Quark Records

Bruce Grayson is the man behind the curtain when it comes to awards show beauty. And the Oscars are no different—he was on the scene last night beautifying everyone from Penélope Cruz to Angelina Jolie. Here, Grayson gave us the exclusive inside scoop on what goes down in the backstage powder room: -“A backstage makeup artist has to be prepared for everything from a quick little touch-up to a major makeup reboot. Prepping for the Oscars began several days ahead of time at my home, where I research makeup that’s trending at fashion week, on beauty sites, in magazines, and via bloggers. If you see it there, there’s a good chance you’ll see it on the red carpet.” -“The next step is organizing my kit and deciding what to bring. The most important makeup products to have backstage are concealers, (I bring at least three different kinds), blush (sheer pinks and peaches are a must), lipsticks, lip glosses, eye pencils, pressed powders, mascaras, and last but not least, eyelash glue! Not only do we use eyelash glue for falsies, we’re also known to use them to glue down a stray hair before show time.” “The backstage room at the Oscars is a tiny makeshift space. We have six tables total for hair and makeup who are helmed by two makeup artists, two hair stylists, and then one empty table for anyone who wants to do their own touch-ups. We also have a wardrobe representative who carries a steamer. It’s cozy, to say the least.” -“At most, we can cram up to three celebrities at a time. You have to be very careful about where you walk or stand because we all accidentally step on the dresses all the time. Luckily no one got taken out last night, but it has happened before with me and Julia Roberts!” -“Shiny and oily skin were the biggest offenders of the night because of how muggy it was backstage, so there was a lot of foundation fixing. There was tons of humidity in the air from the rainy weather, from so many people being crammed into a tight space, and from the steamer that was constantly being used. To fix these issues, I used a lot of Paula Dorf Pressed Powder, Laura Mercier Loose Setting Powder, and Dior Diorskin Crystal Nude with a flat foundation brush, which I love because I can control the coverage very accurately.” -“We kicked off the night by doing the makeup for Pharrell’s entire troop. There were 20 choir members, 20 dance members, three trophy women, and three trophy men that we called “Team Oscar.” We had two hours to make up everyone from start to finish, so Coach factory outlet called in 13 makeup artists and 11 hairdressers to specifically work on this group. We all used our personal favorite products to give each member an individualized look that was about clean beauty with a street edge. They were all kids who were 16 to 18 years old so they were so excited and so authentic and made it seem like it was the greatest moment of their lives. They actually didn’t seem that nervous because they were so well-rehearsed.” -“One magical moment for me was when Penélope Cruz came backstage. She reapplied her own Tom Ford beige lipstick in one of the mirrors. But the best part was when her dress had to be steamed. There was a flowy piece of chiffon fabric that came off the gown that needed to be smoothed out, so two women were working on it when all of a sudden Pink started singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” It was hilarious because there was this beautiful song playing and all of this ethereal chiffon was flowing everywhere in the room. It looked like a commercial! We were all laughing with Penélope about it.” -“Amy Adams came in just for a hair touch-up. She was backstage with Bill Murray and they were both a lot of fun. Bill came in to get his coat pressed and they were practicing and goofing around.” -“I had to add some smoky black pencil and foundation to Glenn Close because it had worn off a bit with the humidity. I used a black Giorgio Armani Waterproof Smooth Silk Eye Pencil and smudged it with a brush underneath her eye. She was a very gracious woman.” -“Kate Hudson came in just for a misting of hairspray, but she stayed standing the whole time because her dress was so form-fitting. Then later, her mom, Goldie Hawn, came in and she was just a hoot. Their whole family actually seemed to be there, which was impressive! Goldie got a little bit of bronzy blush and a foundation clean-up.”