Halloween How-To: Magenta From Rocky Horror

Day Two of Halloween-prep comes from London, courtesy of Georgina Graham:

“Magenta from The Rocky Horror Picture Show is one of my favorite characters of all time. She is a late-‘70s, drop-dead-gorgeous punk, camped-up version of a Guy Bourdin woman. And it’s a fast, dirty glam look for the perfect saucy Halloween.

I started off by applying Glossier Priming Moisturizer all over Rosa’s face, and then used MAC Pro Chromacake in Pure White to give her a ghostly pallor. The tip to getting perfect coverage but maintaining a sheer effect is to spray the Chromacake with Fix and then sheer it out on your arm before applying it with a stippling brush—doing that keeps it beautiful and controlled.

Then, for the eyes, I applied MAC Paint Pot in Groundwork up to the crease of the lid, keeping it a little bit rough around the edges and leaving some smudges. It shouldn’t be too perfect. To create a round under-eye, paint a wide ‘V’ shape underneath the lower lash line and smoosh it with my finger to make it less precise and spookier, and then lightly sketched some of the Chromacake under the brow for a highlight.

Using Kjaer Weis Eye Shadow in Magnetic and a tapered brush, I created a crease just above the eyelid for a deep socket effect and to emphasize the roundness of the eye. I used Illamasqua Powder Eye Shadow in Obsidian to accentuate the top center of the crease, which I then blended around the eye and sketched underneath the lower lashline.

I then applied Bobbi Brown Eyeshadow in Camel over the lid to enhance the brown of the look, rather than leaving it too blackened. I love where it smudges and bleeds out—it looks dirty and sexy, rather than utterly finished, which is definitely the Rocky Horror vibe.

I used Topshop Kohl Eyeliner in Coal through the waterline and then drew it just underneath the eye, leaving it a little smudgy, before going over the pencil with the black shadow for a sooty finish. Finally, I applied Butter London Wink Matte Liquid Eyeliner across the top lashline in a straight line with a blunt finish, for severe impact.

To finish off the eyes, I curled the false lashes with the Shu Uemura curler and added tons of MAC Haute & Naughty Lash Mascara before applying to make them all look thick, cloggy, and a little spidery. When you think you’ve added enough, add some more!

Although Magenta is a redhead, I used a dark brown pencil—Anastasia Brow Wiz in Medium Ash—for Rosa’s brows…red looked too comical when combined with the wig. I drew a slightly more pronounced, high-arched version of her own brows.

For the deep, sexy lip color, I drew a cross onto the cupid’s bow to get the perfect shape and then outlined in Estée Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Lip Pencil in Currant. I lengthened and overdrew her natural lips to recreate Magenta’s—when there’s a white base, you can play around with scale. I sketched the pencil around the inside of the lip and then, using Chanel Rouge Profonde pencil starting at the center of the lip, I blended the shades together for a degradé effect.

To finish it off, I applied Tom Ford Lip Color in Scarlet Rouge, straight from the bullet, and dabbed a tiny bit of Shu Uemura’s Vinyl Unlimited Gloss onto the center of the lip.

Finally, we painted Rosa nails in Chanel’s Rouge Noir with some of YSL’s Rouge Dada on the tips for a gradient effect, popped on her wig and costume and… voila! Time to do the Time Warp again!"

—as told to ITG

Rosa Tapsell (Tess Management) photographed by David Dunan. Makeup by Georgina Graham (Management Artists), assisted by Kristina Ralph. Interview by Olivia J. Singer.