Some 3,000 participants take part in the beauty class held during the launch of Sariayu Trend Color 2013 color trend.

Just as the color blocking craze in couture has persisted, this season’s makeup favors bold hues and dewy complexions.

Cosmetics giant Sariayu Martha Tilaar presented its yearly Trend Warna color trend event — taking Pesisir Sentrajava: The Colors of Asia as its theme.

For the last 27 years, the event sets a precedent for what colors will be gracing Indonesian complexions in the coming year — ruling out mattifying minimalist makeup for glistening cheekbones and eyes outlined in colors as sundry as certain national flags.

“The Trend Warna program explores the beauty of nature and the diversity of Indonesia’s multicultural richness from Sabang to Merauke,” explained Wulan Tilaar, daughter of Martha Tilaar, founder of the cosmetics empire.

The Beauty Class and subsequent fashion show were built around Sariayu’s two newest makeup collections, Lasem and Karimunjawa, put forward during the recent Indonesia Fashion Week, where the brand was the official hair and makeup sponsor for the second year running.

The Lasem color palette is emblematic of the northwestern coastal town’s batik art, rendered primarily in a scarlet redolent of chicken’s blood, royal blue, yellow and coastal greens.

Meanwhile, the Karimunjawa collection transmutes the undersea resplendence of the eponymous archipelago of 27 islands into two lipsticks and an eye shadow palette comprising emerald, yellow and purple.

Backstage at the fashion week, 50 Sariayu makeup artists had beautified 218 models for all 16 fashion shows for four straight days. They then marched onstage in fuchsia batik dresses and makeup aprons and dispersed amongst the audience of 3,500 spectators to assist the women in using their complimentary beauty kits as speaker Dewi Tresya preached correct skincare and makeup practices.

The cleanse-tone-moisturize wisdom that has spanned generations, Dewi said, is the prerequisite to beautiful skin.

“If you want skin as supple as mine,” she joked, “the secret is to treat your skin once a week using a mask or a scrub.”

The beauty class came with several pointers for your beauty routine:

Applying foundation

“Swipe the sponge downwards, following the direction of the fine facial hairs. If we rotate the sponge while applying a two-way cake, the powder will clump so our complexion will not appear even or soft,” Dewi advised while Sariayu makeup artist Azizah illustrated on a biracial model using Sariayu’s new Natural Glow Powder.

Feather-light patting motions rather than rubbing increases foundation’s sticking power.

“Use a small sponge for maximum accuracy. Begin from the forehead and go outward using light patting motions. This ensures the powder does not slide,” she said.

Applying eye shadow

Hydrated skin is more receptive to makeup – ditto the eyelids.

“Apply ‘Gloss Gel’ as a primer before you put on eye shadow to moisturize the eyelid,” advised Azizah as she demonstrated using Sariayu’s new all-purpose Gloss Gel to confer this season’s dewy-radiant look.

Azizah swiped a purple shade from the Karimunjawa collection onto the model’s upper lids, and a maroon shade from the Lasem collection onto her lower lids.

“Apply the eye shadow from the outer corners of the eyelid in,” elaborated Dewi. “Don’t rub, but pat and hold the mirror below your chin when applying to the upper lids, and hold the mirror up high when applying to the lower lids. You should be looking up when you apply your eye makeup.”

As a rule of thumb, use dark colors for the upper lids and light colors for the lower lids and “no more than two colors for everyday use”, said Azizah.

She then swiped a silvery-white “highlighter” shadow above the model’s upper lid and just below the brow line to give the sought-after impression of a full night’s sleep.

“Don’t forget to conceal under-eye smudges or circles,” said Dewi. “Use the highlighter brush to apply powder to conceal makeup smudges on the lower lids.”

Azizah topped off model’s eye makeup using green eyeliner from the Karimunjawa collection on her lower lids. “Eyeliner should be applied right on the lash line,” she said.

Shape up those eyebrows

“If your eyebrows have gaps, you need to follow their natural shape. You find the inner corner by measuring from the nose,” Azizah explained, aligning her makeup brush between the model’s nose and her eyebrow.

“We determine the outer corner from the angle of the lip,” she said, aligning her makeup brush with the corner of the model’s mouth and the outer corner of her eyebrow. “This creates a triangle.”

Finding the inner and outer corners of the eyebrow aids in shaping a natural-looking arch.

“The arch of the eyebrow stops at the point where the hairs stop. So that this arch is not too high or low, the inner and outer corners of the eyebrow have to align.”

As an added tip, blush-on, Azizah advised, should be applied from the temples and stop at two finger’s distance from the nose. “Concentrate the color about the temples, and let the color fade as you swipe the brush toward the nose.”

All done-up to the nines, the model stepped from her stool and walked the runway, parading her new look.

The fashion show that followed the beauty class featured thirteen models styling outfits especially designed by Deden Siswanto in colors identical to the palette used in Sariayu’s new Lasem and Karimunjawa makeup collections.

Natasha, the lead model, hair done up half a meter above her head, wore a shimmering dress in the “chicken’s blood” maroon symbolic of the Lasem collection.

The lights dimmed and a glow exuded from a phalanx of female dancers at either side of the stage who appeared as if from thin air. They wore headpieces in the shape of lotus flowers, the tulle fabric interlaced with glowing red and green LED lights which, as they swarmed the stage, waving their arms, gave them the look of the undersea flora that had inspired the Karimunjawa collection.

“Let’s support and show our love for local products by using Indonesian product as a sign of our identity as Asian women,” Wulan Tilaar says.

She then imparted her hopes that partiality toward local products can, by domino effect; ameliorate the welfare of a string of formerly voiceless stakeholders.

“Seventy percent of employees at Martha Tilaar Group are women,” she said. We hope that our spirit of ‘Local wisdom goes global’ will inspire you and spread throughout larger society, because we have a common responsibility as [Indonesian] citizens to advance the country with our local identity and heritage.”

— Photos courtesy of Sariayu Martha Tilaar Group

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