7 Things Telenovelas Teach Us About Makeup
Ana Brenda Contreras and Ivan Sanchez of Lo Imperdonable. (Photo: Facebook)
You don’t need to speak Spanish to appreciate telenovelas — the drama and sex appeal of these daytime soaps translates to any language by way of beautiful people, intensely physical scenes, and the natural singsong cadence of the Spanish language. Telenovelas aren’t necessarily just about the love and lust of Latin America, though, they’re a living diary of beauty trends, ideas, and concepts that are just as lustful as the scenes in the shows. There’s a reason Latina women just sort of get the idea of glamour at all costs, it’s a major unspoken theme of just about every series, but there are so many other things these shows teach us about makeup:
If you want to be a protagonist, go natural. “There’s a protagonist in every single telenovela, and she’s usually a very virtuous character,” says Alfonso Waithsman, celeb makeup artist who has worked on over one hundred novelas, and makeup artist to Ana Brenda Contrera of Lo Imperdonable. “Perfect skin is essential. Obviously, foundation and concealers are a must. The skin must never look tired! When looking for concealers, I prefer liquid versions with a lighter, airy texture.” In every day life, this means never skipping your BB or CC cream, because skin perfecting and protecting is the easiest step to maintaining your protagonist-worthy glow.
Eyes can be strong without liner. “The protagonist in Univision’s Lo Imperdonable, Ana Brenda, is classic and glamourous. Her character is strong and virtuous which is reflected in her look,” says Waithsman. “Her ravishing eyes are accentuated with a beautiful smoky eye in terracotta earth tones. Her eye is defined only with shadow — never liner which can be harsh — and shadows are carefully blended in together. The shadows used have a slight sheen which look better in high definition than opaque tones do.” While no liner may sound counter-intuitive and a hard habit to break for most women, this is kind of refreshing news. It’s possible to be gorgeous and totally glam without the additional steps in our makeup routines (and frankly, perfect liner is just so hard to achieve anyway).
Terracotta tones flatter just about everyone. Ever notice that the women of telenovelas seem to always have terracotta somewhere in their look? The rich, natural earth tone is a must in Latin American beauty routines because the deep coral tones seem to highlight just about every complexion. Try it in a blush, bronzer, or eyeshadow.
Mascara is non-negotiable, so don’t even think about skimping. The leading ladies of Univision may skimp on eyeliner, but never, ever mascara. Eyelash curling is always, always followed by mascara, and it’s one of the easiest ways to make eyes pop in a natural-looking way.
Villains go bold. “On the villain, or antagonist, we employ bolder colors, such as bold red lip,” says Waithsman. “In novelas, we hardly ever use bold colors like lilacs, blues, greens or oranges. I recommend that women stick with neutrals — plus bold colors are difficult to apply. If you’re going to use those, apply with caution.” A woman wearing a lot of bold, daring makeup is perceived as less than virtuous on Spanish-speaking television, so daring shades are reserved for ‘bad’ girls, villains, and characters made to seem questionable.
Neutral shades are always right, and can be played up or down. Even when you see a major novela star out for a hot night on the town, her makeup still has a neutral color palette. If her regular daytime look is a variety of beiges and browns, the nighttime look is just a deeper, darker version of that same color palette. Instead of amping up tons of lipstick and sparkly skin creams, smokey eyes and lip liner get the job done.
Pick one feature to focus on, and make it the star of your face. Instead of spending all your time and energy in the bathroom perfecting each and every facial feature, just make sure you leave the house with clean, beautiful skin and one feature you’re particularly proud of. In telenovelas, it’s usually the eyes that are played up since they add so much expression and dimension to scenes.
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