Brazilian Beauty – The Make-up

Laura Beaney

4 min read

The sassy Sao Paulo-based make-up artist has worked with everyone from Grace Jones to Kylie Jenner. Here, Fabiana Gomes tells us about her favourite products and shares her take on the current Brazilian beauty trends. 

How do Brazilian women learn to apply makeup?

Brazilians love to learn and, of course, MAC is a huge source of knowledge it’s a make-up academy where women can learn different techniques and styles. Then we also have the new generation of females who look to the Internet and follow make-up tutorials, beauty bloggers, vloggers and sites dedicated to makeup exploration. The online world has had an enormous impact on the self-taught women of this country.

What are the current Brazilian make-up trends?

We actually have two key trends right now. The women who prefer the natural look, they are very into skincare and product innovation, they apply their make-up so it looks almost invisible. Then there are those who are very trend led and follow the backstage make-up looks. They love to pair current eye trends with an emphatic bold lip, this could be in red, cranberry, magenta, deep burgundy or even a grey-brown colour. At the moment a stone-shade lipstick is a huge must!

They are very into skincare and product innovation, they apply their makeup so it looks almost invisible.
Fabiana Gomes

And what are your make-up ‘must-dos’?

I always start with perfect clean skin and then apply skincare, customised for each face. When I have time, I love to massage my model’s face since it helps to invigorate the skin. Massage is very important as it relaxes any facial stress, which can interfere with the absorption of skincare products and vitamins. I’m definitely skin obsessed!

MAC Lightful C Tinted Cream

MAC Lightful C Tinted Cream

If you could only choose one product to keep with you what would that be and why?

It’ll be a product for skin that’s for sure! I would pick MAC Lightful C Tinted Cream because of its multiple benefits. The cream has SPF PA+++, which provides a high level of UVA/UVB protection. The product leaves a healthy glow on skin with a semi-matte finish and helps to cover any minor discolorations, making the skin look even and flawless. The formulation includes ingredients like sodium hyaluronate and squalene, along with multiple anti-irritants and antioxidants such as caffeine, lecithin, licorice root extract and vitamin C.

Who’s your Brazilian beauty icon?

Looking back over time I would say Sonia Braga and my contemporary muse is Camila Pitanga, both are strong and sexy women with powerful eyes and lips and cinnamon skin-colour. 

Camila Pitanga is known for her career as a telenovela actress and position as a UN Women Ambassador. Instagram @Caiapitanga

Camila Pitanga is known for her career as a telenovela actress and position as a UN Women Ambassador. Instagram @Caiapitanga

What’s your favorite new make-up product and why?

The eyebrow is THE thing in contemporary makeup, so I love all MAC extensions focusing on brows!  I would go as far to say that it is the brow is the new smoky eye!

You’ve been working in the industry for 14 years now, what have been the highlights?

My background is strongly based around the fashion industry, but I have also worked with celebrities. I have made up both local and international celebrities including Sabrina Sato, Debora Nascimento, Claudia Leite, Puff Daddy, Grace Jones, Ricky Martin, Kylie Jenner and Steven Tyler! I’ve touched the face of almost all big models!