Beauty Test: High Octane Glamour With Morgane Martini
BEAUTY TEST:
HIGH-OCTANE
GLAMOUR WITH
MORGANE
MARTINI
Think you can’t do a smoky eye and statement lip at the same time? Let VIOLET GREY show you how.
- Written By
- JACK SUNNUCKS
- Photography By
- MORGANE MARTINI
- Makeup By
- MORGANE MARTINI
- Art Direction By
- VICEN AKINA
With her experimental take on color and the exquisite Polaroids she snaps to document her work, Morgane Martini is the makeup artist of the moment, both on Instagram and in print. From her collaborations with Ashley Graham to her cover of Vogue Brazil with Bella Hadid, Martini’s name (it’s her real one) is becoming synonymous with a new kind of French chic that recalls the revolutionary work of Guy Bourdin and Helmut Newton rather than a less-is-more aesthetic. In a new series for VIOLET GREY, she channels the famed ‘70s illustrator Antonio Lopez by documenting an array of free-spirited looks on her friends, accompanied by her trusted Polaroid camera.
“I’ve done Jenna’s makeup many times, and she’s particularly perfect for that ‘80s vibe,” says Morgane Martini of her friend and muse, model Jenna Earle. “You can go for a bold, smoky eye and a lip on her, and she never looks trashy—she always looks expensive,” she says, laughingly. “She can do both.”
For this series, Martini channeled Earle’s aristocratic features (“like an oil painting . . . the pale skin and high forehead”) into two looks perfect for when you’re in the mood to look like a femme fatale. Martini was particularly inspired by the French photographer Guy Bourdin, know for his vibrant use of color, not only for the high gloss sets he created for his shoots, but also on his models’ faces. Aside from his brilliant hues, Bourdin was also famed for the high concept, decidedly French and daring sexuality throughout his work, which inspired Martini to really push the envelope with Jenna. “She has the perfect face for a lot of makeup, so this is the look where I really went for it the most!”
THE ARTIST: Morgane Martini | @morgane_martini
THE GIRL: Jenna Earle | @jenna.earle
“Guy Bourdin is always a big inspiration for me, and that’s where I wanted to go with Jenna, but very chic, elevated, and super sexy. Sexy but still very bourgeoise. Jenna is my friend and one of my favorite faces to play with.” —M.M.
EYES CHARLOTTE TILBURY LUXURY PALETTE IN THE UPTOWN GIRL, CHARLOTTE TILBURY LEGENDARY LASHES INSTANT HOLLYWOOD FALSE-LASH EFFECT MASCARA, CHANEL LE CRAYON KHÔL IN NOIR LIPS SERGE LUTENS WATER LIP COLOR IN CHARDON FACE SHU UEMURA GLOW ON IN M PINK 33R
LOOK 1—NOT-SO-SUBTLE SMOLDER
“I was looking to do a soft, smoky, and pulled-out eye in grey. The shape is very ‘80s, that’s my comfort zone and what I like to do most. I did this soft look to begin with because we wanted to start there and then build from it—no taking off. Add more, and more!” —M.M.
EYES TOM FORD EYE COLOR QUAD EYESHADOW PALETTE IN STARRY NIGHT, KJAER WEIS MASCARA COMPACT BLACK LIPS LANCÔME LE METALLIQUE METALLIC LIP LACQUER IN 13 MOLTEN MAGENTA FACE KEVYN AUCOIN PURE POWDER GLOW BLUSH IN MYRACLE, ILIA ILIA ILLUMINATOR
LOOK 2—COLOR-GLOW REFRESH
“I took off some of the eyeshadow, changed the color, and added some gloss on the lip to make it different. It was interesting to take it from a day look to something chicer for a party, and then she was really out there!”—M.M.
ARTIST PROFILE
Name: Morgane Martini
Where to Find Her: New York City
Represented by: The Wall Group/BEL
Instagram: @morgane_martini
“I don’t recommend going to beauty school,” laughs Morgane Martini of her start in the industry. As a young woman growing up on the French island of Corsica, Martini has always been artistically inclined, so her aunt suggested she could put her talents to practical use and paint faces instead. “I had a lot of friends who were learning photography at the time, so we were all playing around and trying out stuff. I went to school for only three months, three months of learning the basics of beauty and fashion makeup—which was actually really terrible, because everything you’re learning you have to forget and start over again!”
Fortunately, she landed on the team of one of the greats – Lloyd Simmons, whom she assisted for three years, and who she credits with making her the precise and technical artist she is today (creativity is nothing if not backed up with expertise). He also introduced her to the incredible Pat McGrath, another makeup genius from whom she was lucky to learn. “So,” she laughs, “that was major.” From this beginning Martini began a journey upward through the editorial beauty world that four years ago brought her to New York. “And a year ago, that’s when I started doing my Polaroids,” she says of the landmarks that have defined her career.
If haven’t seen them, Martini’s Polaroids, which populate her Instagram, are a thing of beauty. As with just about any visual profession, she says, mock horrified, “People were telling me to do more selfies, to post more of myself—you know, post a bikini picture here and there. That’s not me; it didn’t feel genuine.” After she started shooting beauty tests on her friends using a macro Polaroid camera, she quickly became obsessed and starting posting the results on her feed. “There’s no post production whatsoever; it’s pretty raw,” she says of what drew her to the little photographs. “And I’m obsessed with Antonio Lopez. I just think his work is so amazing, and all his Polaroid work is really fun.”
Martini’s bold shapes and color choices, inspired by Guy Bourdin and Helmut Newton, have caught the attention of a certain bold female, the one and only Ashley Graham. “One day my agent called me and said Ashley Graham is requesting you. I was very lucky that her hairstylist at the time, who I had worked with, recommended me.” It seems to be the perfect match. “What’s fun with her,” says Martini, “is she’s in control, but she’s really open to letting go. She told me how she decided one day to embrace herself to the fullest, and not compromise—you know what, take it or leave it, this is what I am.”
Martini has taken Graham’s words to heart, and perhaps bolstered by her belief in what makes her work unique, she did the makeup for her first Vogue cover, Bella Hadid for Vogue Brazil. “In some ways, I think I tried for a while to fit in,” she opines. “At a certain point, makeup was not a cool thing to do, because people just wanted natural. I tried to fit into that box. But I kept telling my agent, I’m getting so bored.” She smiles. “I just can’t. It’s a great lesson, to just do you. And I think everybody should do that.”