FROM WAR TO WAR PAINT

As Alfred Lester unveiled this season’s to-die-for makeup trends, Shamayne Leelawati discovered how he swapped boot camp for the lipstick parade…

Never in a million years would you guess that Alfred Lester is a professional makeup artist. In truth, he looks more like a black American rapper with his dread locks, but that’s only until he unloads his MAC carry case.

BEHIND THE FAÇADE

Watching Lester work and speaking to him afterwards, you are instantly reminded of the slogan – ‘things are not always what they seem’. His army-tough hands look clumsy as he plays around with our model’s hair and as he dabbles with his color palette, but the results proved that he’s every bit a professional makeup artist. He is as meticulous about makeup application as he is about the final results and there’s no doubting his passion for it. “I love doing makeup. I cannot get tired of it and it always inspires me,” he says – and to think that just seven years ago, he could not tell the difference between a moisturizer and a foundation stick!

THE YEARS BEFORE

Lester was a typical run-of-the-mill kind of guy. He grew up playing soccer and football, often reserving Sundays to watch footy on the telly. After his stint in the military, he joined the Commodities Exchange at the Chicago Board of Trade, which was probably why he decided he needed a change. But no one guessed that eyeliners were going to be part of his new life – least of all him!

ON THE GO!

It all started when a friend suggested he try his hand at makeup. “I thought she was out of her mind. Me? Makeup? No way!,” he laughs. But he got hooked after his first experiment with lipsticks and eyeshadows and the rest, as they say, is history. Although he has no formal education makeup-wise, Lester has lots to be proud of. He has worked on numerous runway shows, TV shows, commercials, and magazines which include Entertainment Weekly, MAX Magazine and Playboy Magazine!

“Working with Playboy is great. It’s a whole new ball game and the environment is really different from the runway shows,” he says enthusiastically (with all that bare flesh, who could blame his excitement!). But as thrilling as it gets, makeup stops at the neck. “The only time I venture away from the neck is when the model has a bruise or scar which needs concealing,” he says. Lester is currently the senior makeup artist at MAC and conducts regular training programs at MAC counters worldwide.

WHAT’S HOT THIS SEASON

Lester worked on creating four different looks for the Fall/Winter season on our model Kristy. Bold, dark lips, smoky eyes, flushed cheeks, and tons of eyeliner (not necessarily all at once) are the season’s must-have looks. So if you’ve chucked away your kohl pencils and stark rouges, it’s time to bring them out again. “We’re looking at lots of dark colors like purple and maroons on the lips, black and greens on the eye area with lots of blush on the cheek. Blush is very big this season,” he declares.

BIG BOLD LIPS

If you’ve always worn pale colors to downplay your thick lips, now’s the time to dramatize them! Play them up with strong colors and pout away. “Makeup trends are changing. We’ve been too complacent in the past to venture out. Now colors have become intense and bold, exciting and adventurous,” says Chicago-bred Lester as he applied a deep aubergine to Kristy’s lips (Mac Lip Lacquer in Haute Voltage), outlining them to create a larger and poutier look. The secret to this look is to play down makeup around the eye area so there’s an emphasis on the lips. Lester used the Pro Lash Mascara in black with a dash of Boot Black liquid liner over the top lids, keeping it simple.

PRETTY BLUSH

Be liberal with blusher, it’s time for that rosy hue to be seen! Lester worked his way straight from the temples right down to the jawbone using MAC Cheek Hue in Dada Delight. Eye makeup was left simple, with just a dash of eyeshadow in Truce to give the lids a pale gray hue and because Lester is an eyebrow freak, (which immediately got all of us conscious about our brows!), he meticulously worked on perfecting Kristy’s eyebrows with the Eye Brow Pencil in Brunette and used the brow set (a clear gel) to groom the brow. “Eyebrows shape the eyes and this sets the makeup. I normally use the shape of the eyebrow as a reference to decide what look I want to create,” he says.

SMOKY EYES

The smoky look is definitely in, gals, and is probably the hottest look this season. Lester used MAC Paint in Existential which delivers a rich charcoal gray tone and blended this with the Eye Kohl Pencil in Tarnish to create that sultry look on Kristy. Again, there’s little emphasis on the lips or cheeks – you don’t want to draw attention away from the eyes. Lester used a light, frosted beige champagne on the lips ( Galvanise) and a sheer frosted white eyeshadow (Luna) on the cheeks to create a creamy glow.

TRUSTY EYELINERS

If you’re not the adventurous type and don’t fancy bold lips, flushed cheeks or smoky eyes, you can still survive the season by spreading on tons of eyeliner. To achieve this look, Lester first applied MAC Paint in Margrittes over the lid (a beige-champagne tone) and used a generous amount of the Eye Kohl Pencil in Tarnish ( a deep forest-green hue) to outline the eyes. Lips were slathered with a rich red brown shade (Lip Laquer in Ignite). The result: Simply Dramatic!

Lester’s knack for hairstyling is an added bonus to his career in makeup. It’s something he picked up while working backstage and his involvement in it was inevitable. “Hair styles go hand with makeup,” he says, and we can’t argue considering the compatibility of each hairstyle with his makeup application.

Although Lester does not have a fixed style with makeup, he admits to being addicted to lip-gloss. “I try not to be blocked into a box because makeup style changes constantly and you just have to go with the flow. I love the MAC Gloss gleam coat – it’s sexy and really versatile,” he says. Well, at least he makes it versatile, mixing it with eyeshadows and pigments to create new textures and colors for the eyes, lips, and cheeks. And there is something else which keeps him bonded to the makeup industry- the ability to create: “Many products are made backstage and we are often inspired to create new things for a desired effect. This is done by simply mixing lots of products together. Being able to do this holds a lot of interest for me.”