WALK THE LINE
I just wanted to learn how to do that nifty little thing with my eyeliner. I've heard it called the tail, or cat eye, or -- as one MAC artist put it -- Amy Winehouse on crack. The retro eyeliner maneuver, she assured me, would only go by that name if I messed it up. And I did, several times. But that's expected during a makeup lesson.
When I first heard about the lessons, conducted at the MAC Pro store for $100, I thought of mothers holding their pre-teen daughters' hands as an artist explained why less is more. If you've ever visited a MAC counter, however, you know this probably isn't the environment for a minimalist approach to beauty. Picture a toddler who's rifled through Mom's makeup drawer for a few hours, then take away any drawing outside the lines; that describes the typical MAC girl. Who better to teach a funky, new spin on an old trick?
I had no idea my cosmetic appetite would cost me two trips to the Forum Shops at Caesars, during holiday shopping.
My first appointment with a young woman named Yuriko somehow got confused for a $50 application without a lesson. I figured the miscommunication happened when the girl at the counter found Yuriko among the 20-something MAC artists that Saturday night and tried to talk over a blaring Beyoncé song to let her know I'd arrived for my lesson. To compensate, a manager offered a lesson the following Monday.
When I returned two days later, I waited 15 minutes before Jenessa Fields led me upstairs. The private area contrasts with the chaotic scene that sits below it. Glass walls give you a view of the foot traffic in the mall as well as the action in the store.
Before completely wiggling into my director's chair, I blurted out my request. "I want to master the cat eye look," I said.
"It's one of the most difficult things to learn," she replied. "But we can try it."
Fields went over some of the other runway trends making their way to the streets: Dark, red lips and perfect, flawless skin. Isn't the latter up to Mother Nature? Apparently not. It's all about the finish and contouring -- a very Gwen Stefani or Christina Aguilera look. I could learn that later (see sidebar). First, the eyes.
My first go at the eyeliner didn't fare so well. "You can pull the skin on your eye if that helps you," Fields told me as I looked back and forth from the vanity mirror in front of me to the hand mirror below me (this lets you look down and apply with ease). So, I pulled. "Not that tight," she said. So, I let up. "Little tighter." We went back and forth like that a few more times until I finally put brush to skin. Dark, thick and messy. Nothing like the Guess? ad that I tore out and tried, miserably, to replicate at home.
Out came the handy cleansing tips, an eraser for the face. They stayed out for the duration of my lesson. Mastering the flip that gives you the curled tail effect was the hardest part. The actual movement looked like a technique the afroed happy cloud-painting artist on PBS used to implement. It looks easy; it's anything but.
Keep in mind, once you get one eye down, it gets even tougher. You have to make the other eye its mirror image. The more understated you want the look, the more difficult it becomes. That said, I went for drama. By my third try I felt better about my swoosh. "Look at you, you're putting me to shame," Fields said. I honestly didn't know if her praise came out of sincerity or hope that I wouldn't want to keep trying. Nonetheless, we moved on.
When I arrived home later, I dug out my tools and started riding without training wheels. Fields wasn't there to slap my wrists, but I managed to pull off something half-decent without her. I sat back and marveled at the results. Still not the precision of a perfect swoosh but nowhere near Amy Winehouse on crack, either. Mission accomplished.
MAC Pro is located inside the Forum Shops at Caesars, 3500 Las Vegas Blvd. South, 369-8770. A makeup lesson costs $100. With proof of purchase, you receive a 20 percent discount off MAC products for one month. Contact fashion reporter Xazmin Garza at xgarza@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0477.
XAZMIN GARZABeauty QueenMORE COLUMNS
swoosh secrets A few tips to getting the cat eye look down: 1. Start with a gold or silver pencil line to get your line perfected. When you're satisfied, retrace it in black. 2. Gel liner has staying power. Use this, with an angle brush, to keep your line intact. 3. Use the lower, inner rim as a guide for the upswinging line. Take it as high as you want. 4. Form a V from the uppermost corner of your line back to the eyelid. Remember, the angle's degree will determine how thick your liner is. Wide angles need thick liner. Sharp angles need thinner liner. 5. Draw it all the way to the corner of your upper eye and retrace back and forth. 6. Once the eye gel has dried, use a pencil to fill in any spots between your lashes. 7. Keep cleansing tips handy; you will make mistakes. 8. Place a hand mirror below you. It lets you look down while applying. contour and highlight Countouring, MAC artist Jenessa Fields explained, makes the difference between a MAC counter and a MAC Pro store, of which there are only six in the country. It also distinguishes an everyday look from a red carpet-worthy one. Cheekbones jump at you, noses are chiseled and brows sharpen. This is how Christina Aguilera and Gwen Stefani get that perfect skin. Here are some reliable rules for contouring. 1. Apply dark sculpting powders ($17.50) to create definition with sunken parts of the face: nose corners, temples, cheek hollows, area below lower lip. 2. Apply light sculpting powders to highlight protruding areas: cheekbones, nose bridge, bottom of chin, just above brows. 3. Use the angle of your contour brush ($32) to define the area in back and forth strokes and then turn the brush in circles on its head to blend. 4. Dust it all with over with beauty powder ($21.50) for a final polish. This will soften the look without leaving a glittery shimmer.
