face), accented with soft pink lips and blush. Seamless, flawless, impeccable. I also love how the hairstyle picks up the slightly edgier look of the dress without going overboard. She looks fashion forward while still looking event appropriate.