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LOS ANGELES
— The men of rock 'n' roll started many major style
trends throughout the '60s and '70s — think Beatles
and mop tops, Sex Pistols and spikes, KISS and face
paint. But women are represented on that list as well,
among them, the members of the Runaways, who showed the
pop culture universe of the 1970s how strong, smoky eyes
and a feathered mullet could rock just as hard as the
guys.
In the
film "The Runaways," lead makeup artist
Robin Mathews
went for a mix of punk and glam-rock for
Kristen Stewart
and
Dakota Fanning
, who portray
Joan Jett
and
Cherie Currie
, the best-known members of the all-girl band.
"During
that time period, punk rock was just beginning,"
Mathews says. "It was all about
Suzi Quatro
and the Ramones' pale skin, heavy black eyeliner and
hair, which was followed by '80s glam glitter and stripy
blush. It was eccentric and over the top. Nothing was
subtle."
Mathews
pored through thousands of photos and video footage of
the Runaways, as well as makeup ads from the '70s, to
capture the look down to the tiniest detail. "We
really delved into the research," says Mathews, who
discovered quirky cosmetic habits, including the fact
that Jett and Currie each painted just one of their
fingernails red.
Mathews
eschewed any soft-lighted perfection when it came to
getting Stewart and Fanning into character. "It was
important to keep it true to life, realistic and not
glossed-over
Hollywood
," she says. "The Runaways were teenagers, so
if we needed to add blemishes or to make them look like
they had been out on the road, we did that. It wasn't
always dewy, beautiful skin. It was all about the
eyes."
Those
strong, smoky eyes, which always seemed partly
obstructed by a shard of Jett's raven hair and stood in
stark contrast to Currie's platinum locks, were the
center of the band's signature look. "For a small
period of time, Cherie was heavily inspired by
David Bowie
and wore that stripy blush, but that only lasted for a
little while and it always went back to the eyes,"
Mathews says.
To get
the heavily pigmented smudgy eye, the makeup artist used
eye shadows and the Smoky lash mascara from Make Up
Forever. And while some of the band's onstage looks were
too outlandish for today's trend-watchers, there's a way
to create a smoky eye that can work for an everyday look
— with an edge.
"First,
apply eyeliner (pencil) to the top and bottom of the
eye(lids) and smudge with a brush to cover all the
little naked spots," Mathews says. She cautions
that eyeliner initially appears too harsh at first, so
smudging is key, especially if you want to stay true to
Jett and Currie's look. "Take different shades of
(dark) eye shadow and smudge on top of the eyelid and
also rim the inner lid with the eye shadow."
That
procedure is not authentic to the '70s, but Mathews says
the smudging updates the look.
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