F is for Fortuitous: Pro Artist Chase Aston Demos The Body Shop Fall Makeup

Lucky me, pro makeup artist Chase Aston was in town yesterday to demo The Body Shop’s Fall collection, just around the time I was planning to do a post. The international makeup artist for The Body Shop, Chase is thoroughly involved in the development of each season’s offerings. Star products in this group are… well, everything. The baked Pearlescents eyeshadow and blush trios are super silky and easy to blend, metallic water-resistant Dazzling Eye Definers pencils are smooth and creamy to apply, and new moisturizing Colourglide Lip Color lipsticks, which were four years in the making, are gawwgeous. (The baked-powder instead of the standard pressed thing is a bit of a makeup trend this year, but in fact dates back at least to the first days of powder makeup in 1863 Paris.)

Chase, whose CV is an overwhelming list of top models and celebs, happily demonstrated a few Fall looks at Le Germain Hotel in Toronto. (In fact, one of my fave how-to posts is this easy two-minute smoky-eyes step-by-step with Chase.) This year The Body Shop PR team cleverly set up brilliant lighting so we could catch the action clearly. Unfortunately, my digi-cam doesn’t do so well with sharp images unless I use the flash, so the brilliant lighting doesn’t look so brill. (I’ve now got the staff on research detail for a new digi-snap.) Still, you’ll see enough to recreate these looks, which took Chase “Speedy” Aston just minutes to do.

80s Pop: For the first look, Chase used the eye trio in Moonlight Lustre ($16, shown above), the blush trio in Cool Dusk ($23, also above), eye definer in Vibrant Emerald ($11, also above) and lipstick in Iced Pink ($12.50). It took a minute to smudge pale pink shadow across his model’s lids and add depth in the outer corners with shimmery grey. “This is the best way to get that softer, younger makeup look,” he says about a fingertip application. “It looks like you’ve made an effort, but you haven’t.”

Metallic emerald liner along the lower lashlines and inner rims (which looks amazing on brown eyes) took just another minute or two, plus a swipe of green shadow atop the pencil to fix it in place. About blush Chase says, “This Fall it’s all about contouring. Sculpt the cheekbones with a ‘C’ of colour from temple to cheekbone.” A quick smear of the lightest pink in the blush trio adds an 80s dash to the browbones, and a coat of blue mascara — yes, blue — finishes the eyes.

For a modern, carefree lip colour finish, Chase suggests using The Body Shop Eye Shadow Blending Brush to smoosh lipstick back and forth over the lips for a stained effect. “It’s a less polished, younger look,” he says. (He’s not the only one using an eyeshadow brush to apply lip colour. YSL makeup maven Val Garland has long preferred an eye shadow shading brush over a skinny lip brush because it covers more efficiently and allows a precise edge when she needs it. )

Bronze Glow: If you want to play neutrals, set yourself up with the eye shadow trio in Sundown Glow, eye definer in Burnished Amber, and blush trio in Warm Sunset. Looks beautiful on dark skin, doesn’t it? Chase keeps things interesting by dipping a brush in water before swirling it over the eye shadow and patting it over his model’s lid and into the crease (above). “Using the shadow wet gives it a glossy, intense finish,” he says. Next he lined along the lashlines with the Burnished Amber eye definer, then finished with blue mascara. Yes, blue!

“I did blue mascara on a New York editor who thought she’d seen everything in the 20 years she’s been in the business,” Chase told me as he laughed at my reaction. “She did the same thing you did!” That is, give a non-committal nod when Chase said the pièce de résistance against dark skin is blue mascara, then do a double-take and swoop in for a closer look with a “Wow! It really does look great!” (For some reason clicking on the photo isn’t working to enlarge it — sorry about that. Trust me, it’s great for a night out — I was not a fan of coloured mascara before this.) And for lips, on the left it’s a smoosh of Golden Apricot; on the right, its a layer of lip balm and smooshes of Brilliant Red for a sheer, ease-into-red-lips finish.

Day to Night: Chase’s last look is a simple switch-up to a party look. His model started with neutral Sundown Glow shadow, black liner, mascara and a soft lip. Step one is metallic emerald liner over the black at upper and lower lashlines (makes blue eyes pop, yes?). Step two is a little more colour on the lips.

If that’s not enough of a transformation for you, a wet brush and the pink shadow from Moonlight Lustre should do the day-to-night trick.

Now how much do you love Chase Aston for putting together so many looks for you to try? Good Lord, the staff’s already off putting wet brushes in every pot of eyeshadow she can find. I trust you can handle these tricks on your own while I try to salvage my makeup?

The Body Shop Fall collection is available now in The Body Shop boutiques and via thebodyshop.ca and thebodyshop.com.

Tagged as: beauty how-to, Chase Aston, Fridays: F is for..., makeup how-to, smoky eyes, The Body Shop Fall 2009