Fantasy Carnival

Carnival conjures up images of beautiful women wearing creative costumes, elaborate head pieces, masks, beads and glitter all designed to capture the shimmering rays of our brilliant Caribbean sun and to mesmerize the rest of the viewing population at home and abroad. There is hardly a masquerader who would dare show themselves in public without the appropriate makeup on, whether they apply it for themselves, engage a willing friend or book a professional Make-Up Artist. Make-Up artists are usually booked months in advance,  some with long  waiting  lists of women who crave a specific look to complement their elaborate costumes. Gem stones in an array of sizes and colours, glitter, super shiny pigments, paints, bold eye shadows and lip colours (not to mention Vegas styled false eyelashes) are the staples employed by artists to stimulate their creative juices. This is one festival that women are not shy to ask for the dramatic and sometimes theatrical forms of makeup.

Sometimes though, I think the overuse of gems on the face randomly placed without rhyme or reason causes the true beauty of the face to get lost amongst the already glittery and sometimes heavily beaded head pieces and costumes.  The same goes for the placement of glitter dust on the face and body.  I find a small amount of iridescent glitter strategically placed on the body, for example the shoulders is sufficient to capture the sun’s rays without it being overkill. On my stunning model Jaime-Lee Phillips, I chose to do dramatic eyes in turquoise, orange and gunmetal grey, with a bit of peach shimmer on the brow bone.  Her cheeks were blushed with an orangy-peach blush and lips were glossed with a peachy-pink shimmer. A few iridescent gemstones were strategically placed to frame the eyes and a simple design was sketched around the sides of her face using soft shimmers from the Da Vinci line.

Carnival Make-Up has no boundaries, limits or rules, as literally anything goes, just remember there is a method to the madness and one should always try to maintain the beauty ideal.  One thing that is certain, Carnival is indeed colour, the more intense the better as it is the ultimate glitz and glam festival of fantasy on this island.