CHANEL Make-up Artist Kay Montano suggests getting playful with your party look this festive season

If you have even a passing interest in the world of fashion, celebrity and glamour over the past 20 years, the chances are, without even knowing it, you will be very familiar with the work of make-up artist, Kay Montano. From the iconic covers in the late 1980’s of ‘The Face’ magazine to the supermodels of the nineties and the uber celebrities of the noughties, Kay has played a pivotal role in creating some of the key looks and images that have shaped our age.

It was Kay, for example, who was part of the team behind Calvin Klein’s infamous ‘Obsession’ campaign featuring Kate Moss, an image that catapulted a young model ingénue into super stardom. Kay has worked with the biggest names in the fashion industry, from the most influential photographers such as Bruce Weber, Steven Meisel, Helmut Newton, Patrick Demarchelier and Mario Testino, for magazines such as Vogue, Harpers Bazaar and W magazine to the industry’s leading advertising clients including Ralph Lauren, Dolce & Gabbana, Versace and Armani.

In recent years, Kay has enjoyed broadening her scope as a make-up artist including working with celebrities such as Nicole Kidman, Thandie Newton, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jennifer Connolly (to name a few) on various projects from promotional press junkets to premieres to consulting with them on the make-up they wear in their movies.

With a career that has spanned two decades, Kay’s style and approach towards make-up has gone full circle. She has gone from re-inventing the rules and challenging conventional notions of beauty, to taking pleasure in simply making a woman look beautiful and explaining to those outside the industry how this can be achieved.

THE PARTY LOOK

As we approach the end of what continues to be an unprecedented year, it is understandable to feel somewhat detached to the idea of festive celebration, parties, and fun, easy to think ‘why dress up when we have little-to-no social life?’ Why not frame it like this way instead: party make-up is a wonderful opportunity to experiment and be more playful than usual, and now that we’re more likely to be holding our own ‘private parties’, we can be more adventurous than ever, so Iet’s embrace the freedom to dress up and make-up in whatever bubbles we find ourselves in.

Party make-up has the reputation of being rather theatrical, but glitter, shimmer, and shine have come a long way since the days of disco, and are very wearable, simple to apply, and ease into the chicest of make-up kits. Keeping shimmer chic is all about choosing which feature you’d like to accent, seeing it like accessorizing a little black dress with jewellery, where you choose one or two great pieces rather than wearing it all.

EYES

Most women know what suits them and have perhaps established a way of wearing their eye make-up already. I’d suggest working with your existing style and using a shimmering eye shadow to create more drama. After you’ve applied your foundation of choice (I prefer very minimal, especially with a stronger make-up look) and ensured that your under-eyes and any blemishes are concealed, softly line the upper lashes with a dark brown pencil (like CHANEL Le Crayon Yeux 02 - Brun Teak) and blend into the roots of the lashes until the right amount of depth for your eyes is achieved. With a soft brush, apply a little copper eye shadow (like CHANEL Exclusive Creation: Ombre Premiѐre Poudre 927 - Cuivre Rose) over your upper eyes, keeping it densest in the outer corners and next to the upper/outer eyelashes. Using your finger, press a little 925 - Or Antique from CHANEL onto the centre of each eyelid until blended. If you wear liquid liner, apply in your usual style, and lastly, finish with lashings of black mascara.

CHEEKS

This is where you’ll need to hold back, if your eyes and lips are strong, stick to a complementary blush in a shade of peach, rose (or terracotta if you are dark- skinned) that will ‘balance’ out the make-up elsewhere, and ensure that you don’t look washed-out. If you prefer to wear minimal make-up, but feel like having a touch of fun, then warm and highlight your cheekbones with Les Chaînes de CHANEL’s golden-pink Illuminating Blush Powder.

LIPS

One of my favourite make-up looks is a deep, plummy lip worn with a subtle eye that has just been ‘brightened’ with gold shimmer, a hint of ‘kitten eye-liner’ and mascara. Line your lips with a nude pencil first, this will help your lips last, as well as help you get your shaping right, and using a lip brush, apply from the centre outward until you get the shape you like. Blot with a soft tissue and reapply to get more pigment density and a longer-lasting result.

NAILS

I’m going to spend December with Chanel’s golden fingertips. If you can’t have gold nails at Christmas, when can you? 

All products available at www.chanel.com

To watch a full make-up tutorial from Kay herself visit our Facebooks page

PRODUCTS

• CHANEL Les Beiges Water-Fresh Tint Medium Light, £48

• Le Correcteur de CHANEL, £28

• CHANEL Le Crayon Yeux 02 - Brun Teak, £20

• CHANEL Exclusive Creation: Ombre Premiѐre Poudre 927 - Cuivre Rose, £31

• CHANEL Exclusive Creation: Ombre Premiѐre Poudre 925 - Or Antique, £31

• Le Liner de CHANEL 520 - Noir Profond, £28

• Le Volume Stretch de CHANEL 10 - Noir,  £28

• Exclusive Creation: Les Chaînes de CHANEL Illuminating Blush Powder Intense Bronze Rosebood,  £52

• CHANEL Le Crayon Lèvres 156 - Beige Naturel,  £22

• CHANEL Dual-Ended Lip Brush No.300, £31

• CHANEL Le Vernis 773 - Chaîne D’Or,  £22

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