Beaut.ie Goes to the MTV EMAs With Mac: The Makeup & What Went on Backstage!

Gaga dressed as a hybrid dilophosaurus-cum-metallic prawn cracker laced with chains and balanced atop a Spinal Tap-esque moon pretty much sums up the EMAs for me: glitzy, a bit bonkers, a lot of fun - but most importantly, all about the show

Sitting high up in tiered seating in Belfast's Odyssey Arena as the screens mounted stage left and right count down the last few minutes to MTV European Music Awards 2011 kick-off, you're swept up in the scale of the event. The heat, noise, lights, DJ down below on the walkway below firing up the mostly teenage crowd in the pit to levels of frenzy even they didn't know they possessed, all add up to an experience that makes it easy to forget so much goes on behind the scenes too.

Pre-event practice runs

In fact, backstage were 39 Mac makeup artists under lead Debbie Dannell, who'd worked tirelessly on talent, dancers and presenters in the run up to the show.  The association began five years ago and this year, there were a matching five Irish artists involved including Lesley Keane, Mac's senior artist in Ireland.

See! A large zebra capable of human transport!

While I sat out front as a guest of Mac cosmetics oohing and aahing and thinking, "Jesus, indie bands could learn a trick about stagecraft from these lads" (my usual musical fare is taken at dingy dives and festivals mid-winter in Pontins in weather-miserable English seaside towns as a point of reference) - and occasionally falling about laughing at things like LMFAO arriving to the stage in a large, people carrier-sized zebra, these guys were on site from Friday prepping, putting together look-books and doing dress rehearsals to make sure it really all would go all right on the night.

Moodboards and bodypainting ideas

It's no easy process. In order to create looks for the stars, Mac work with their individual record labels and the performing artist to create the makeup design. But it doesn't stop there: they also have to take into account the stage lighting and sets plus the artist's costume and hair. Tests took place on Friday and Saturday at the arena and pictures are then sent to the labels for pre-approval. In some cases it took over five tests to get the makeup look right.

But they didn't work on everyone - Jessie J did her own slap, would you believe. Known for often making up her own face, she does work with a makeup artist on occasion. For the EMAs, she went solo, which was a pretty brave move.

Brushes, lashes and airbrush paint ... primed and ready to go

And oh boy, you better believe it all uses a lot of product. Each artist brought his or her own kit but Lesley told me that she'd also called in a lot of extra product because they knew they'd need it, with such a lot of prep and people to make up. Over the course of the weekend, Mac artists went through over 300 sets of lashes (more had to be brought in from the local Belfast store as they ran out), 80 lipglosses, 160 packs of MAC wipes and 60 mascaras. And that's just some of it!

Just some of the product used, lined up, ready and waiting

Popular products included old faves Face and Body foundation, White Face and Body Foundation, Strobe Liquid, Studio Sculpt SPF 15 Foundation, Iridescent Powder/ Loose in Silver Dusk, Studio Moisture Cream, Lipstick in Saint Germain and glitter got a good outing too. Lesley told me that they used huge amounts of Reflects Pigment in Pearl, Teal and Gold over the weekend.

Lesley also used lashings of Fluidline in Blacktrack, the new Matchmaster foundation, Mac Prep & Prime line filler, which she says is excellent for pores (and great on guys too) as well as loads of Russian Red lipstick.

Mac's backstage area at the Odyssey Arena

On the day itself, Sunday 6th November, set up started for the makeup artists at 8am and the team left at 12 midnight - a grueling 14 hours backstage on show day was the shift they put in. That involved tireless work painting, airbrushing, touching up and prep and clean down for them.

Was it worth it? For us out front and for anyone who watched on TV, I have to say yes. Makeup is more important than ever since the advent of HD, and as we all pour exhaustively over post-event shots of catwalk action, their work has been seen by millions at this point. But on the night too,  what they achieved was far more than just making up faces. The makeup team provided an extra layer of gloss for the whole production, tying costume and production together because they also provided support by body-painting the dancers costumes that are a vital part of many of the performers routines.

So, I asked Lesley when I got a chance to chat to her post event, was it all worth it? "Yes," she confirmed, adding "It was a lot of work though." But would you do it again, I queried? "God, yes!" she laughed.

And that, I think, says it all, eh?

Picture credits: image.net