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‘Mad Men’ makeup artist Q&A

"Mad Men's" Peggy Olson (Elizabeth Moss). Photo: MAC

"Mad Men's" Joan Holloway (Christina Hendricks). Photo: MAC

"Mad Men's" Betty Draper (January Jones). Photo: MAC

You may have noticed, we’re a little obsessed with Mad Men here at denveralamode.com. The fashions. The interiors. The drama. Even the makeup.

So, we were thrilled when we had a chance to peek in on this Q&A with “Mad Men” makeup department head Lana Horochowski, who works with MAC cosmetics to deliver the gorgeous ’60s looks we covet each week. Here’s what she had to say about inspiration, specific products she uses and the looks of the three female lead characters, Betty Draper, Peggy Olson and Joan Holloway.

Q: You’re the new department head at “Mad Men” for season three, will you be making any changes to any characters’ makeup?
A: Since we are moving a little forward into the future, we have changed up the color palette for each character to go along with the time period.

Q: When you were preparing for this season, did you do any research for inspiration? If so, what most inspired you?
A: Weeks and weeks of meetings and research. I love looking through the old magazines. They are a great reference and a huge source of inspiration; however, we do try to keep the characters looking like real people that do their own makeup and not like movie stars with a makeup artist standing by. Magazines and old movies are a great guideline for a basic look and color selection.

Q: How would you describe the looks of each one of the characters? How do they differ?
A: Joan Holloway: always put together, very sassy and sexy
Betty Draper: although she is a housewife, she is an ex-model, so her makeup is clean, but very current for the period
Peggy Olson: Peggy is a young and fresh-faced business woman of that period. She is a very clean natural makeup.

Q: What are your key products for creating the makeup looks for the main female characters?
A: Joan Holloway: We do a heavier eye on Christina, so the key products would be eyeliner and strip lashes.
Betty Draper: Betty has two distinct looks, her at home look and her going out/evening look. For home, she is very natural, basically a sheer foundation, think black eyeliner and mascara. Evening Betty goes a little thicker on the liner and a brighter lipstick, but always coordinated with her clothing.
Peggy Olson: Since the key to Peggy’s look is to appear as though she is wearing no makeup, a great foundation is super important. Also, a natural cheek and lip stain is applied to give her a little color.

Q: What are your favorite MAC products for each character?
A: Joan Holloway: Cream Colour Base in Virgin Isle, Fluidline in Blacktrack and Rich Ground, brown and black, and Eye Shadow in Soft Brown
Betty Draper: Cream Colour Base in Virgin Isle, Blushcreme in Posey, and Lipsticks in Vegas Volt, Lip Pencil in Redd and Cherry
Peggy Olson: Eye Shadow in Orb, Vanilla, and Soft Brown and Blot Powder

Q: Everyone always notices the lips on the show, but brows seem to play a very important part to the look. Can you talk about the brows on the show?
A: Women of the ’60s had a stricter code of style and etiquette, so people tended to follow the trends closer to the book. Nowadays, women have a variety of different brow styles so we are constantly tweezing, shaping and filling the brows to recreate the look of the period.

Q: Each character has the most perfect lashes framing her eyes. What are your favorite lashes to use to get that perfectly plump line of lashes?
A: We love the MAC individual lashes as well as the traditional strip lashes.

Q: Do you collaborate with the hair and costume departments when coming up with a look?
A: Absolutely! We have at least three meetings per episode to create the look as a unit. I could not do this show without Lucia Mace (hair), Janie Bryant (costumes) and my fabulous key Ron Pipes!

Q: There seems to be a lot of making out on the show, how many times do you have to redo those red lips? Does it get messy?
A: We do what we can to seal the lip color, but we still have to go in every take to perform a minor clean up.

Q: What can real women take away from the show’s look and incorporate into their everyday look?
A: Well, a great start would be lining the top lash line only with a gel liner like MAC Fluidline. We love this product for recreating the perfect ’60s eye. Also, replacing gloss and sheer or shimmer lipsticks with matte reds, bright pinks, and corals help create a more retro look. Lastly, instead of a powder blush try using creme in pinks and corals to create a flushed looking cheek. For evening, strip lashes are always a bonus.

– Lesley Kennedy

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