Wednesday, February 11, 2015

A Second Look At Uma Thurman (Not So) New Face


Makeup artist Troy Surratt made headlines the other day after the new look he created for Uma Thurman (above, photo taken at The Slap premiere party on Monday, February 9th)  went viral and sparked debates everywhere. Did she or didn't she have work done? Why doesn't she look like Uma Thurman? Is it good makeup or bad makeup?

I admit that I was a little shocked at first, but a quick search for Ms. Thurman's other recent pictures seems to point towards makeup and not plastic surgery. How much face reconstruction and recovery could anyone undergo in the week and a half that elapsed between January 28th and last Monday? My guess is: none.


Uma Thurman at the 2015 House Of SpeakEasy Gala at City Winery on January 28

Troy Surratt gave a statement to People magazine saying:

"I think that women should feel open and free to experiment with different beauty looks — it’s only makeup, at the end of the day it all washes off.
... As a makeup artist I’ve grown a bit tired of all of the lash-y looks and fake eyelashes that we’ve been seeing on the red carpet for some time now.”
I love that dig at the signature Kardashian look of furry animals on the lashline. It's been almost five years since we saw the modern version of the naked lashes on the runways, and my readers weren't buying it (scroll down to the comments). But obviously when you compare the two photos you see that there's a lot more going on than a nude eye makeup. First, Surratt recreated Uma's eyebrows, and that might be the biggest change. Eyebrows can alter one's expression, and make you appear older or younger. Personally, I think the new eyebrows might be too yellow/too closely matching to Uma's hair color. But that's a minor thing compared to what I believe has put so many people off, and that's the over sculpting with various powders/bronzers/whatever, which is evident along the hairline.

Surratt's description of the face makeup doesn't include what he used for that purpose, not which blush it was (is the placement a bit off?). All he says is:
“I prepped Uma’s skin by massaging with Creme de la Mer ‘The Concentrate‘. I applied a glowing foundation using a Beauty Blender for a super natural look. When the makeup was finished we misted her face with Tatcha’s Luminous Dewy Skin Mist for added radiance.”
A "super natural look"? I don't know about that.

For those curious about the lip color, Surratt told People that it's Surratt Automatique Lip Crayon in Mégalomane mixed with a Surratt Lipslique in Pecadille. Those go straight to my shopping list, considering I absolutely adore his lip products.

What do you think of the look and Surratt's vision?

24 comments:

  1. I really did not like it AT ALL. She seemed tired, puffy and and felt like the make ip made her loose all of her natural charme. The make up was anythimg but natural, the brows were tidiculously over done, amd that red shade doesn't suit her skin tone at all.
    Her eyes looked tired.. I think she would have looked far better bared face. Also, that hair...sigh... The whole thing was very unflattering and Thurman should look for a different MUA. I dont care eho he is, he did a very poor job. She is a beauty, no matter how old, and he did whatever was in his power to conceal her beauty.

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  2. Also... THAT much bronzer is never elegant. Look at her forehead!

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  3. OH. MY. GOD. if I were Uma I would never let Mr Surratt near my face again. Uma is soooo beautiful and i like nothing about the make up look he created. The Eyebrows (Blech!), the Lip Color (GARISH!), the color of her skin (foundation or bronzer... look how lovely her skin looks in the second photo!!), the bronzer around her hairline (GASP!), and that hair style (SEVERE!).

    she seriously looks as if she has aged 15 years between the second and first photo!

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    1. Absolutely! Seem like he dumped a whole bottle of foundation plus a very orange-y bronzer all over her forehead. Just awful. Awful. Awful. Can't think of any worse make up. Troy Surratt should find a different occupation

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    2. Ok, my final rant... Yes, the blush was horribly applied. Seem like he made her smile to place it in the apples of the cheeks, yet in relaxed complexion, the apples dropped and so the blush appears anywhere but where it should be.

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  4. I am sure the makeup artist had a 'vision', obviously a definite look he was working towards. Well, if it makes the client look worse, as this did, the 'vision' has failed. This ages her and makes her look worn out. Some vision! Sorry, Uma is not some fresh faced cutsey 23 yr old where this might have worked. She does not have to be or should be fresh faced and cutsey. She is distinctively fine the way she is! Even her skin color and texture do not look good. FAIL.

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  5. Too much bronzer and the brows are too heavy/wrong color for her. I doubt that she has had work done, just an unflattering makeup job. She's still a gorgeous woman! Poor thing, being scrutinized and judged over one makeup goof!

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  6. I am rarely galvanized into criticizing makeup application on others, makeup is a function of individual tastes and aesthetics. But I find I cannot resist on this one. This seems to be a study on what not to do makeup wise and a lesson on how to take a stunningly gorgeous woman and deliver the most unflattering shades to apply to her face. This is just utterly awful. Why does her forehead look like seriously bad fake bake.. Her eyes look wickedly puffy, and the eyeshadow has diminished her eye colour, her nose looks wider than normal, her face looks squat with all the 'orange' contour.
    Her eyebrows are far too warm.. everything looks jaundiced. Yuck. Keep this dude away from my face..

