Look Into Those Eyes: Runaways Makeup Artist Offers Some Tips

36 Comments March 18, 2010 by Jaypat Filed Under: Dakota Fanning, Kristen Stewart, Runaways Movie

The Province has a great interview with The Runaways make up artist Robin Mathews on how she got the look for Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning.

“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 1970s, 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 centreof 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.

Love the eyes!

[Source: TheProvince via KStewartfans]

Tags: Dakota Fanning, Kristen Stewart

Category: Dakota Fanning, Kristen Stewart, Runaways Movie

cass2loves

heheh ok 1t heheh
More_than_My_Own_Life

2nd
More_than_My_Own_Life

Congrats!!
Snowy 05/09 Remember Rob!

4?
cass2loves

& really good tips too.. i done it a different way mite try this way now
dbtwilight

great makeup !!!!
cass2loves

3rd lol
cass2loves

really sleeping in it over nite.. if that was me u would nt have gotten smokey eyes u would have gotten Panda eyes with most of it on my pillow lol
cass2loves

thanks btw love ur name.. that line always gets me when im reading the book i end up in tears
More_than_My_Own_Life

Seems like Kristen can do anything & still look amazing . . . & if I went to sleep in my makeup, I'd wake up looking like an experiment gone horribly wrong!
cass2loves

true she done always seem to pull off so much that i think man if i was to do it would look a monster or something
Jaypat

I can do that!!
More_than_My_Own_Life

Thanks, I get teary eyed there too! I couldn't believe the name or something like it wasn't taken already.
cass2loves

wow true.. i think i re read that part like 10 times before actually moving on coz i would just start to tear up so much that i would have like to way for my eyes to dry ol im so lame lol
More_than_My_Own_Life

You're not lame, I promise. . . ok well maybe I only think that because I had the same problem . . . lol
Snowy 05/09 Remember Rob!

LOL – see, that's one of the biggest reasons I bloody well don't bother with makeup – taking it off properly takes for freakin' EVER! ;D
CC; Team Rob's Freckled Back

I think I can too, though it won't look at good when I wake up!
Snowy 05/09 Remember Rob!

WIFEY!!! *pounces, twirls and dips* I'm heading off to bed for the night… *looks beloved up and down* care to join me?
CC; Team Rob's Freckled Back

Are you kidding me?
*jumps on wifey & snuggles on her neck*

We can talk about the amazing MOTU update and how absolutely perfect Fifty is, yes?
Snowy 05/09 Remember Rob!

*giggles* that tickles, dammit! *sigh* oh yes. Perfect, trusting, terrified, damaged Fifty. And amazing is the perfect word. And EP was just… gah! Oh. Wait. My wifey has not caught up on EP yet. *sniffs*
CC; Team Rob's Freckled Back

*gives wifey's neck a quick kiss*

*sigh* I couldn't stop crying. The last two updates have made me so emotional. What do you think Bella will say? .. I think she's going to ask for time (which is logical).

Gah, I know! I need to catch up. I'm just… a little scared wifey I keep hearing people aren't happy with it. If someone dies, I swear I'm going to flip.
Snowy 05/09 Remember Rob!

Seriously?! I LOVE the effin' story… she has really put her heart & soul into it, and it is so bloody intense!
As for miss Bella? Yeah, I'm going with complete & utter shock. Like, speechless shock.
jasperismydestiny

I am copying and saving every single sentence from those tips! Thank you for giving us part of tha secret.
Robertsgirl – Team v-necks

I will have to try those tips, no doubt I will look a big mess though. LOL
cass2loves

LOL thats cool at lease i know im/not alone in that way lol
cass2loves

yeah it can be a nite mare but not if u have the rite products.. and ones that will work on ur skin..

but i hate it after a big nite out. i m ean i either CBF taking it off and want to jump in to bed or i totally forget
EAD_TeamRobsButt

Congrats!
EAD_TeamRobsButt

That's pretty much how I go to bed now, anyway. The older I get, when you need to really take care of your skin, the lazier I become, and don't wash it off. BAD BAD EAD!!! I guess it's okay for a nineteen year old with flawless skin, not a lazy forty year old.
Snowy 05/09 Remember Rob!

LOL… *sigh* I just don't bother with make up anymore unless it's a really special occasion – anniversary, going out somehwere special… yeah, pretty much once or twice a year? *shakes head in shame*
30yearoldtwifan

I actually bought the smoky eye shadow that they used on the RW a few weeks ago, it was from Sephora. Great stuff!
Marti (Team The Runaways)

These photos are awesome.
Team Leather Pants! LOL
jia225

if you have long eyelashes or thicker ones that are curly it works. i put some on in the morning, it runs down in the day and i dont bother to take it off at night. and the next morning i just add a little and voila! perfect. haha

and if you put some on the top undernearth, it runs up and makes your lashes smoky and big!
EAD_TeamRobsButt

LOL I understand. If I didn't sit up at the front desk, I wouldn't bother. It's all off by the end of the day, anyway. Whatever. Right?
Snowy 05/09 Remember Rob!

It's also a time & money issue for me… decent makeup is bloody pricey, and I drag myself out of bed at the latest possible moment already… staying up too late at night reading FF, of course…
EAD_TeamRobsButt

LOL Seriously. I'm either on here with you gals, reading or writing my own little stories, which I have not done lately. Must get back to that this weekend! I'm still buying the Wet and Wild brand make-up half the time. Yes, I'm 40 and paying 0.99 cents for eyeliner and lipstick. I'll never grow up.
http://zehrakhambati.com Asian Bridal Makeup

I love the film. Amazing work.