Get The Look: Lupita Nyong’o’s SAG Awards Makeup

If anyone doesn’t believe that Lupita Nyong’o is ‘the one to watch’ on the red carpet this award season, they haven’t been paying attention to the stunning fashion and beauty choices the newcomer has been making in the past few weeks. At the SAG Awards on Saturday night, it was no exception. Lupita’s stunning Gucci gown was a real attention-grabber, and her makeup was just as striking.

Lupita’s makeup artist, Nick Barose, explains that her makeup was inspired by Lupita’s gown–”the flowers across Lupita’s chest inspired me to do something with her eyes that reminded me of butterflies on flowers” but “to keep the look from being too matchy-matchy, I kept the blue eyeshadow only in the inner corners of the eyes, and then mixed in two other colours, purple and yellow, to mimic butterfly wings. Lupita can carry colour like no one else.”

To start things off, Nick massaged Chanel Sublimage L’Essence Essential Revitalizing Concentrate and Chanel Sublimage La Crème Yeux into Lupita’s skin, let it sit for five minutes, and then blotted it off with tissue, so it left behind just enough moisture for a perfect canvas.

Then, since her eyes were going to be so colourful, Nick didn’t want Lupita to look like she was wearing blush, so he dusted Chanel Joues Contraste Powder Blush in Emotion onto the apples of her cheeks to add dimension. Next, he applied Chanel Les Beiges Healthy Glow Sheer Colour on to her T-zone, under her eyes, onto the bridge of her nose and along her chin to brighten up her face.

For the statement-making eyes, Nick used the bright turquoise shade (top left) from the Chanel Les 4 Ombre Quadra Eye Shadow in Fascination from the inner corner of Lupita’s eyes to the center, and then applied Chanel Ombre Essentielle Soft Touch Eyeshadow in Amethyst from the outer corners toward the center, but did not let the two colours meet.

Then he used Chanel Limited Edition Le Crayon Khôl Intense Eye Pencil in Pêche Cuivré in the center of the eyes, blending it into the other two colours with his fingers. Next, he took a small shadow brush and combined all the colours together, to make sure you couldn’t see where each colour ended.

Then he took the Pêche Cuivré pencil again and coloured along Lupita’s brow bone and took Chanel Stylo Yeux Long-Lasting Eyeliner in Noir Intense and lined the lash lines and applied two coats of Chanel Inimitable Waterproof Mascara Multi-Dimensionnel in Noir on the upper lashes only.

To finish the eyes, Nick used Chanel Stylo Yeux Long-Lasting Eyeliner in Violine from the inner corner to the outer corner along the lower lashline, and then topped that off with the same purple shadow he used on the lids.

To make sure the brows looked polished, but not too bold, Nick used Chanel Crayon Sourcils Sculpting Eyebrow Pencil in Brun Cendré to create a fuller shape, and then went over that with a bronze eye shadow to tone the colour down.

Finally, for her lips, Nick shares, “We did break the beauty rule of ‘if you do dramatic eyes, don’t do bright lips,’ but this look called for something whimsical, so a neutral lip would have fallen flat.”

First, he used Chanel Rouge Coco Baume Hydration Conditioning Lip Balm and let it sit on the lips to moisturize, before then blotting it off. Then, he traced the edges of the lips with Chanel Le Crayon Lèvres Precision Lip Definer in Framboise and then filled them all in, and then blotted it off. Next, he applied Chanel Rouge Allure Luminous Intense Lip Colour in Passion, which he also blotted off. “To make the lips look like a stain and not too lipstick-y, I just removed the colour as I went,” explains Nick. “That way the colour popped in a gentle way and gave the look a feminine touch.”