Red hot! When Rita Ora hit the red carpet for the 2017 Met Gala, one thing was clear: “The look was all about red,” the 50 Shades Darker star’s makeup artist Kathy Jeung tells Stylish. “The dress is a red Marchesa and the hair had this elaborate geometric basket weave crown, so we wanted to keep the makeup really simple with a focus on a strong red lip,” she elaborates.
But the red lip was just the cherry on top of the 1930s Hollywood-inspired look. For the rest of the face, Jeung created clean, glowing skin; soft, fluttery lashes; and a very structured brow. The shape of the brow was extended, but Jeung “didn’t go too dark,” as she had previously done. “The last time we did red lips for the Met Gala, I used black on the brow, but this time we went with dark brown,” she tells Stylish. This year, “we wanted to keep the look a bit more about classic beauty with a ’30s inspiration — sort of a flapper pixie vibe to it,” she says.
To get the sculpted yet soft brow, she used the dark brown powder and wax in the Rimmel London Brow The Way compact to draw in the structure with an angled brush, then set hairs with wax, and followed with a clear brow gel to keep things in place. “Rita’s eyebrows curl a little bit, so when I want a really structured shape, I need added insurance,” Jeung says. She then defined Ora’s eyes with a thin line of Rimmel London ScandalEyes Thick and Thin Liner along lashes, subtly blended into lash lines. A few swipes of Rimmel London’s new Shake It Fresh Mascara created soft, fluttery lashes.
But let’s do a deep dive into the star of the look — the red lip. First, Jeung lined Ora’s lips with a red lip liner, feathering color into lips. To boost staying power, she powdered edges. She then layered two lip color products to create a long-lasting fiery hue. For the “extra saturated” look, Jeung applied a matte liquid lip color — Rimmel London’s Show Off Lip Velvet in Burning Lava — and let it set for a minute. After blotting with a tissue, Jeung topped Ora’s pout with a coat of Lasting Finish by Kate lipstick in Kiss of Life, pressed on straight from the bullet, to add depth and dimension.
So how did Ora like it? “She loved it. She felt like a princess, she looked gorgeous,” Jeung raved.