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  7. Ouch! Poor Uma! I'm assuming professional makeup artists aren't licensed, but, if they were, Troy Surratt should be forced to take an immediate and intensive remedial course in using bronzers. And the eyebrow color - so very unnatural looking for a look that purports to be natural.
    Anna

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  8. She reminds me of the Mona Lisa but that's not a compliment! She looks lifeless & 2d despite all that contouring! Why would you contour that much at the hairline she looks like she has a receding hairline. There needs some dewyness so that she doesn't look so flat. I'm not familiar with the MUA but it's like he has worked against her features like he's trying to badly Kim kardashian her and so loses her nice fresh skin

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  9. While I don't think she is beautiful, she has more of an interesting look in my opinion, I do think the makeup aged her. It's pretty amazing though what makeup can do with your face, so much so that everyone thinks you've had work done. I do love the lip color at least.

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  10. I agree with most of the comments - wrong color foundation, horrid contouring, bronzer overload and wrong color, brows are horrible, and the lip color overwhelms her face. Her eyes do look odd...perhaps her lashes are so blond that the no-mascara look gives her that uncomfotable stare. As far as the no-mascara look being seen on the runway, it hasn't been 5 years - I've seen that look as recently as the last fashion week, and probably will see it again starting today in New York! It actually works for me - I've gotten very used to it, but my lashes are dark and relatively long, so I just curl them and go. Doesn't work for Uma.

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  11. As everyone else has said, I agree that the makeup aged her horribly and the foundation color was all wrong. Plus, there's nothing wrong with eyelashes--they don't have to be furry animals, but a little emphasis seems like it would have helped here.

    By the way, her lip color doesn't look at all like Pecadille, which I own. It's a wonderful, very cool plum--not red at all. So if you like Uma's lip color, be sure to check out Pecadille in person--you might find it's not what you're looking for.

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  12. I think the jerk tried to reduce her forehead size. She is a natural beauty who didn't need any make up at all! That brown tone has never been flattering on me as far as that goes, and I'm about the same coloring as Uma. My husband always said I looked brown all over whenever I wore a certain color, and that's how she looks in the makeover. Shame on him for doing that to her. If he is truly a color artist, he should have known the colors wouldn't work.

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  13. I am reading so many harsh and frankly ignorant appraisals of Mr Surrats work here. Whilst it was not the very best work, those in the biz know that you do not always get the ideal amount of time and skin conditions to prepare a very busy, high profile client for an event. Uma is cool, she tried it on and i think it looked good. She did not look very young ( SHOCK, HORROR!! ) yet she was secure enough to embody something that went against the current ideals. And she washed it off at the end of the night. Get a grip, we all have bad days in our professions.

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  14. Thanks for the comparison photo and analysis, Gaia. It's fascinating to compare these photos, and really a cautionary tale. Eyebrows are the greatest challenge as one ages and they thin away. A deft correction can subtract years, but it's easy to go wrong. Also, most people need some sort of eye liner or at least mascara to avoid looking tired. Dark lipstick is an attention getter, but I'm not convinced that it's actually flattering for very many people. And above all, the right colors for one's own coloring - it's amazing how healthy she looks in the second photo, and opposite in the second. nozknoz

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  15. So the makeup was a bomb but you gotta love Uma. She's kept her unusual nose and offbeat look all these years and then went on TV today to joke about all the awful comments she got from this particular appearance. She's great.

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  16. The look is so odd. Awkward. Even more awkward was surrat trying to explain the mess. Ugh. No bueno.

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  17. There is nothing wrong with trying something new for the red carpet, but whatever look is created, it should still suit the woman's features, be appropriate to the occassion, compliment the dress and accessories, work well with the hairdo, and--this is probably the most crucial--photograph beautifully. Unfortunately for Uma and Surratt, his vision was not suited to her looks or style, the color palette was way off, and the execution was sloppy. Surratt is a wonderfully talented makeup artist, but he was definitely not having a good moment when he came up with this particular look for this particular client. But, you know what? Surratt wasn't the only one responsible for this disaster. Uma is an adult who has sat in many a makeup chair. She should be able to look at her makeup application critically and say it isn't working for her; that it isn't going to photograph well. Obviously, there are time constraints, but Surratt could have easily tweaked it so that it was more flattering.

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  18. I love her quirky beauty - I think she may have gained a few pounds but it's the make up that isn't flattering. She also has such delicate features, less is more (IMHO). Love her regardless!

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  19. Suratt gets a huge FAIL for this look. The eyebrows are all wrong, the contouring too obvious, the lips too stark against glowy cheeks . . . . . He should have been embarased not defending it!., Uma known for stepping out with flawless elegance looks off kilter and uncomfortable in her own skin.

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  20. I probably spent a good 15 minutes looking at that photo when I first saw it (as Hello I think) and making comparisons and....thinking. I came to the conclusion that it's makeup (and not surgery), and yes, I agree with you it's the eyebrows, and also some fierce contouring work. Plus she isn't smiling in the photo, not even with her eye teehee. I don't agree that it's a wrong foundation color as someone mentioned here; the facial color closely matches her neck downward. The bronzer on forehead might be a bit too orange but that could be due to lighting. There seems to be no mascara (or very little/not dark enough color) so the eyes are not opening up. But the lip color is actually interesting, and I like the eye work - he's given her lids and accentuated the socket line.

    Bottom line: I like it. It's something new. She does not look older, or younger, just different. And I like that.

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  21. Uma's regular MUA Mary Greenwell would NEVER have sent her down the Red Carpet looking like this. Uma always looks flawless when Mary does her makeup. I respect that Surratt is a good artist, but this was a definite FAIL on his part. Also, I don't understand why Uma didn't ask him to fix it. She even said later that she thought she looked weird.

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