Makeup Artist Rae Morris: Low-Maintenance Tips for High-Maintenance Girls

It is better to arrive late than ugly. However, it is best to be punctual and look banging.

Award-winning makeup artist Rae Morris has worked on many a famous face–from Miranda Kerr to Naomi Campbell–and she knows all too well that makeup application and shopping for cosmetics can be both time-consuming and confusing.

But it need not be. Rae is author of five outstanding reference books on the art of making up, and now she is preparing to give birth to a new baby: The Ultimate Beauty Guide, her sixth tome on looking lovely. Just check out her work from the forthcoming book, below, on model Lana Zacocela, shot by photographer Gavin O’Neill…It’s nothing short of awe-inspiring! This is a sneak peek into her new project, not even available in stores yet!!! Just look at those eyes!

I have collected every book from Rae’s illustrious 20+ year career in makeup, and I find them to be invaluable references. They are chock-full of low-maintenance tips for high-maintenance girls.

Here are the rest of Rae’s incredible books. You’ll want to buy them all!

Makeup, the Ultimate Guide was Rae’s first attempt in publishing back in 2008, and this book is brilliant! “I wanted to create a book that would bring high-end fashion makeup into the realm of everyday life,” Rae said. “Every single look–even the most glamorous ones–was broken down into a simple step-by-step photo guide with clear and concise instructions, so that no matter your experience, you could teach yourself.” She continued, “This is the format that I have stuck with ever since. The response was amazing and the book became an instant best-seller.”

As a quick aside, Rae managed to get Catherine McNeil for the front cover and Miranda Kerr for the back cover. Not bad for book number one.

Rae changed focus with book number two, Express Makeup. “I have spent a lot of time in my career working back stage at fashion shows where everything has to be done quickly,” Rae stated. The tricks that she has learned in the trenches of fashion were the inspiration for this book.

“Whether you have fifteen minutes to spare or just five, there are express fixes perfect for women who may be put off by how long it takes them to do their makeup,” she said. This book is all about real women with real-world time frames, about tricks like using sticky tape to do eyeliner and the most efficient sequence in which to do your makeup. “Express Makeup is about making makeup livable,” she added.

Timeless Makeup was Rae’s third book in 2011. “It was really a culmination of several things for me,” she said. “I’d just turned 40 and having been a professional makeup artist for almost 20 years my appreciation of beauty at all ages had really evolved.”

Fascinated with the difference makeup could make in reducing the signs of aging and, when applied with age appropriateness, how makeup could actually create a timeless beauty as we age, Rae belted out another winner with Timeless Makeup.

“Rather than working on 15-year-old supermodels, I found I actually often preferred older models where a simple technique could literally takes years off apparent age,” she said.

This book focuses on women over 30 where the signs of aging are starting to show, and the average model age in Timeless Makeup was 56.

Along the way two other books emerged as extracts: Beautiful Eyes, being the eye section of Makeup, the Ultimate Guide, and Quick Looks, below, Rae’s latest release, which is derived from Express Makeup.

“My books are now published in eight languages and are used as the curriculum text for makeup academies around the world.”

She continued, “I’m particularly proud of this because I’m dyslexic,” she stated, adding, “I’m just more passionate than I am dyslexic!”

You can find all of Rae’s books on her website, and while you’re at it, you just have to check out her awesome collection of magnetic brushes…Yes! Magnetic!

“The magnet in the base of the handle means the brushes can securely stand upright,” as opposed to just lying down, Rae explained. “This takes up less space, makes them extremely easy to organize and find, and is great from a hygiene perspective because the brush heads don’t have to be in contact with anything. In combination with our storage system, the magnets secure the brushes in transit, this protects the heads so that you don’t open your kit on arrival to find bent brush bristles everywhere,” making them perfect for travel!

Another nice trick is that when you clean your brushes you can hang them upside down (using a metal surface) and they drip dry!

But the most important aspect to Rae’s brushes is the intelligence with which they are shaped–the artistic keen knowledge that’s applied to each and every brush.

“Over time I became more passionate about brushes than anything else in my kit–over years I tested different designs and textures and in the process, almost without realizing it, I came up with my own range of brushes. My brushes are the secret behind many of my most famous creations.”

“To me, makeup is all about the brushes. You can do more with minimal product and an incredible brush range than you can with cotton buds and drawers full of makeup.”

Thanks, Rae, for sharing! You are an inspiration to women everywhere who want to look great but don’t have hours and hours to primp. We love you!