Look into those eyes: Runaways makeup artist offers some tips

LOS ANGELES — The men of rock ‘n’ roll started many major style trends throughout the ‘60s and ‘70s — think Beatles and mop tops, Sex Pistols and spikes, KISS and face paint. But women are represented on that list as well, among them, the members of the Runaways, who showed the pop culture universe of the 1970s how strong, smoky eyes and a feathered mullet could rock just as hard as the guys.

In the film The Runaways, lead makeup artist Robin Mathews went for a mix of punk and glam-rock for Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning, who portray Joan Jett and Cherie Currie, the best-known members of the all-girl band.

“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.

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